A Raised Garden Project 5: Going Vertical

A lot has been going on in the raised bed garden. The plants have really taken off and work on the garden bed has become surprisingly easy. As usual, click each photo for a better view.

One thing that has become quite apparent is that weeding will not be a problem. I simply take a hand spade and lightly turn the earth around the bed and the disruption tends to almost completely remove the weeds. I've also been pretty bug free so the coffee grounds around the edges seems to be working.

As you can see from this photo the raised bed is almost weed free based on about five minutes of turning the soil about once a week. Can't get any easier than that!

The pop bottles are also doing their job and the raised bed only requires about two gallons of water every two days, and if it rains not even that. Once I put the bottles in, the plants instantly responded to the underground water source and started growing at a rapid pace.

I'm certain you've also noticed I have put in the training cages to support and begin to grow the vegetables that vine "vertically" or up. The cucumbers have taken to the cages like a fish to water. The squash and green peas will require a little more assistance but seem to be doing OK without a lot of spacing. I've checked a number of other sites that have done similar vertical gardening and in full bloom the squash should look like the photo to the right.

I even ran into a picture where the squash grew up a trellis and could be picked  from over head. No trellis here but this arrangement should make harvesting pretty easy. I will probably need more cages because every one of the tomato plants survived the transfer to the raised bed. That means I now have about 15 plants and they grow like the grass on your lawn even with pruning. On the bright side, I will have loads of juicy tomatoes for salads and even my Doxie assistant loves cucumbers right from the garden as a treat.

Speaking of treats... I already have the beginnings of squash sprouts. If you look closely at the photo on the left, in the center, are two baby squash eager to grow and hit the table. The cucumbers are not far behind. It won't be long now...

Next installment: Raised garden in full bloom