July 2, 2019

Raised Bed Garden Update: July Edition

It’s been about a month and a half since I got my raised bed garden plotted and planted, and it’s about time for an update so you can see how everything is doing! I started with a basic outline that I planned in advance so the planting process would be quicker and easier.

Plan First, Plant Second…

The basic raised bed layout that I plotted in advance. Each square represents one square foot.

After getting a basic idea about what was going to go where, I used string to plot out the square-foot plots. My 4′ x 8′ bed is 32 square-feet total. I used a mixture of peat moss and organic gardening soil in my raised bed.

Next, I started to get my seeds and seedlings in the ground. I planted the calendula, spinach, lettuce, and carrots from seed, and everything else I planted as pre-started seedlings.

This is what my raised bed looked like in mid-May right after planting.

After getting my raised bed planted, I staked the corners and surrounded it with fencing to protect it from unwanted critters. Also, I didn’t want my extra seedlings to go to waste, so I hand-tilled a little ground plot next to the raised bed, laid down some weed control cloth, and planted the rest of my tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and squash.

My backyard garden is a split between a raised bed and a ground plot

Fast Forward to July…

A month and a half later, the garden has really popped! Some things are growing like crazy, while others aren’t doing so hot, but overall, I’m really happy with how everything is looking.

My raised bed is really starting to come alive!

Let’s run through the garden plot real quick:

Tomatoes and Cucumbers

The tomatoes and cucumbers are looking good and slowly making their way up the trellis. I used a couple of metal fence posts and some twine pulled taught to give them something to climb on.

What you don’t see is any peas to the right of the cucumbers. They didn’t transplant well and ultimately ended up not making it. In retrospect, I think they would’ve done better if I planted them from seed.

Bell & Banana Peppers

The peppers plants are looking great, I was a little concerned at first because I think they were suffering from a little transplant shock, but after some bone meal fertilizer, they really started to grow and look hardy!

Calendula & Marigolds

I made sure to incorporate some calendula and marigolds into the garden to help deter pests. Aphids love calendula and ultimately, it will help keep them off of my vegetable plants.

I planted the calendula pretty close together anticipating that I would thin them. Looks like they could use it!

The calendula is growing pretty well, but could definitely benefit from being thinned so it has more room to grow.

I also made sure to spread some marigolds around my raised bed as a pest deterrent. Marigolds are good for repelling aphids, mosquitos, and also rabbits. (The fence is the best rabbit deterrent though, but more on that in a bit.)

As a little bonus, I think some of my sunflower seeds got into the garden somehow, and they’re starting to take off! I thought about pulling them at first, but, I think I’m gonna let them go and see what happens.

Some sunflowers worked their way into the garden somehow

Lettuce, Spinach, & Carrots

My leafy greens are kind of hit and miss. My lettuce is doing okay, but I think the heat has stifled their growth. I think I will thin them and see if some extra space helps them pop a bit.

The spinach is pretty much non-existent and again, I think it’s just been too hot for them. Spinach typically likes it cooler, and can thrive in some shade, so maybe the full sun is just too much. I also may have washed them out a bit while watering the seeds so it looks like the spinach is a lost cause.

Only about half of my carrots sprouted, but the ones that came up will do just fine I hope, but time will tell. I am just going to keep them from drying out and we’ll see how their doing in another month or so.

Squash & Zucchini

My yellow squash & zucchini are doing well. Again, I think they experienced a little bit of transplant shock at first, but with some consistent care and bone meal fertilizer, they really started to pop and produce fruit.

I also noticed some fungus (anthracnose) developing on my squash a few weeks ago. I made sure to treat this quickly by removing the infected leaves and spraying all of my squash plants with a Neem Oil spray, which is a great natural fungicide. After this treatment, I haven’t noticed any more fungus issues. For a full explanation of treating this plant disease, check out: ANTHRACNOSE: HOW TO IDENTIFY AND TREAT SQUASH FUNGUS.

Anthracnose typically develops around the edges of leaves or along leaf veins.

I treated it with an organic Neem Oil Extract spray and it worked great.

My Ground Garden Plot

That pretty much sums up my raised garden bed. Now as a bonus, I’d like to quickly update you on my ground garden bed.

As I said before, I planted my remaining tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and squash right in the ground, after tilling and enriching the soil with an organic soil mix and some peat moss.

I have to admit, the veggies in the ground garden are growing about twice as fast as the veggies in my raised bed!

If I had to re-plot my ground bed, I’d space everything out even further because it’s turning into a jungle!

Squash in the Ground Bed

My ground garden veggies are getting HUGE

My squash plants are enormous. If you notice in the lower left hand corner, I actually planted some corn from seed, but the squash are drowning them right out! There looks to be a little bit of powdery mildew but nothing I’m too worried about. I will dilute some natural dish soap in a spray bottle and this should take care of the mildew.

Tomatoes & Peppers in the Ground Bed

The tomatoes in my ground bed are growing like crazy.

The tomatoes in my ground bed are running rampant! They are pushing out in both directions and are really starting to encroach on my peppers. (You probably can barely see my peppers because of the tomato plants but I just can’t seem to train my tomatoes up and out of their way.)

Within a month, my tomatoes had already outgrown their cages so I decided to improvise. I flipped more cages over and fastened them on top of the original cages. It looks a little funny but it seems to be working well.

Even though my peppers are being drowned out by the monstrous tomato plants, they are still growing faster than the ones in my raised bed. I will just keep trying to train my tomatoes out of the way so my peppers can get sufficient sunlight.

The pepper plants in my ground garden are looking great

The Ground Garden Cucumbers

Unfortunately, the cucumbers in my ground garden met a sad fate. They became a meal for a hungry little rabbit.

Though there are still a few leaves and buds left intact, I don’t have high hopes for these cucumbers. This was a good learning experience though going forward. What you don’t see in the ground plot is a fence, which is the number one animal deterrent if you are trying to keep hungry animals out of the garden.

I also made the mistake of fertilizing my ground plot with bone meal, and the next morning, all my pepper plants were dug up. Based on the smell in my backyard, I would guess it was a skunk who couldn’t resist this delicious temptation. Another example of why a fence would be a great idea.

Conclusion

Overall, I couldn’t be happier with how well my garden is doing. Some of my plants are growing better than others, and I definitely could do some things differently, but it is all a valuable learning experience. In the meantime, I will keep at it and care for my plants to the best of my ability. I’ll get back to you a little later this summer with another update on my garden progress.

If you enjoyed this little garden tour, make sure to subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss out on any gardening updates. If you noticed something I could or should be doing differently, PLEASE let me know in the comments below. I welcome all the help I can get!

Take Care and Happy Gardening!

Cody,

Thistle Downs Farm