Starting a New Business: Building Raised Beds for Growing Vegetables
Question:
I’m a landscape designer, but business has gone down lately, so I’m starting a new business designing and building raised beds for vegetables. Many of my clients want to do this, but they don’t have the time to build the beds. Can you offer me any advice?
Answer:
There are several people in this business already. That said, there are many possible clients out there who want to put in raised beds for growing vegetables, but don’t have time for construction and need help getting started. Some clients are even willing to pay for upkeep also, especially professional people with little time to devote and often with children who want a garden. The parents think it’s a positive thing for the kids to be involved, and young children usually love helping with growing and harvesting vegetables. In some cases grandparents would love to have a vegetable garden to share with their grandchildren, but don’t have the strength to build the beds. Many retirement homes are now investing in gardens in raised beds for their residents to enjoy.
The most important suggestion I can make is to be sure the raised beds are in full sun. Vegetables need full sun. They will not grow in shade. Always study the exposure to make sure the box is not north of a house, a tree or a tall wall or hedge that would cast a heavy shadow in winter. Additionally, always nail 1/2-inch hardware cloth on the bottom. Even if there are no gophers, veggies will bring them eventually. If there are ground squirrels and no resident dog or cat you will need an entire structure, like a house, built of wood frame covered with aviary wire or hardware cloth and having a door with raised sill. (My Southwest book has a small photo of one of these.)
You will have to figure out what to charge per hour or per job, study drip systems and choose a good one, learn about irrigation systems, timing clocks, and hookups. You will need to figure costs of all materials and investigate quality topsoils. Bagged commercial potting soils usually do not work well in raised beds. It’s better to fill them with well-amended topsoil. Most importantly you need to amend the soil with fully composted organic matter and add adequate organic fertilizer recommended for vegetables every time you plant. In other words, treat the raised bed just as you would treat gardening in the ground.
About the full-sun aspect: Full sun means 6 hours or over of sun. It’s sometimes difficult to convince folks of this. In some cases boxes may be in full sun in summer but not in winter. If people insist, you will just have to tell them they won’t have success with veggies in winter. Instead, during winter plant something that is adapted to growing in what I call “sky shine”. Sky shine means under the open sky but in a shadow so that no sun hits the ground, such as happens during winter on the north side of a house or a tree. Cinerarias love this position. Plant them in October in sky shine. Feed them well and protect them from frost. They bloom in February. A vegetable crop to try in this position is collards. Collards seem to be able to survive in shade and just grow leggy until the sun comes back but meanwhile you can be harvesting leaves. Plants in too much shade often need more fertilizer.
If the house faces south, the front yard may be the best place for raised boxes for growing vegetables: Dig up the lawn and compost it, switch the water system to drip, cover the ground with water-permeable landscape fabric, cover the landscape fabric with gravel, and build the boxes on top. Edge with a picket fence and flowers. A gate with an arbor and climbing rose growing over it can make the whole installation prettier than a lawn. Good luck with your new business!
Hi Pat, Could you put some pictures of the “houses” people have built for their gardens? I can’t find any on the Internet and you have some lovely ones in your talks. We have squirrels, gophers, rabbits, coyotes, bobcats and deer in our neighborhood…the whole works!!! Thank you so much!
First, please note that under my videos you will find one video listed as “Keeping Pests Out”.
That’s the one you want to look at since it shows a whole house for keeping critters out. On that video I explain how the structure works, how it was built, and the features that such a house needs to have in order to function. This structure is the walk-in type, large enough to house several raised beds inside. You will also find a video on the subject of artichokes that was taped inside the same structure. It shows an inside view of the south wall of the structure and me working with an artichoke inside the structure.
To go to these videos first click on the word “How To” Videos & More Tips” in the right hand column of my home page. Then click on the video that appears. While it is running look above it and there you will see a box with an arrow and it will say “23 more videos” or something like that. Click on that box and you will get a row of my videos. Scroll through them and you will find the one called “Keeping Pests Out.”
