Raised bed Veggie Garden question (Raleigh: how much, Home Depot, to buy)

[annesg]

So...my husband built our 10x4 box for our raised bed (we're going to use the middle 2' or so as a walking path since I didn't think about reaching the back before hand, doh!

I was wondering if anyone could tell me what I should fill the box with, where I should get it, and how to calculate how much to buy. I have a copy of the older edition of Square Foot Gardening and I'm plowing through it but am still a little lost. I saw NRG's awesome post earlier with his plan....I'm having trouble finding it again and am not sure if there's a "best" mix for veggie growing.

The kids and I are psyched to get our project going, and my mom is a seasoned gardener coming down next week to take a trip to the farmer's market to pick out our veggies. Any recommendations or suggestions would be appreciated!

[mommapudding]

There is a Sq Ft Gardening website with a forum if you were wanting to try that technique, lots of people have asked that kind of question there.
We built an 8x4 and threw in 9 bags of compost/topsoil/manure in total if that helps. We're flying blind though, just a hope that it'll all turn out ok haha
Keep us informed with how you do.

[North_Raleigh_Guy]

Originally Posted by annesg

So...my husband built our 10x4 box for our raised bed (we're going to use the middle 2' or so as a walking path since I didn't think about reaching the back before hand, doh!

I was wondering if anyone could tell me what I should fill the box with, where I should get it, and how to calculate how much to buy. I have a copy of the older edition of Square Foot Gardening and I'm plowing through it but am still a little lost. I saw NRG's awesome post earlier with his plan....I'm having trouble finding it again and am not sure if there's a "best" mix for veggie growing.

Here is the link: Gardening in Raleigh ~ beat the red clay: Pictures of a raised garden bed project.

FWIW, I think you have multiple options when it comes to what to use to fill your bed. I used a mixture of compost, peat moss, and vermiculite but there are certainly other choices. Some people opt for just compost or just get bags of miracle grow garden soil at home depot. I wanted an organic garden so I opted for the compsot, peat moss, vermiculite method but that is just a personal choice.

How much do you need? Well that depends of how deep you 10'x4' garden box is and how deep your want the soil to be. Most people fill a garden box with at at least 6-8 inches of planting soil, some go as deep as one foot. Here is a link to a calulator where you can input the length width and depth of your garden box to determine how many cubic feet of soil you need.

Soil Amendment Calculator

Example calculation: 10 feet long x 4 feet wide x 8 inches deep garden box = 26.7 cubic feet of soil (That is just under 1 cubic yard)

Bags of compost and soil are usually sold in 1, 1.5, and 2 cubic foot bag amounts at stores. Check the lables. Or you could go to a garden center and pick up a yard of soil using a pick up truck.

This is what I used, but there are less expensive options

[annesg]

Thank you so much! I'll check out the links. And NRG, we're doing an organic garden as well--I'd seen the miracle grow soil but didn't want to go that route, so it's good to see other options. Thanks!

[needcaffeine]

Originally Posted by annesg

So...my husband built our 10x4 box for our raised bed (we're going to use the middle 2' or so as a walking path since I didn't think about reaching the back before hand, doh!

Oh crap, I totally forgot about this problem. Good to know! Thread bookmarked and quick repped