Raised garden beds can help your family’s self-sustaining efforts

By LeeAnn Noschese

This is the perfect time to gather the family and grow your own food. Self-sustainability in your backyard can be done in a small area with a surprising amount of production.

It is wonderful to go out in your yard to collect fresh, nutritious, homegrown vegetables. There are many different methods of construction for a raised garden bed, such as brick, wood, rock and concrete.

I have tried a few methods over the last 29 years of gardening in Arizona. Adding a drip system to your raised bed is the standard way to assure consistent watering. Choosing a raised garden bed has its benefits – protection from pests, controlled soil quality, fewer weeds, no tilling, water conservation.

Plus, some folks find it easier to reach all the plants. Wicking beds are a fantastic way to maintain a productive garden. I have used this method for one year, and I am excited about the results.

In the concept of a Wicking bed, a lower chamber is constructed which holds water. The plants seek out the water below, promoting a healthy root system. The plants use the water as needed from the chamber. It is necessary to top water the garden until seedlings establish stronger roots. I call it my bonding time.

We stapled hardware cloth to the bottom of the bed to discourage gophers and ground squirrels, put cardboard on the inside of the bed to protect the plastic liner, then lined the bed with Poly sheeting (we used a tarp), stapling around the top edge. Then put in the perforated pipe.

I used a square of landscaping fabric on the end of the perforated pipe and secured it with a zip tie to keep the pea gravel out. Attach the other end to the PVC pipe elbow then connect the 2-inch pipe. Drill a hole to fit the half-inch PVC pipe for a water overflow. This will help indicate when the bed is full.

Fill the bed with pea gravel, staple landscape fabric over the pea gravel, add soil. The soil should be at least 12″ deep with a mix of potting soil and organic matter, such as finished compost. You can create the “wicking effect’’ on a smaller scale with a 5-gallon bucket, storage tub, even an old trunk like this one in my garden. Most of all, enjoy the experience.

Happy gardening.

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This column appears in the May issue of InMaricopa.