Indoors about a month ago I sowed Mary Washington asparagus in cells, have about 18 seedlings (ca. 75-80% germination), about 6 to 9 inches tall. Couple pots of parsley and thyme were sown at same time and are couple inches tall. Bought one of those plastic clam shells of organic rosemary for $2.49 and stripped the stems apart and rooted in water. Now I have 9 four-inch baby plants, sure beats starting rosemary from seed and waiting forever. Sowed hot and sweet peppers in cells two days ago, also three varieties of tomatoes (some tom seed was nine years old, but it sprouted OK last year...!) Next on the indoor agenda, maybe: chard, kale, scallions, leeks, bok choy. Also maybe lettuces and spinach. Outdoor garden is covered with a foot of frozen compacted snow here in mid-Hudson Valley, so my unheated enclosed porch will have to be a surrogate for the cool-weather crops.

Wow, I'm new to Garden Web and excited to find a thread so exactly on topic for me, I was looking for help in figuring out how deep raised beds will have to be for rhubarb and aspargus as well as other insights to growing them by this method. It seems like an old thread though so I'll see if anyone answers. Also seems to be a bit of attitude going on here, the first I've seen in the garden web-hopefully the last. Anyway I am finally buying a house and swore that I would plant these two crops, rhubarb and aspargues, as soon as I was a home owner, because they take so long to establish. The home I am buying has a concrete RV pad in the side yard with full sun. So my first contact with the garden web was results on a query to whether I could build raise beds right on the pad. The answer was yes and there were great pictures of other folks beds made of used concrete blocks-satisfying all my criteria including going with surplus materials. So I am very happy to have found you all and this terrific resource. I need to figure out how to get in a more current thread though. I'm looking forward to dishing dirt (garden soil) with y'all. Hoping someone can help me out with the question of how deep the beds need to be. Thanks-Hatzi

I have been planting out cool season veggies for the past week and a half with mixed results. Lettuces, and spinach look great, but I had to replant some of the peas and beets. The peas I think just suffered from too many nights around the freezing mark without protection, and the beets probably would have done fine if I would have thinned them, instead of trying to separate the little sprout clusters. Oh, and my broccoli sprouts didn't make it either. Not sure if it's too late to sow more of the broccoli or not. I direct sowed parsnips, carrots, and radishes. The radishes started sprouting within a week, but the other two are slower germinators. Yesterday, I put out the Swiss chard sprouts too. I had to untangle some of the roots when I planted them, and some don't look too happy this morning. I'm holding off on planting out the cauliflower too, especially since the broccoli didn't do well. The good news is that it's really supposed to warm up this week, temps in the 70's, and lows in the upper 30's, so things should start taking off now. Can't wait for that first fresh salad!!! Bonnie

My raised bed is on the ground. In the past I have had a 2'x4' bed full of garlic. I had read about planting on the edges of the bed and I had worried about my bed being so small. I cannot remember the weather patterns, but I do remember that almost all the garlic did come up. I bought tulips this year and tried not to get to close to the edges of the raised bed for the same reason Mr.Brown suggested. Even though my garlic did survive in the past. :> I have another raised bed, about 4' off the ground so it's pretty high. Nothing survived in it after my winter. Do you think styrofoam on the underside would help? Heating cables? Just a thought.