With a small plot of land, a want to harvest a variety of foodstuffs, as well as our commitment to creating a farm that is not only profitable, but is also sustainable, we decided on creating a micro-farm that would utilize raised beds. Raised beds have become more and more prevalent in urban agriculture as they have proven to have a smaller environmental impact than mainstream agricultural farming, have higher yields in smaller spaces, and are less labor intensive.
How Did We Make Our Raised Beds?
Our raised beds are 64 ft2 rectangular boxes with frames made from lumber from the Deconstruction Depot.
Each frame is placed directly on top of the grass (no tilling required!).
Once the wooden frame has been placed, newspaper is put down inside the frame to create the bottom layer of the bed. We used newspaper because it is 1. easy and cheap to find, 2. is completely biodegradable, and 3. it will serve to deter the weeds and grass underneath from entering into the nutrient rich soil that is placed on top.
On top of the newspaper, layers of compost, soil, and mulch are added to create nutrient-rich, loamy soil.
With the help of the grid, seeds and transplants are then planted into the beds in an easy to identify and uniform manner.
Tomatoes and cucumbers (above) require a little extra space than most plants; they are planted every other foot.
Eggplant and Brussel sprouts (above) both only require one square foot of space; there is one plant per square.
Posted by Lisa
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