How times, and terms, have changed.
Up until a few years ago, the term “raised bed” referred to a garden bed that consisted of rich soil perfect for growing vegetables. Such a bed included plenty of compost and provided optimal conditions for root growth due to its fluffy texture. The ultimate raised bed required double-digging, a process where soil is dug, loosened, and composted to a depth of two shovel blades or 20-24 inches. This hard work paid off when, in a few years’ time, you annually extracted 300 pounds of vegetables from 100 square feet of double-dug beds. Furthermore, plants grew so closely together that they provided a living mulch over the soil surface that resulted in a 75 percent reduction in water use as compared to ordinary vegetable beds.
Today, the term raised bed — at least as it is used in Internet videos and recently published books — refers to a framed bed, whether the frame is constructed from wood, plastic, brick, cinder block, or old tires. Even broken-up concrete pieces, known as urbanite, can be made into such a frame.
This change in the meaning of a raised bed is due to a number of factors. On account of impatience or laziness or both, it is much simpler to dispense with the considerable labor involved in double-digging and just bring in perfect soil to be poured into a glorified sandbox, albeit with taller sides than that classic children’s playpen. I think this change also points to increased prosperity since it is a lot more expensive to build framed beds and bring in designer soil than to just dig up the earth and add some compost. Finally, I think the assumption that a raised bed will be a framed bed addresses the now-aging population of Baby Boomers since they account for 60% of the garden market.
As a member of this demographic, I will freely admit that the older you get, the easier it is to garden in a ready-made raised bed than one you have to start from the ground — actually underground — up. And you can build a framed bed as tall as you want. A two-foot tall bed in a wooden frame will mean you can do your gardening in a standing position or even by sitting on the frame. But three or four foot tall framed beds are also sometimes seen and especially convenient for those with disabilities or who are wheelchair bound and for whom bending over to any extent would be a chore, if not impossible.
I was inspired to think about raised beds and a wealth of other gardening topics upon reading “High Yield, Small Space Organic Gardening: Practical Tips for Growing Your Own Food” (Creative Homeowner, 2025), by Christi Wilhelmi. I took special interest in this book since I interviewed Wilhelmi in 2017 at her own garden plot in the Ocean View Farms Organic Community Garden in Mar Vista. She imparted many practical gardening tips at that time, and I was sure there would be a lot more of them — which there are — in this volume, especially appropriate for gardening in our part of the world.
One of the ways to economize on space is to grow vertically. Here, we are not just talking about peas, pole beans, and tomatoes. Summer squash, cucumbers, peppers, cantaloupes and pumpkins, and even watermelons can all be trellised. When it comes to heftier crops, however, you will need to employ sturdy trellises made of metal or wood with seven-inch grid spacing. You will also need to craft slings for each melon or pumpkin. Wilhelmi recommends using old T-shirts or pantyhose for this purpose.
For proper orientation of your planter beds, Wilhelmi advises going to Google Maps and typing in your address. The top of the map that appears always points due north, allowing you to maximize sun exposure by orienting your planter beds north to south, with the tallest plants in the back and shortest in the front.
She gives a simple rule for determining how deep seeds should be planted. The depth should be twice the seed’s width, a measure easily calculated by placing two of any seed side by side. If two squash seeds side-by-side measure between one-half inch to one inch across, that means that the planting depth of these seeds should be one to two inches. When choosing vegetable seedlings at the nursery, select robust, stocky ones in favor of those that might be taller yet more spindly. I would add that when selecting plants in general, this recommendation applies. Even when a stocky plant is flowerless, it is a better choice than a leggy specimen in bloom. There is plenty of time for the shorter, but stronger plant to flower, even as the taller, yet weaker one may flounder. To ease transplant shock, Wiolhelmi recommends a solution of fish emulsion and water since “kelp extract contains a broad spectrum of minerals and naturally occurring growth hormones that help ease plants into their new homes.”
Wilhelmi reveals her concern for older gardening folks with a list of “10 best crops for seniors.” The plants included here “make the best use of time, energy, and money” and “allow more time to do other things.” Furthermore, they are relatively drought-tolerant due to deep root systems. “Most of these crops grow well in containers or elevated planters to ease mobility issues.” Her favorites for seniors include artichokes which, although dying back at the end of their annual growth, return reliably each year; blueberries which, although they must be pruned at the end of their growing season, come back with another crop the following year; sweet potatoes, which may be grown in pots and can be harvested merely by tipping over the pots; rhubarb, whose longevity is counted in decades, not years; Swiss chard, which can produce new leaves for a year or more; shallots, which yield a year’s supply in only four square feet; oregano and thyme, which only need to be pinched back once or twice during the year.
Cal Poly Pomona’s annual Pepperzania sale starts April 26 from 10 am to 6 pm at the Cal Poly Pomona Farm Store, 4102 S. University Drive, Pomona. Dozens of pepper varieties will go on sale. For more information, visit calpolypomonanursery.com.
California native of the week: Bluff lettuce (Dudleya farinosa) grows along the coast of Northern California. With foliar rosettes appearing a drab green in color, you may not think much of bluff lettuce. However, the rosettes eventually turn grey and, during the dry season, their tips become red, to be eventually topped off by clusters of brilliant yellow flowers that attract hummingbirds. As its name indicates, it grows on bluffs or rocky soil and needs perfect drainage when planted in the garden. It can survive with a pittance of water but benefits from an occasional soaking. At seedfella.com, you can order 100 seeds of bluff lettuce for $14.
Have you had success gardening in a small space? If so, tell your story to joshua@perfectplants.com. Your questions and comments, as well as gardening conundrums and successes, are always welcome here.