You spent a lot of of money trying to grow vegetables in an elevated planter, and now you're wondering why it didn't work. Well, it didn't work because table gardens are the worst.
An excellent article with valid points. But I have to disagree. "Table Gardens" do have a place in my garden. I have two raised (table gardens) beds 4 x 16' each. For over 16 years I have successfully grown carrots, beets, bush beans, meres, parsnip, bunching onions in one and cool weather crops (kale, spinach, lettuce, etc.) in the other, which is covered with a shade cloth. I alternate crops year to year in the boxes. I have other boxes at grade for my perennials (herbs, strawberries, walking onions, sunchokes) and an open area covered in hay for my wanderers or climbers like potatoes, squash, tomatoes, pole beans, etc. I have found that my carrots and beets do much better in the raised box than in my heavy clay soil. The boxes are filled with a mix of peat, vermiculite and compost. I have to add compost every year but I have lots. 😆 For me the small expense of the materials (a large portion of which was reclaimed) to build the table garden was worth it.
I am enjoying your podcast nearly as much as your videos. "Now get out there and have fun in your garden!"
Hi thanks Laurie! Yes, the point wasn't that success is impossible with them, but that, in general, they require more work on the gardener's part to have success - so for the new gardener, it's easier to fail with the elevated bed - but yes, they can totally work if you do everything right. I actually meant to add a paragraph speaking to this point, but I guess that bit slipped my mind.
An excellent article with valid points. But I have to disagree. "Table Gardens" do have a place in my garden. I have two raised (table gardens) beds 4 x 16' each. For over 16 years I have successfully grown carrots, beets, bush beans, meres, parsnip, bunching onions in one and cool weather crops (kale, spinach, lettuce, etc.) in the other, which is covered with a shade cloth. I alternate crops year to year in the boxes. I have other boxes at grade for my perennials (herbs, strawberries, walking onions, sunchokes) and an open area covered in hay for my wanderers or climbers like potatoes, squash, tomatoes, pole beans, etc. I have found that my carrots and beets do much better in the raised box than in my heavy clay soil. The boxes are filled with a mix of peat, vermiculite and compost. I have to add compost every year but I have lots. 😆 For me the small expense of the materials (a large portion of which was reclaimed) to build the table garden was worth it.
I am enjoying your podcast nearly as much as your videos. "Now get out there and have fun in your garden!"
A Zone 3, gardener in Manitoba, Canada
Hi thanks Laurie! Yes, the point wasn't that success is impossible with them, but that, in general, they require more work on the gardener's part to have success - so for the new gardener, it's easier to fail with the elevated bed - but yes, they can totally work if you do everything right. I actually meant to add a paragraph speaking to this point, but I guess that bit slipped my mind.