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I'm only working part time this fall so I was thinking I would put in some veggies. I have no garden at all.
In the past I have used lumber to make boxed beds but right now I have no spare lumber and no idea when the universe will provide me with any.
Is it okay just to make the bed by turning over the soil right on the ground and leave it at that? I have a fenced in yard and no deer that i know of. I do have bunnies so I guess I'd need to put up some sort of fence.
Or would straw bale gardening be cheaper/easier?
Or would pots/buckets be cheaper/easier?
I guess my question is...what is the cheapest and easiest and most bunny proof way to put in a vegetable garden?
What kind of veggies? I have a 4x8 raised bed, but I’ve been thinking about adding pots to our patio area with peppers and herbs. I think pots are the easy way to go.
Regarding rabbits, I have two cats that prowl the yard.
If you've got good soil there is no reason to do a raised bed unless you don't like stooping/bending. If you have a way to fence it in to defend against marauding animidables you would good to go!
I see you are in Fayetteville- well my fathers side of the family is from Tabor City/Whiteville and my grandpa was a gardening machine. Generally speaking the soils there were absolutely FANTASTIC- that sandy black loam that I would KILL for here in Montana. What's the composition of your soil? If you take a spade and dig down a foot or two, turn it- what's it look like?
Turn ground soil, plant seeds, wish yourself luck. That's the cheapest and easiest but you'll learn that's not always going to be the best and it might leave you with a sour taste to not try again next year.
I've never had cheap and easy. Cheap is planting in the ground and hoping for the best. Easy is planting in pots and more expensive and might be somewhat bunny proof.
Back in WV we had awesome soil with a ton of decades old rotting woody brush in a pile. We had a 100’x50’ garden that only needed plowing and a disc and we were off to the races. We had to take some measures to protect from raiders, but it was the best garden EVER. We grew peanuts, butter beans, bushels of romas, watermelon and everything in between.
IDK about the winter garden. A few years ago when I lived at the beach I planted napa cabbage, beets and swiss chard which I enjoyed. I would do those again.
In the spring I would plant peas, tomatos, green beans, zucchini, baby watermelons and pumpkins.
cheapest/easiest? If you got good soil, plant away, and plant some 'extra' for the bunnies.
Plant some whole-oats on outside edges or separate patch for them - they'll hit that rather than veggies.
Straw bale gardening is very easy but it breaks down over time so good for about a year then you need to rebuy bales ($7 each in Charlotte NC) and use the old bale as mulch. I use straw/hay bales both to plant in and as mulch, really keeps weeds down.
Take a shovel and try digging, you'll find out if you're strong enough to do that. I gave up tilling (clay soil) because it was too darn hard. I still plant things direct in soil and they do fine but most veggies are in hay bale and big planting bags. I have rabbits grrr so veggies are close to house with 2' wire around top of bags. Yesterday saw a rabbit on hind legs trying to reach the beans. They also like tomatoes.
I used to do lasagna-style gardening (look it up) very easy, no wood sides needed, but buying bags of dirt can be expensive.
I use cardboard (thanks Amazon) for weed control everywhere needed, even in pots because less water needed.
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