A look into my trial and mostly error farm in the middle of the city.
There are several benefits of investing the time and money into building raised beds for your seed babies. Weed control, quality soil, better accessibility, etc. What it really came down to for me were two things --- they look clean and it's easier to keep the dogs out.
Raised beds are super easy to build. All you really need is four sides, something to attach them, a drill, hammer and a couple nails. If you want to get fancy with it you can nail some stakes to the inside of the box to hold them securely in the ground. Note: pre drill holes in the wood before hammering in those nails to prevent the wood from splitting.
I had a couple Ikea bed slats laying around and decided to take them apart and make a couple raised beds. They are small but they serve their purpose. The great thing about them is that since they are small, if I get kicked out of my rental house for running up the water bill I can take them with me.
I tend to buy plants without thinking about where they are going to live in the yard; such was the case with a couple strawberry plants. I came up with this brilliant idea to plant them in baskets and hang them from the tree. In my mind, these plants would be huge and the vines would be overflowing with luscious berries in no time. It would be beautiful and everyone would tell me how amazing and clever I am.
Obviously, that hasn't happened. Yet.
The baskets were a lot cheaper then I thought they were going to be, about $6 for each one at Home Depot. They are creating more space in the garden for other treats, they retain water and one day -- I hope -- they will be overflowing with berries. Money well spent.
