In ground or raised bed gardening? Which is right for me?

    When planting your garden you have the choices of doing an in ground, raised bed or potted. With in ground gardening you will be tilling up the ground and mixing in compost, humus and additional additives depending on what type of soil you have to achieve the best soil to plant your garden. This option is a good option if you have lots of space and a decent soil type already in place. With in ground gardens your seeds will tend to germinate a little later due to the slower warming of the soil. Weeds can be a bit of a problem if not carefully weeded and rabbits or other critters can easily walk into the garden for a free buffet.
    The next choice is gardening with a raised bed system. With this method you build a wooden box on top of the area you will be gardening and fill it with a good base soil/top soil, humus and manure (do not use manure from meat eating animals) to create the perfect soil bed for your garden. I would recommend laying some landscape barrier material down and then building your boxes on top. this will slow the intrusion of weeds while still allowing good drainage. Do not build the beds any wider than 3'. This is so you may reach to the middle of the beds with out having to step in them, thus limiting soil compaction. Limiting compacting the soil will allow the beds to breath and root system to spread out. This also makes weeding a snap. Raised bed gardens tend to warm up quicker meaning your garden can be planted slightly sooner allowing you to get a jump on the growing season. This also means of course that they will dry out a little sooner so keep an eye on soil moisture and water deeply as needed.
    The last choice is potted gardening. A perfect option for those living in apartments or very limited space. These are easy to set up and can be moved indoors to extend the season or save from a late or early frost. You want to make sure you select a size pot for the plant to grow into. Soil selection would be that of a potting mix. Look for a vegetable potting mix versus a flower mix because you don't want to be eating all those extra chemicals. I prefer an organic vegetable potting mix from scotts. Lastly one important thing to remember with potted gardens is that they dry out quickly so always remember to watch the soil moisture and water as needed.

Happy Homesteading!!!!