Organic Raised Beds

After expanding my raised garden beds this spring I wrestled with how to water them to maximize the impact and minimize the evaporation.  Drip irrigation is definitely the way to go, but did you know that conventional drip hoses leach heavy metals into the ground water?  I know, I know-there are chemical hazards everywhere, but if I went to all of the trouble to use untreated wood and bring in certified organic soil, fertilizers and seed, I would be crazy to introduce anything that would put crud back into my little kitchen garden.  I am a wannabe purist and in this case, almost doesn’t count.

Hours and hours of research garnered little in the way of a drinking water safe irrigation system. So, I designed my own.  Essentially, I put holes in drinking water safe hoses, coupled them together and brought the irrigation to each bed with spigots to control the watering.  I could put timers on the system, but instead, I set the timer on my mobile office assistant aka IPhone and run in and out to switch the watering from bed to bed.  That’s counts as exercise towards the 10,000 daily steps, right?

Here’s a peek at the layout and the results. I am proud to say that I have good looking crops and have been posting them to Facebook like most parents post photos of their kids.  As I had hoped at the outset of the project, I now go out the door, cut fresh herbs, micro greens and veggies and cook them up for dinner.  It’s glorious!  I have enjoyed tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, arugula, scallions, pattypan squash and more, while still waiting on my cool weather plantings to take me into the fall.

I want to do this for a living.  Anyone need an organic kitchen garden?