Raised Beds vs. Rows

Raised garden beds are very trendy now and they are quite nice looking and convenient. They tend to be less maintenance also. I have seen a lot of homesteaders talking about using raised beds for their gardens this year. A lot of this has to do with the environmental movement and not wanting to till the ground for fear of soil erosion. While this is a great idea and for the small gardener that simply wants to supplement their food supply would work quite nicely. However, for those of us that seek to provide all of our food supply and supplement our animals food supply then raised bed gardening is not only impractical it is expensive. Traditional row gardening is our only way to go and with good stewardship will not lead to soil erosion. For a row garden the first thing is the site. If it is flat, it is a good spot. Row gardeners don't garden on a slope or hill. Second, when the garden is not in use for gardening plant forage for animals, this will helps anchor the soil along with using the dead plant matter on top of the soil. Not only will the dead plant matter decay and add nutrition back to the soil, but will anchor the soil in place. So if you are considering serious homesteading and providing most if not all of your food supply then row gardening is your best bet. You will get more food per square footage and have much less expense. Besides the extra work of weeding and defining rows is good excercise. God bless.