Sarah and Bob Lea were back to share their gardening know-how and tips on raised bed & vertical gardening. This method of gardening offers many benefits, such as greater accessibility, better soil and weed control, less soil compaction, and increased food production. Dan and Becky Bravinder also presented on their garden bed and trellis designs and talked about Hulgelkultur, a particular method of filling the beds with logs (preferably already rotting), compostables (plant material, kitchen scraps, manure), compost, and soil.
A Few Takeaways
Bob and Sarah have tried many methods of vertical gardening and have settled on t-posts and cattle panel for their durability and effectiveness.
Bob and Sarah's raised bed on a pedestal design (linked below) allows you to garden in a lawn chair and is even wheelchair accessible.
Raised beds can take many forms, such as Bob and Sarah's pedestal design, Dan and Becky's repurposed corrugated tin and wood design (linked below), a simple frame built with cedar decking boards and posts, or even just a food-grade waxed cardboard box that can last a single season, for example.
For many more tips and info, you can watch the recorded presentation here: https://youtube.com/live/5N7ziFUZQsk
Thank you to Sarah, Bob, Dan, and Becky for a wonderful presentation!
Adding compost to your garden beds was also mentioned in the presentation. Local farmers may be a good resource for manure, which can be composted. Farm Direct Minnesota may be a good place to find a local farmer if you don't already know one: https://www.facebook.com/farmdirectminnesota
We also recommend checking out the following past presentations:
Great Garden Techniques (Bob & Sarah Lea)
Composting and Soil Health (Sarah Lindblom, Becky Bravinder, Teresa Harmala)
Soil Health + Gut Health = Human Health (Jolene Carlson)
Bob & Sarah's Raised Pedestal Garden Bed Design
Bob & Sarah's Presentation Slides
Dan & Becky's Handout w/ Raised Bed Design and Method of Filling Garden Beds
Links to Brix Chart and Soil Order Test Form: https://fixmysoil.com/downloads/