You are on the right track with mulching. After the initial tilling 4 years
ago, I have kept my vegetable garden beds under a mulch of grass clippings
(untreated grass only, thin layers of clippings), leaves, and straw (not
hay). It looks very attractive topped off with straw, it keeps moisture
levels constant, and I have only the occasional, easily pulled weed. I
amend with compost, and sometimes commercial, organic fertilizer on plants
that are heavy feeders, and the continually biodegrading mulch improves the
soil. I've gone from heavy clay to lovely, earthworm filled loam in just a
few years.

To plant, I just pull aside the mulch in spots, for transplants like
tomatoes, or in rows for seed crops, and pull it back once the plants are
high enough.

The only downside I can see is that the mulch harbors slugs. The birds work
over the ground and get a lot of them, but on susceptible crops I need to
use slug bait (sluggo or escargo, not the toxic stuff) early in the season.

Good luck and have fun,
Sue

Zone 6, Southcentral PA


"Jerry" wrote in message
om...
My wife and I have recently moved into a home in Burlington NC with an
existing, but at least for the last few years, unused garden spot.
There is a small creek running in the back of the lot with the garden
space right on the creek bed.

I have long been interested in "intensive" gardening that raised bed
gardening seems to offer, but have no recent experience. I was raised
on a farm and recall the long hot days of taking a hoe to weeds on
what seem like endless rows of corn, beans and the like.

Anyway, we started by tilling several beds in the old garden spot
today using a knock off of the "garden claw". The local rental shop
wanted $50 for a 1 day tiller rental. I noticed that by mounding the
dirt from the sides of the bed, each about 4 feet wide, did raise the
beds from 4 - 6 inches in the center, but the dirt dried quickly, even
after yesterday's rains. We have a deep lot, so it would take 4 or
more garden hoses together to water the garden. Also, while
Burlington has no water problem at this time, I don't want to be
wasteful.

1. Can we use the intensive planting in these "ground beds", i.e.
sowing the seeds rather than rows?
2. The topsoil is very nice and dark, but I have read that beds need
more fertilizer. I had thought about mixing them with cow manure from
the local hardware. Or should I use comercial fertilizer and how
much? Like I said, the cure for weeds on the farm were sprays, the
cultivator and a hoe. Do you mulch with bed planting like this? and
if so what is recommended.
3. We want to try the following, carrots, cucumbers, cabbage,
califlower, squash, broccoli, onion, lettuce, bell peppers and
cantalope. Any advice on how to group in what will be 3 beds?

We are trying our tomato plants in widely spaced 18 in by 12in deep
holes with newspaper and mulch rather than the beds.

Any advice would be appreciated.