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From YouTube: Raised Bed Gardening - Preparation
Description
The mountains are a beautiful place to live, however gardening can be a little tough with the large amount of clay we have in our soil. A great solution is inexpensive, highly productive, and easy - Raised Bed Gardening. Join Master Gardener Gene Rainey as he goes through the steps of preparing your Raised Bed Garden for the summer months.
The Master Gardener Program is through the Buncombe County Office of Cooperative Extension. To speak with a Master Gardener or for more information, please give them a call at 828.255.5522.
A
Hello,
I'm
Jean,
rainy
and
I'm
a
master
gardener
for
the
county
and
we're
going
to
show
you
how
to
prep
your
raised
beds
today
to
get
them
ready
for
the
planting
season
for
vegetable
planting
season.
This
happens
to
have
80
of
them,
but
they're
different
sizes,
but
I
would
urge
you
to
look
at
it
from
the
standpoint
of
what
you
might
do
in
your
backyard
or
front
yard,
on
your
patio
or
deck.
A
These
raised
beds
can
go
anywhere,
they're
inexpensive
to
build
and
to
put
into
effect
they're
inexpensive
to
maintain
year
after
year,
because
you
don't
have
to
till
the
ground
every
year
and
also
they're
highly
highly
productive
they're
being
used
worldwide.
It's
the
current
ratio
of
gardening
because
of
the
nature
what
they
do.
So
let
me,
let
me
show
you
a
few
of
the
bits
here
and
maybe
you
can
get
some
ideas
as
to
what
you
might
do
in
your
front
yard
or
backyard.
A
Well,
this
is
a
typical
raised.
Bed
garden
is
four
feet
by
four
feet
and,
as
you
can
see,
six
inches
high.
The
reason
for
it
being
four
feet
by
four
feet
is
that
normally
we
can
reach
about
two
feet
so
by
building
it.
This
way
you
can
walk
around
this
box
and
reach
all
the
way
in
this
box
happens
to
be
planted
with
onions,
sweet
onions.
A
The
mix
that's
in
it
is
composed
of
several
items,
usually
three,
because
it
was
developed
by
a
man
by
the
name
of
Mel
Bartholomew,
and
he
wrote
a
book
Square
Foot
Gardening,
it's
composed
of
peat
moss
of
vermiculite,
which
is
a
mixture
which
absorbs
water
quite
well,
compost
and
some
of
us
put
in
potting
soil,
sacked,
compost,
manure
things
like
that.
That
goes
in
there.
Each
of
the
items
that
go
into
the
mix
have
its
strong
points.
The
peat
moss
makes
it
very,
very
tillable
by
hand.
A
Obviously
the
manure
and
I
use
composted
manure
in
bags,
so
you
don't
have
to
ship
it
in
by
a
truck
you
get
it
in
bags
by
it
that
the
various
stores
around
town,
the
vermiculite
is,
is
a
mixture
that
absorbed
water,
and
thus
you
save
water
in
your
square
foot
garden.
But
this
is
a
typical
square
foot
garden.
They
don't
have
to
be
four
feet
by
four
feet.
This,
when
is
this
is
what
is
recommended.
This
one
is
made
out
of
wood,
some
of
them
as
you'll,
see
later
or
made
out
of
plastic.
A
You
can
purchase
them
or
you
can
die
them
and
put
them
together
yourself,
so
lot
cheaper
to
do
that
if
you
buy
them
already
set
up
as
this
one
was
it's
easier
to
do
and
easier
to
maintain
the
key?
Is
it's
highly
productive,
put
the
seed
in
or
you
put
the
bulbs
in,
and
they
pop
right
out
in
due
time.
Of
course,
highly
productive
I
do
not
have
to
till
this
land
each
year.
It
is
here
to
start
right
away,
easy
to
maintain,
and
in
general
it
is
very
productive,
especially
in
these
mountains.
A
These
are
good
mountains,
but
a
lot
of
clay,
a
lot
of
clay
and,
if
you're
going
to
build
up
your
soil
in
the
mountains,
you're
going
to
have
to
put
a
lot
into
it.
So
this
is
an
expensive.
You
could
put
these
things
together
for
around
twenty-five
or
thirty
dollars
each
and
they
last
for
at
least
five
years,
and
so
you
can
amortize
that
out
to
about
ten
eleven
twelve
dollars
a
year
and
compare
that
with
having
to
tell
clay
soil
every
year
in
your
garden.
A
This
is
a
structure
that
we've
just
built
its
raised
and
the
reason
I
wanted
to
show
it
to
you.
It
shows
how
individuals
who
are
in
wheelchairs
handicapped
certain
my
case
to
have
a
whole
lot
of
trouble
bending
down
once
you
get
my
age,
you
have
knee
and
hip
replacements
and
things
like
this,
but
this
makes
it
so
convenient.
We
have
not
put
the
mixture
in
this
yet
we've
just
constructed
it
it'll
be
working
the
same
way
as
the
as
the
square
foot
that
you
saw
and
the
box
of
minute
to
go.
A
A
This
is
the
example
of
how
you
save
space
in
a
garden.
