Twelve Raised Beds. And Growing.

We’ve met plenty of people with large organic gardens. 

Lots of growers have two or three cedar garden beds out in the backyard. 

Four raised garden beds isn’t uncommon.

You might be surprised how many of your neighbors have eight, or even ten cedar planters in their backyard kitchen garden.

But Mike and Melissa McGuire’s request for twelve of our19”-tall Kitchen Garden raised beds, raised eyebrows. 

At least, here at Microfarm.

Now, twelve raised beds might seem excessive - especially for just two people - until you get to know the McGuire’s a little.

See, Mike and Melissa love to cook with fresh, organically-grown ingredients. 

Every day.

And for them, healthy cooking isn’t an occasional whim, it’s a dedicated part of an everyday, healthy lifestyle.

And if anything ever had a hope of rivaling their passion for cooking, it’s their love of organic gardening. 

And this is no fleeting crush, either.

We’re talking about a lifelong, soul-mate level connection here. 

And so, even though it’s just the two of them preparing meals at home, they included twelve cedar garden beds in their new landscape design to help ensure a continuous supply of organic produce.

 

To make Mike and Melissa’s edible garden visually appealing, the couple’s landscape designer - Alverde Landscape Design - varied the cedar garden beds in size from 2’x5’ to 4’x8’ , and arranged the raised beds in a visually appealing layout that also included edible fruit trees, and a series of delightful pea stone pathways for easy access.

Mike and Melissa especially wanted their organic to have the feel of a ‘tranquil alcove’, that conveys a sense of ‘delightful discovery’ when entering the garden. Alverde delivered this request beautifully, with thoughtful placement of the cedar garden beds and pathways, and by subtly screening the perimeter of the organic garden area by specifying garden beds that included 4’-tall, built-in trellises. 

 

An automated drip irrigation system was a foregone conclusion for an organic garden this large. So, we fitted each cedar garden bed with a drip irrigation grid, with a stub out. This made it easy for the Alverde team to connect the drip irrigation in the raised beds to the landscape’s primary irrigation system -  allowing the garden beds to be watered on a dedicated zone at the control panel.

And, as with all of our Kitchen garden raised bed installations, we filled each of the cedar planters with a premium organic soil and amendment blend.

Another edible garden mission accomplished.

But just how useful have all those raised garden beds actually been to Mike and Melissa since we installed them?

We had the perfect opportunity to find out in person, when Mike had us back over about six months later to install yet another cedar planter  -  this one with a built-in trellis to screen a generator and some swimming pool equipment.  

When we arrived with the new planter/trellis, we were delighted to see the signs of activity in the garden that we hoped to find;

Every one of the raised beds filled with thriving edible plants. 

Pruners, garden twine, and hand tools lying close at hand. 

Whimsical garden art, plant stakes, bird feeders, and other fun enhancements that the couple had added since we completed the project. 

Evidence of an active organic garden was everywhere and unmistakable.

But, when Mike came out for a quick photo with his new trellis planter, he erased any doubt about how much the couple might use use their new organic garden.

“We harvest from it and cook meals with the produce just about every day.” he smiled, before turning to walk back to his personal trainer and their morning workout. “We love it.”