We have several raised beds in my yard. Some were here when we moved in, others we have added. Raised beds are one of the easiest ways to garden, especially when you have less-than-ideal soil conditions. Elevated raised beds can make gardening more accessible and more comfortable. I have wood and metal raised beds and even used rocks in the past.

New this year is an elevated cedar bed for kale and bok choy. I was a bit too successful at the seed starting, so I think we have 18 plants. Bring on the greens!

We also have a new Vego raised bed. It’s a corrugated metal raised bed that you can assemble in different configurations. Ours is the 6-in-1 17” high kit configured as a 3.5 x 5-foot bed. They recommend a German system for filling the bed called hugelkultur. (Read more at Epic Gardening.) We started with cardboard and added small logs, followed by branches and yard waste. Then we filled the bed with compost topping it off with soil. It took several days to fill it and many wheelbarrows of compost and soil. We planted “volunteer” raspberries in the Vego, and the plants have easily doubled in size in the past month. We started with a few plants a few years ago, but they multiply every year, and now we have many.

Strawberry bed

Squirrels like to taste test strawberries, so we added these chicken wire cages from Gardener Supply to this wood raised bed from Home Depot. Special shout out to Robert for building custom ledges to keep the cages in place and deter the little critters.

These deep metal raised beds are great for a porch.

Kale and Bok Choy

I love the elevated wood raised bed. It’s very solidly built and great for greens.