Raised Bed Garden Vs. In Plot Garden

Today we are lucky to have Annie from Mama Dweeb sharing with us about her experience about in plot gardening vs. raised beds! Annie and I went to high school together and she has such an awesome blog!!

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Last year my husband and I tilled up a huge area on our land for an in plot garden.  We planted a huge variety of veggies - corn, radishes, tomatoes, peas, green beans, kohlrabi, potatoes and squash, just to name a few. 

We thought our biggest threat was going to be the deer. We did not anticipate the soil and weather being our biggest adversary!

In the end, we only harvested a ton of tomatoes, a handful of peas, a few ears of corn and lots of kohlrabi and radishes. 

This is why I think a raised bed garden is going to be better than our in-ground plot: 

1. Less back ache

If we raise the raised bed high enough, we shouldn't have to hurt our backs nearly as much when we are weeding. 

2. Control the size

It was way too easy to over-plant our garden when it was in the ground. With a raised bed, we only have so much room to use. This keeps the size manageable and prevents us from creating more work than we can handle. 

3. Easier to water

If we put our raised bed closer to the house it will be easier to water. Last year we had yards and yards of hose strung out and it was a huge pain to water my plants every day. This led to over and under watering. 

4. Looks nicer

You cannot deny that raised beds just have this aesthetic beauty about them that in ground plots do not. Ok, maybe you can deny it, but I sure love the look of a raised bed! And I don't mind having a raised bed garden close to my house. 

5. Easier to keep pests out

This part is totally my hopes!  I hope that by raising the garden higher off the ground, the fence will keep the critters off my food.  Our fence last year was way too flimsy and they just crawled underneath. Maybe the problem was the fence - in that case, I am going to invest in a nicer fence. 

Do you have any tips about raised bed gardening for me? Please share! 

About the author: 

Annie is a Kansas mom blogger. She started Mama Dweeb  when her son was a baby.  Now she writes about parenting, technology, fashion/beauty and helps new bloggers with her Blogging Basics series.  


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Don't miss out on the other posts in our beginner gardening series.

"How Does Your Garden Grow?" Part 1- Stretching Potting Soil

"How Does Your Garden Grow?" Part 2- Stevie from Garden Therapy- Starting Veggie Seeds
"How Does Your Garden Grow?" Part 3- What To Grow?
"How Does Your Garden Grow?" Part 5- Protecting Your Plants