When we established our garden, the fine soils and lack of slope made growing difficult. The ground would easily flood and then stay saturated for a long time, setting back soil temperatures, cultivation, planting, and harvesting. To alleviate this, we began using raised beds. This creates growing space that’s higher in elevation than the surrounding walkways, leaving it with better drainage, aeration, and sun exposure. Together, these improvements have allowed soil work and planting to occur 2-3 weeks earlier than before.
After a couple years of shaping them by hand with shovels and rakes, it was clear that the benefits of raised beds were worth investing in equipment to make the process faster and easier. We now use a “rotary plow” on the BCS 2-wheel tractor to throw soil from the walkway onto the planting bed. This creates an elevation difference of 6-10″ between the beds and the 12″ wide walkway. It is a fast implement to run, shaping a 100 foot raised bed in about two minutes.
If you have challenging soil holding you back, let us shape up some raised beds and start enjoying a more productive, healthy garden. Contact Casey or learn more at our From the Garden page.
Wild Edges Farm 