Nope I don't use Mel's mix. I use a loam/compost mix that I bought from a local source but I also have beds that are blackland prairie clay and compost mix.

Most of my beds are 4ft. by 4ft. but I have some that are 20 ft. long and a couple that are only 3ft. wide. I fit them where I can. Most are at least 8 inches tall and some are as much as 12. I really like the 12 inch ones.

I have cedar, pressure treated and cinder block beds. All seem to work fine. I also have mounded soil beds and they work too.

Yes they need full sun. You can get by with less by my full sun ones produce the most.

A few hints.....Make sure the beds are across any slope. If you don't the soil will slowly move down the slope. Most yards have some slope to them even if you don't notice it.

Decide on your irrigation method BEFORE you make the beds. If you're dragging a hose around you need to make sure you don't drag it into the beds. I like drip but some people just can't get into it.

Know how the sun moves around your house so you can maximize bed placement.

I don't grow climbing veggies in my beds. I do them in mounds or along the fence.

Can't think of anything else. I wouldn't change much with my beds but I've been tweaking the design for a couple of years now so I have the kinks out.

My 4'x 8' raised bed is made of untreated wood. I've been gardening in a raised bed for several years, this year being the first I'm using the square foot gardening method. One tip I have is give your tomato plants ample room. I've got 3 Romas spaced only a foot apart, with lots of tomatoes on them right now. They're so close together it's difficult to find the tomatoes on the plants. Good thing they turn red!As far as soil goes, I started out with organic soil and each year I add composted horse manure and sometimes I'll add mushroom compost.

I have three 4x4 beds. Going to expand next year, as this is not quite enough. But it was good to get started with. I really messed up with my soil, so I would probably get the Mel's mix if I could go back.

I agree with giving the tomato plants more room. Mine are 1 per square foot, and they are too close. Everything else, so far, seems to be doing fine.

I also used untreated wood (wasn't sure what chemicals were in the treated wood), and got the lumber yard to cut them for me. I used the corners from Garden Supply. They were expensive, but they made it very easy to put the beds together. I'm not good at putting things together, so I would spend the money on them again.

My beds are in the front yard as that is where I get full sun, and they're close to a water faucet. Just jump in! That's the only way you'll learn! :)

I just installed two 4'x4' plots in my existing veggie garden this spring. I used expanded shale instead of the vermiculite and also bought some of the bagged garden soil. The wood is 6"x8' cedar fence pickets that I simply cut in half and joined together with brackets and screws on the inside. I bought a cattle panel that I put up along the back of the two beds for climbing things and to attach tomato plants. I also bought hardware cloth fencing to put around the perimeter of the beds - far enough out so I could step over and still pick produce and weeds or plant, etc. I gotta keep the bunnies out.

As the soil mix depletes, I just add compost to the top which keeps on fertilizing the veggies.

Depending on how much room you have, start off with just a couple 4x4 plots. You can always add more.

And, I think the soil mix I bought was for flowers and vegetables. It was a fairly light mix (husband lifted the bag, of course). But, we mixed it in the wheel barrel then dumped it into the forms. You'll need more bags than you think too. I thought I had enough getting a couple bags of each for each square, but that just filled one plus a little of the second. I had to go back to the store for more.

Have fun with it!

Hi all,

I had a 4'x12' garden built that wasn't put in the correct place for tomatoes, it doesn't get enough sun early enough in the year. It seems to be OK for other vegetables, just not the tomatoes. I have space alongside the driveway that gets good sun for tomatoes, but I don't want a large bed there as it's also the only access point to the rest of the yard. I've been thinking of putting three square-foot (literally) gardens spaced along the driveway, maybe 2-3' between the outer perimeter of the beds -- the driveway is at least two car-lengths (Chevy Blazer/Honda Element) long. Would that be enough room for one tomato plant each?

Thanks!

Yes, I think a 1' square bed for individual tomatoes would be fine. It's when they are all together, 12" is not enough room - they get very crowded. Good luck with your tomatoes.

The soil was a different story. After checking out a million options at a million stores using a million recipes, I ended up going with LadyBug SquareFoot Garden Mix - about $16/2cu.ft at Marshall Grain in Grapevine. This is produced in Austin & uses vermiculite, coco fiber (more sustainable than peat moss), and 5 kinds of compost. Mixing my own with misc ingredients was do-able and cheaper, but my DH and I both have lower back issues, so I decided that the extra expense was worth it to save the add'l bending over.

Here is a link that might be useful: local, organic Mel's Mix alternative by LadyBug

This is my raised bed this year. The frame won't last for next year's crop so I'll replace it then. The upper frame is for a shade cloth that I had on the bed in previous years. I'm debating whether to reinstall it now. The stainless steel spirals are for weaving my tomato plants through for staking. Works better for me than tomato cages.

We are putting in our first beds this year so I don't have any experience feedback yet but here's what we have:
4 beds, 4x8 ...I like the size but everyones needs are different--i like to share and preserve and there are five of us.
Sides are built out of hardipanel. We had some left over from a house project so materials were free--I was unable to find much information online about using this material for raised beds, nothing negative at any rate.
We didn't use Mels Mix but kind of mimicked it with what we could find--we went with Green Choice Organics in Forney, they sell a vegetable garden blend of loam and compost and we had them mix in 25% expanded shale in place of the vermiculite--research the expanded shale for sure, its supposed to be way better than vermiculite. (It came to $35/yard including delivery and tax) Then we also mixed in a cubic yard of our own homemade compost. I plan to buy some composted manure to use for my add-a-scoop-of-compost bit to add another source of compost.
As far as sun, our beds will get full sun from about 10-11 o'clock on. We may put a more shaded bed on the other side of the house in the future if we need to.
Good luck! :)

I use a mixture of 1/3 coconut fiber (it requires much less watering) 1/3 aged manure (goat/cow) and 1/3 worm castings (slow release organic fertilizer.

Here is a link that might be useful: video of my square foot beds