Interested in kickstarting a raised bed organic garden? Here are four basic items needed to get started:

Grow Bed – Made of 100% recycled black plastic, these beds help retain moisture and absorb heat to speed root growth. With a 10” depth, these Grow Beds are suitable for all crops, including root crops like potatoes and carrots. They assemble easily, and are extremely durable.

Stacking Tomato Ladders – These sturdy ladders will make the most of your precious garden space, reduce damage from pests and diseases, and give you a bigger harvest of delicious, unblemished fruit. Each set includes six 32.5″ tall sections.

• Use singly to support eggplants and peppers
• Stack two for bush (determinate) tomatoes
• Stack three for tall (indeterminate) tomatoes

Coir Mulch Block – This 9 pound block of earth-friendly coir expands to a wheelbarrow full of mulch when adding water. This mulch will help your soil stay evenly moist, suppress weed growth and keep your plants cool in summer and warm in winter.

Raised Bed Booster Kit – If your new raised bed is made up of mostly topsoil, this is a great way to add some nutrient-rich organic matter.  This kit also includes organic All-Purpose Fertilizer.

For more information, see The Organic Gardening Guide.

Most of us who live in the upper Midwest take for granted that our typical growing season lasts from approximately May through early October. The Winter Harvest Handbook challenges that assertion, showing home gardeners and farmers how to harvest delicious vegetables year-round, even in snow-covered areas. Based out of Harborside, Maine, Eliot Coleman and his team have done the research and experiments for us, detailing their latest methodologies which include the most effective greenhouse structures, planting schedules, crop management and harvesting. Using both unheated and minimally heated greenhouses, Eliot is harvesting beets, carrots, celery, lettuces, spinach, leeks, onions and more from October to May. The Winter Harvest Handbook shows us that we don’t have to kiss our garden goodbye in fall, but instead continue to enjoy as many as 30 different types of fresh vegetables throughout the long dark winter.

Mel Bartholomew’s All New Square Foot Gardening is the definitive guide for efficient use of space in a raised bed garden.  With his special “Mel’s Mix” recipe for creating nutrient-rich soil, Mel instructs readers on how to maximize each foot of space to pack in a staggering amount of flowers, herbs, vegetables and fruits. Not only does he give detailed descriptions of what you can fit into each square foot in your SFG (Square Foot Garden), he has the best method of thinning seeds that I’ve seen. In addition, Mel includes detailed descriptions of how to build raised beds and make your own sturdy vegetable supports (trellises) and mini-greenhouses.

Talking Dirt – The Dirt Diva’s Down-to-Earth Guide to Organic Gardening is an easy read, packed full of valuable information and funny insights into the life of Annie Spiegelman, a California-based Master Gardener. This compact guide breaks down the basics of organic gardening into easily-digestible chunks, focusing on planning and building an organic garden, gardening in urban environments and also includes a portion dedicated to the choosing, nurturing and upkeep of roses and other flowers. 

Living in Wisconsin, it is often necessary to start some plants from seed prior to the spring planting season.  One example is a flower that my daughter had her heart set on blooming early in her garden this year – Snapdragons.