Why We Chose Raised Beds
Before I share everything we’ve learned about our garden over the years, it feels right to start at the beginning. Every garden has a story, and ours started with a memory, an idea, and a lot of hard work.
Since those first raised beds were built, our garden has gone through several upgrades and improvements. But the greatest memories will always be from creating it and setting the stage for everything that has followed.
Why Raised Beds?
To answer that, we need to go back to the beginning.
The previous owners of our property had once farmed about seven acres. Over time, pieces of the land were divided and sold, leaving behind about 1.5 acres, the original farmhouse, a barn, and an old glass greenhouse with an attached shed. Eventually, the greenhouse became unsafe and had to be removed altogether.
What remained was the farmer’s vegetable garden, tucked behind the barn beside a single cherry tree and a row of grapevines. It was clearly a place that had meant something to him—a quiet refuge. Every time we dug into the soil, we uncovered little pieces of its history: old nails, glass bottles, bits of metal, and countless forgotten treasures.
For several years, we gardened the traditional way.
Row after row of rototilled soil. Plants neatly lined up. Endless hand weeding. Watering each plant individually or running the sprinkler, which often seemed to water the weeds better than the vegetables.
The location itself was perfect—about 30 by 50 feet, full sun, sheltered from the wind, and conveniently close to both the house and the barn where water and power were easily available.
The garden wasn’t the problem.
The work was.
If life got busy or we were away for just a few days, the weeds seemed to celebrate our absence.
My Love of Ramblers
I have always loved rambling plants.
Pumpkins. Watermelon. Cantaloupe. Gourds. Squash.
If it sprawls across the garden, chances are I want to grow it.
Mike loves eating them just as much—but he isn’t quite as fond of their wild growing habits. They have a remarkable talent for escaping their assigned rows and taking over everything around them, making it nearly impossible to till or maintain neat pathways in the middle of summer.
One day, I suggested something simple.
“What if we gave the ramblers their own raised bed where they could do whatever they wanted?”
That little question changed everything.
A Pinterest Dream Comes to Life
Like so many projects, this one began with a trip down the Pinterest rabbit hole.
Raised beds were becoming increasingly popular, and there were endless ideas to explore. We wanted something that would reduce watering, minimize weeds, make harvesting easier, and require less bending over.
As often happens in our house, one small idea quickly grew into something much bigger.
Mike took pen to paper and designed a rectangular garden filled with a thoughtful mix of raised beds connected by winding pathways. The moment we saw it on paper, we knew we had to build it.
We were incredibly fortunate with the weather that spring.
Every box was built and installed before the middle of April, giving us plenty of time to fill them before our usual frost-free planting season arrived around May 20.
Building Smarter, Not Harder
One of the best features of our raised beds is their height.
They’re comfortable enough to sit on while weeding or harvesting, making gardening easier on our backs and knees. As we get older, that’s become even more valuable. They also happen to be the perfect height for little children to help—and, as we’ve discovered, the perfect height for dogs hoping to steal a snack.
Of course, filling raised beds requires a lot of soil.
Or does it?
One of the smartest decisions we made was using the hugelkultur method to fill the beds.
Instead of filling every box completely with expensive soil, we layered:
• Large logs
• Smaller branches and twigs
• Leaves
• Garden debris
• Then finished with soil on top
The benefits were immediate.
• It recycled natural materials we already had.
• It created a healthy ecosystem beneath the soil.
• The organic material slowly decomposes, feeding the garden over time.
It dramatically reduced the amount of soil we needed, saving both money and effort
A Dirt-Moving Tip That Saved Our Backs
Here’s one of our favourite gardening tricks.
Place a tarp inside your wheelbarrow before filling it with soil, allowing the edges to hang over the sides.
When you’re ready to dump the dirt into the raised bed, tip the wheelbarrow to the side along the raised bed while pulling on the tarp from the far side.
The tarp helps slide the soil out with surprisingly little effort.
It’s a simple trick—but a complete back saver.
The Little Details That Made a Big Difference
As the garden evolved, we continued adding features that made it both beautiful and practical.
We built a wooden perimeter with screen panels that gave the garden a cozy, enclosed feeling.
We’ve talked about adding gates for years…and we’re still talking about it.
Four raised beds were dedicated entirely to strawberries. Sharing with wildlife is part of gardening, but we’d also like to enjoy a few berries ourselves. Mike designed lightweight screened covers that allow sunlight and rain in while keeping birds and rabbits out. They’ve worked so well that they deserve a blog post of their own.
For cucumbers, we built wooden trellises using leftover lumber and screen material.
Our tomato supports came from old pipes and T-bars that we spray-painted black. Nylon twine and reusable tomato clips keep everything tidy and productive. Six years later, we’re still using the same package of tomato clips.
Choosing the Perfect Pathway
Even the pathways required careful thought.
I love walking barefoot outside, so we wanted something soft and comfortable. Since the dogs follow us everywhere, their comfort mattered too.
We started by laying down cardboard collected from renovations at my workplace. It’s a fantastic biodegradable weed barrier, and cardboard is often easy to find if you ask around your community.
Over top, we spread inexpensive mulch.
It keeps weeds under control, provides comfortable footing, supports wheelbarrows well, and only needs a light refresh each year. Best of all, it’s much easier to move than soil.
Planting Day
Once everything was finished, planting became easier than we’d ever imagined.
We fit in an incredible number of plants.
(Probably too many…but every gardener understands that feeling.)
We researched companion planting, added homemade garden markers, and watched everything flourish.
Before long, the plants had grown so well that many of the signs disappeared beneath the leaves.
The weeds?
Almost nonexistent.
More Than a Garden
One of our favourite parts of each day is making our morning rounds through the garden.
Some mornings are spent watering.
Others involve tying tomatoes, trimming herbs, checking cucumbers, or simply admiring the growth.
Then harvest season arrives.
Fresh vegetables fill our kitchen. We preserve food through canning and freezing. Family and friends enjoy the abundance, and every season teaches us something new.
This garden has nourished us in more ways than one.
It has fed us with healthy food, wonderful memories, new skills, and countless shared experiences.
It has truly become the heart of our summers.
And we’re still building on it.
Next Time…
I’ll share some of the additions we’ve made over the years, including:
• Our beautiful arbor (perfect for all of my rambling vines)
• Garden lighting that lets us enjoy the space well into the evening
• What we’ve learned about pollinators, beneficial insects, birds, and all the amazing wildlife that now calls our garden home.
The garden continues to grow—and so do we.