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Here's a great way to get started growing your vegetables this year! All you really need to do a little pallet gardening is a wood pallet, some good soil and a few seeds...

Raised Bed Garden Using Pallets

Many possible ways to build your raised bed pallet garden

One of the cool things I love about gardening is that there are so many ways to do it. Whether you have a home on a huge 20 acre plot or small apartment, there's a plan out there that will help you get going. Pallet gardening requires a minimal investment and can be setup easily in a day or two. We've found some tips to get you started.

PALLET GARDENING 101

Mavis Butterfield has says she prefers new pallets-

Personally, I suggest using a new, clean, fresh pallet.If you live in the Tacoma area you can purchase new pallets from Girard Wood Products in Puyallup, Washington for about $9 each. We purchased our pallets here for this years wood pallet garden.

That's swell if you live in Tacoma. Or have a pallet company nearby. If you choose to go with used pallets, Mavis has some tips:

Here are a few pointers when looking for recycled pallets:



Look for a pallet that has HT stamped somewhere on the pallet. This means the pallet was heat treated, or kiln dried as opposed to chemically treated.



Because you can never be sure that chemicals were stored on an old pallet or that there is some sort of bacteria lurking inside the recycled pallets, I would scrub the wood down with some bleach and soapy water and let it dry out before using it to plant anything.



Also, watch out for old, rusty nails or staples.

See some great pictures and get lot more tips from Mavis at onehundreddollarsamonth.com

Why Raised Bed Gardening?

Raised beds produce a variety of benefits: they extend the planting season, they can reduce weeds if designed and planted properly and reduce the need to use poor native soil. Since the gardener does not walk on the raised beds, the soil is not compacted and the roots have an easier time growing. The close plant spacing and the use of compost generally result in higher yields with raised beds in comparison to conventional row gardening. Waist-high raised beds enable the elderly and physically disabled to grow vegetables without having to bend over to tend them.

eartheasy.com has some great tips for raised bed gardening. They point out that raising your soil has some great benefits:

By raising the soil level, raised garden beds also reduce back strain when bending over to tend the bed. This is especially helpful to older gardeners or people with bad backs. And if the beds are built well, the gardener can sit on the edge of the bed while weeding, and for some gardeners this is the biggest benefit of all.

One big question many beginners have is how tall should my raised garden be? Again, we found great information at eartheasy.com-

You can build the bed to any desired height up to 36". The most common height is 11", which is the height of two stacked 2" x 6" boards. If you have good soil beneath the bed, the roots will go down deeper as needed to access more soil and nutrients, so you can even have beds that are only 6" high. If you want a taller bed, remember that as you go taller, the weight of the added soil will add pressure to the sides, and will bow them outward. This is easily prevented by including cross-supports. We recommend using cross-supports in any beds which are taller than 18", or longer than 6'.



It is also important to consider the soil depth requirements for the roots of the vegetables you want to plant. Depending on the soil conditions beneath your bed, you may want to build the sides of your bed higher for certail crops. For more information, read our article Soil Depth Requirements for Popular Vegetables.

Don't forget to have fun!

Growing your own food can be a great family activity. I find it a great way to get rid of stress. Eating and sharing the food from my garden is fantastic but do be honest, I think my favorite benefit is just finding a comfy seat at the and of day to kickback and watch the plants grow. I hope you find the same!