I am sending you several photographs of other structures, to which you referred, including the very attractive garden house designed by Laurie Connable, which Laurie had built on her property in Poway. At the bottom is the quonset-hut shaped structure built by my late son-in-law Peter. The top is hinged.
Another way to go is to use an electric fence designed for keeping out animal pests. Mr. McGregor’s Garden Fence is one of these and there are other smaller types that are less expensive but easy to use around raised beds.
I am interested in starting a business building abovevground gardens/flower boxes in Red Deer, Alberta, would you be able to help me get started or give me some information on how to get started
First write out a plan and think up a name for your business.
Assemble reference books and helpful clippings.
Purchase a file cabinet so you can keep all your papers and contacts organized alphabetically.
Purchase a spiral bound calendar to make notes of appointments.
Purchase a record book to keep track of all income and expenses.
Open a bank account devoted to this business.
You will also need some printed billing sheets. (Purchase these at a stationary store.)
Purchase envelopes and letterhead. (Keep it simple and inexpensive.)
Draw designs of boxes and containers and figure out prices.
Build some samples and take photographs of them.
Learn about irrigation systems.
Are you also going to remove lawns etc and install gravel surrounding boxes?
If so, price the gravel and delivery and installation costs.
Remember boxes need to be in full sun in order to raise vegetables.
You will also need sources for garden soil for filling the raised beds. Smaller containers should be filled with potting soil.
Put together a brochure and get some business cards.
Start by doing one or two jobs and go from there.
After your “shake-down” cruise, then I suggest drumming up business by contacting garden clubs and giving brief talks to outline and explain your new business. Hand out your brochure and cards and ask them for any advice and counsel they can offer.
Also put inexpensive ads in newspapers and post ads
in public places.
Hi Peter,
I am also looking forward to start designing raised beds for business. I recently completed my Permaculture PDC here at the Coastal city of Kenya, Mombasa. My only concern is do raised beds work well at the tropical climate which can be really hot! Hence, how best can I build the raised beds to suit our weather and which edible kitchen garden plants to start with? Thank you
The best method for building and using raised beds in most African and tropical countries is to build a “Keyhole Garden.” This system, invented in Africa and used for centuries in tropical climates entails building a circular wall 3 or 4 feet tall with a triangular slot you can walk into to access all parts of the bed and a compost pile, usually surrounded by chicken wire, in the middle. Use logs or rock to build the wall or any more conventional materials, such as brick or concrete blocks when available, but the central compost pile must not be walled off from the rest of the bed. Thus nutrients from the compost tend to leach into the root zones of plants and help to nourish them.
See photos of Keyhole Gardens here: https://www.google.com/search?q=keyhole+gardens&biw=1470&bih=954&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwiLyrid66jLAhXFWSYKHcqBCY4QsAQIIw
Regarding crops you choose to plant, you should notice what other gardeners are growing in your area and plant them at the same time as do knowledgeable gardeners living near where you live. I have traveled in Kenya and have seen excellent vegetable gardens there, but mainly in higher elevations, where the climate was similar to where I live in California, thus summer vegetables planted in spring after all danger of frost was over grew during summer. Summer crops I saw growing in Kenya included tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, squash, pumpkin, watermelon, and corn (maize) Cole crops such as cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli were planted in autumn and grown through out the winter along with onions, potatoes, Fava beans, lettuce and peas, all of which prefer cooler temperatures. If there is an agricultural office in the town or precinct where you live consult them about what to grow. In tropical climates peanuts, watermelon, eggplant, ochra, amaranth, yams, taro, and cassava can usually be grown.
Am sorry its should be Mr Pat and not Peter! Thank you..
Dear Salim:
No problem! I am actually Ms. Pat, not Mr. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is that I hope to help you by answering your questions and by offering useful and practical information on a wide range of gardening subjects. I liked your question since it gave me a chance to talk about Keyhole Gardening, which is a very fine system of building raised beds and works in hot climates. Keyhole Gardening is an exciting concept and maybe many hundreds of years old. It also tends to save water.
Pat