| The best backyard garden starts with a raised bed. | | | | per square foot. Tomatoes will need a square foot |
| This gives the soil a way to draining too much water | | | | for one plant. Peppers can grow 4 to a square foot. |
| from rain or just over watering from the hose. The | | | | Just use your judgement on how big the vegetable |
| raised bed is inside the wooden borders to hold | | | | plants will be at maturity and plant accordingly. |
| everything together--and it looks nice, too. | | | | I put a wire trellis at one end of one of my beds and |
| Once you have made and placed your garden bed in | | | | planted cantaloupe. I let the cantaloupe vine grow up |
| the area you want to grow vegetables, you want to | | | | the trellis and as it grew, I helped to intertwine the |
| make sure they get plenty of sunshine every day so | | | | ends of the vine through the wire mesh. Although |
| they can have a good yield of produce for you. Fill | | | | the fruit can get large, they will not fall off the vine, |
| the garden bed with organic composted material and | | | | unless you are growing the huge variety, then you |
| vermiculite. A cubic foot of vermiculite to each 4 X 4 | | | | will need to assist Mother Nature by putting the large |
| area of garden bed. Mix it together well and you are | | | | cantaloupe in panty hose or stockings and securing |
| ready to begin planting your seeds or small plants | | | | the stockings to the trellis for extra support. I have |
| you want to transplant into your garden. Look at | | | | never had one cantaloupe fall from the vine. You can |
| your raised bed as sections. One foot square | | | | grow cucumbers the same way. It is so easy to pick |
| sections so you can keep your plants growing close | | | | your cucumbers standing up and you do not get that |
| together. If you are growing squash you want to put | | | | yellow bellied side like you do when the cucumbers |
| one plant per square foot. If you are planting | | | | are maturing on the ground. |
| radishes, carrots, or onions, you can place 16 plants | | | | |