Hi friends. I have an awesome dilemma. I have a big open acre of property that I am on my way to unlawning as my budget and time permits. I already have a large annual and perennial food garden that was made by sheet mulching, and I will be installing more trees with other guilds soon, and building on those areas with sheet mulch every year. I have pretty good soil and tend to want to put things in the ground, rather than in raised beds. It seems that raised beds dry out faster, get more pests (slugs for wood) and are generally just more maintenance than growing right in the ground. HOWEVER, I work on the photo team for a gardening company and they are asking if I'd like a (FREE) install of some raised beds for a photo shoot, and then I'd get to keep them. WHAT?! I obviously said yes, but now I am wondering, what do I grow in them that makes the most sense? My first thought was something that tends to spread that I don't want to spread, but I can't think of that much that falls into this category...mostly because I don't think I'd mind anything spreading! Maybe ground nut or jerusalem artichokes??? My next thought was potatoes, bc I'll already have the super deep soil that I can pull out and then put back in as they grow. I'd like to know - what would you do with this windfall if you were in my situation and didn't "need" the growing space? Is there anything that does better in a raised bed than in the ground? Thanks for your input!
