Collection of Raised Bed Vegetable Garden Resources

HomeTalk asked me to curate a collection of resources for gardeners seeking clever ideas for raised bed vegetable gardens. I put together the following list of 16 articles, with lots of pictures, to help you plan your raised bed garden this year. All of these articles were created by a group of gardeners who contribute to the HomeTalk site.

A few of the more creative ideas I especially loved:

1. Making an old baby crib into a raised bed garden: How many times do you see an old-fashioned wooden baby crib for sale at a garage sale, yard sale, or flea market? I’ve always wondered what you would do with one of these cribs. After all, they aren’t suitable for babies anymore – they aren’t safe. Little fingers can get caught in those rickety wooden slats. So what do you do with them? You transform them into gardens! I love this idea. I like using old household items in the garden. I’ve seen boots nailed to trees to use as bird houses, bed frames used for – what else? planting beds, and old bicycles painted brilliant colors as garden accents. These are all adorable ideas, but nothing tops the raised bed crib!
2. Painted tires stacked for a raised bed:  Sometimes I see old tires dropped off by the side of the road around here in my rural part of the world, and it makes me sad, not just to see the littering but to know that they should have been recycled. Well, now I can gather them up, spray paint them, and recycle them into raised beds. What a clever idea to grow potatoes…I can also use them as planters. I have a feeling my yard is going to start looking like Sanford & Sons.
3. Ideas to convert raised beds into greenhouses and cold frames: I touch on this idea in my book, Plan and Build a Raised Bed Vegetable Garden, but many of the gardeners contributing to HomeTalk have found even more clever shortcuts to create greenhouses. Hoop houses, all season greenhouse tunnels…the ideas are wonderful.

I hope you enjoy these boards on HomeTalk. Please be sure to follow me on HomeTalk and to say hello to the fabulous gardeners who contribute their ideas!