Obviously,
a
raised
bed
four
feet
by
four
feet:
box
save
space
in
the
sense
that
you
just
have
that
much
room
which,
by
the
way
we
divided
into
16
square
feet,
that's
where
the
square
foot
garden
comes
from.
So
what
you
want,
of
course,
is
for
the
plants
that's
going
to
grow
up
and
have
a
great
vines
to
have
a
place
to
go.
This
is
for
Kentucky,
wonder
beans
in
Kentucky,
where
my
good
wife
was
born,
raised.
A
They
use
seven
foot
pols
coming
together,
like
a
teepee,
and
when
you
go
to
pick
the
beans
you
have
to
climb
up
on
a
ladder.
What
this
does
is
permit
the
vines
to
grow
up
and
over
and
all
I
have
to
do-
is
walk
through
here
and
pick
them
off.
You
want
to
use
every
inch
of
your
land,
it's
precious,
and
this
is
one
way
because
you're
going
up
and
over.
A
Some
of
your
vegetables
have
long
lines
on
the
squash,
for
instance,
and
cucumbers.
This
is
what
we
use
for
cucumbers,
the
cucumbers
are
planted.
This
is
not
four
by
four,
as
you
can
see,
in
terms
of
size
of
a
box,
that's
really
about
a
2
by
3
foot
box.
The
cucumbers
are
planted,
they
grow
up
and
over.
So
when
you
come
out
to
the
victim,
all
you
have
to
do
is
take
them
off
the
top
of
this
vine.
You
want
to
use
every
inch
of
your
garden
for
production.
A
You
can
raise
anything
you
want
to
in
these
beds
in
terms
of
vegetables,
also
in
terms
if
you
wish
flowers.
These
two
beds
here
are
for
corn,
we've
already
planted
it
and
the
corn
will
get
high
and
we
have
ways
of
supporting
it.
This
is
a
tomato
bed
and
the
tomato
will
grow
up
and
we'll
attach
them
to
the
little
hoops
that
we
have
here
now.
There
are
some
vegetables
that
have
roots
deeper
than
6
inches,
which
is
what
these
raised
beds
are.
A
For
instance,
carrots
parsnips
will
go
deeper
than
6
inches
now.
The
way
we
handle
that
is
that,
when
we
put
the
beds
in
before
we
put,
the
mix
is
that
we
turn
up
the
ground
underneath
it
usually
it's
very
heavy
in
clay.
You
may
have
to
use
a
clay
breaker.
Then
you
put
the
mixture
on
top
of
it,
and
usually
that
takes
care
of
any
deep-rooted
vegetable
that
you
might
have.
The
only
problem
that
you
are
challenged.
I
should
say
that
might
be
a
better
word
that
you
would
have
with
your
vegetables.
A
Is
that
you
need
to
have
your
mixture
at
a
certain
what
we
call
ph
level
now
you
can
get
that
by
going
to
the
Cooperative
Extension
Service,
getting
these
boxes
and
sending
them
off
and
they'll.
Tell
you
whether
or
not
your
soil
is
already
set
up
to
grow
vegetables.
This
soil
is
automatically
part
of
a
good
soil,
pH
system
or
whatever
type
of
system
you're
worried
about.
You
don't
have
to
worry
about
different
vegetables
in
them.
A
The
only
thing
is:
keep
good
records,
they'll
show
you
what
will
produce
well,
it's
not
producing
for
you
and
the
next
year,
because
it's
so
easy
to
get
started
early.
You
don't
have
to
till
the
ground.
The
next
year,
you'll
be
ready
to
start
with
the
raised
bed.
It's
there
to
start
immediately
whenever
you're
ready
and
especially
when
the
weather
permits
you
to
get
into
it.
A
Some
of
us
are
renters
and
I.
Would
our
urge
you
to
think
in
terms
of
raised
beds
wherever
you
are?
If
you
have
a
deck
or
patio,
you
can
still
use
raised
beds.
One
thing
you
have
to
watch,
of
course,
are
the
various
vegetables
such
as
carrots
and
parsnips
that
go
deep,
but
six
inches
would
be
enough
specialty
for
tomatoes.
A
You
can
grow
that,
but
you
can
put
these
anywhere
if
you're
renting
one
of
the
good
things
about
raised
beds
that
you
can
take
it
with
you
when
you
move,
all
you
have
to
do
is
sack
it
up
again,
pick
up
the
form
and
cart
it
to
another
place.
If
you're
renting
talk
about
it
with
your
neighbors
and
also
to
your
landlord
I'm
sure
he
would
not
mind
you
having
raised
beds
in
his
yard
or
the
yard
that
he
owns
that
you're
not
renting
the
beds
did
not
be
four
by
four.
A
A
Let
me
conclude
by
saying
you
can
raise
whatever
your
favorite
vegetables
are
you're.
Looking
at
parts
of
80
raised
beds,
and
so
I
have
every
conceivable
vegetable
that
you
can
think
of.
If
you
go
into
a
supermarket,
you
can
see
all
displayed
where
we're
raising
them
here.
We're
raising
them,
because
people
in
this
area
in
this
county
are
hungry
and
need
food,
so
raise
enough
for
yourself,
but
then
raise
some
for
somebody
else
in
need
through
your
religious
civic
organization.
They
can
help
you
do
that.