Raised vs tilled?

[smackiesmommy]

Which is best for a small family in your opinion? I know that there are pros and cons to both but I just wanted to know what the more experienced gardeners thought

 

[FarmerChick]

if garden on the smaller side and to be handled very easily and 'more ornamental' into the landscape, I would go raised.

if larger, tilling is best option because it would be cheaper in the end for a large garden.

my dad grows very little. he has 3 very very long raised beds (like flower beds) along his property line. they are beautiful and fit the landscaping very well. So he did it for eye candy also along wtih getting tons of easy maitnenance. he just adds compost each year or so and turns it over.

I have the ground garden. Large. I til between rows and have tons more produce than my dad.


it is kinda all about how big you are going to go and how much work you want to handle etc.

 

[Beekissed]

Or you could go with tillage and permanent pathways...less construction and materials used but same concept. We will have a mid-sized garden this year(approx 30 x 65ft) but will just till the tops of the rows and leave the grass and clover growing in between. This way we can add mulch and any other soil additives directly to the small tilled strips and plant directly in these. Makes for better moisture retention, cleaner gardening, less total tillage of the soil, good environment still for earthworms and beneficial bugs and microbes.

In the fall we'll just keep adding leaf mulch, any compostable items, etc. to our rows so they won't be exposed to the sun and cold and the soil can keep building under the cover of mulch. The following spring just lightly till in the mulch and plant. This kind of gardening insures the nutrients are going where they are needed, there is minimal disturbance of the soil but you still have good, workable soil in which to plant.

Raised beds are nice but they have to be filled with something and having mulch/soil hauled and dumped is costly.

 

[SSDreamin]

I have both, and really like it better that way. Some things just grow so much better for me in raised beds. Some things seem to do poorly in my raised beds but grow like mad in my tilled space. This year, we have decided to expand both of our options - we have three 4 x12 raised beds, and a 20 x 40 tilled area, along with some other, permanent plantings scattered around. For ease of maintenance, I love the raised beds - weeding each one takes me five minutes a day! Beekissed is right though, it takes quite a bit of money to get them set up. I have friends that flat out refuse to try a raised bed. Guess I'm being zero help, huh?!

 

[smackiesmommy]

i asked for everyone's opinion so it is good to know. My husband wants a raised bed and I would rather till (because things are so tight in the money department right now).

 

[Denim Deb]

A lot depends too on where you live. In some areas, a raised bed is better, and in others, a tilled garden is.

Personally, I do similar to Bee. I do a combination of companion planting and square foot gardening. But I leave pathways thru the garden. And, anything that isn't planted has some type of mulch on it, or at the very least cardboard. This keeps the moisture in, and helps keep the weeds down. I've found my plants are stronger and healthier doing it this way.

 

[Beekissed]

Same here, DD. And I do the same...mulch on any exposed soil. It's a lovely way to garden...so carefree and clean. No weeds, no hoeing, no tilling past the first time, no worries...and it looks neat and orderly.

 

[Denim Deb]

I don't till at all.

 

[The Mama Chicken]

I also have both a raised area and a tilled area in the big garden (80'x80'). We just tilled the whole garden and piled the topsoil from the paths into the beds to raise them up. They don't have any borders and didn't cost a thing. The big plantings (corn potatoes, tomatoes) are in rows and the melons are in hills. We're really just experimenting, as this is our first garden on the new property.

 

[BarredBuff]

We do a combination. Tilled is easiest on the pocket book and the more traditional approach. Raised is effective but more expensive, we are adding some raised beds as we go. We have 4 larger ones right now. Then a 50 by 100 traditional row garden.

Our carrots, and bulb onions are in raised beds. Strawberries are as well. This fall I will be adding garlic to the mix. Then next spring we may be adding more. Also sometime soon I am fixing a new lettuce/salad bed for us. The one we have now ain't to hot, and I want to be able to harvest year round from it. With several salad fixins'