The Home Gardening Project Foundation
how to give raised-bed vegetable gardens to people in need
Gallery of Gardens 1 2
Photos of gardens & gardeners
Articles about HGP
Smithsonian:
"The Gift of a Garden" 
Sun: "Giving Away Gardens"
Sun: "Payday"
How to Give Away Gardens
download free how-to booklet for starting a Home Gardening Project (PDF)
Building raised-bed gardens
See how we built 1400 gardens
Diagram and materials list
About us: our history and mission, and how to help give gardens to people
Urban gardening and the benefits of gardening: Links to other sites
"How to garden" links: books and sites about raised beds, composting, what and how to plant
Advantages of raised-beds
• Better soil & better drainage
Growing plants in raised beds is a logical choice for gardeners with soil that is thin, rocky, exhausted, or heavy and poorly drained. Raised beds permit plant roots to develop in soil held above water-logged or compacted zones. This provides a more optimum soil environment for root growth.
• Higher yields
Better root growth from improved soils leads to higher yields for food crops. Also, intensive planting in raised beds means more plants can be grown in a smaller area than with conventional row-cropping techniques. No space is wasted between rows.
• Expanded growing season.
Better drainage speeds soil warming and allows earlier spring planting. In wet seasons, soil dries out faster, permitting planting to proceed between rains. Soil stays warm longer in the fall, too. .
• Easier maintenance
Because plants are growing above the level of walkways, less stooping is required for weeding, watering and other chores. Intensively planted raised beds provide dense foliage cover, shading out much weed growth.
• Using difficult sites
Raised beds make gardening possible on sites where growing plants would otherwise be impossible.
• Grow invasive plants such as mint and horseradish in a defined area.
• Avoid tilling--don't walk on the growing area of your garden. Soil in raised beds isn't compacted by your feet, so it stays light; scratch it up with any hand tool, or even your fingers, to plant.
• Improve only the actual growing area. No need to add compost, manure, etc. to the entire garden site, just the raised bed growing areas.
• Sit down while gardening. Even 10" high beds can be used as seats; higher-built beds (about 2.5ft) are an ideal height for tending while sitting down; add sturdy horizontal tops for more comfort if you like. Just remember to consider the width of the bed so the plants are within easy reach. Above mostly from a Univ. of Missouri Extension publication
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Gallery of Gardens, 3
This twelve-year-old boy was in charge of the family's vegetable garden.
Mrs. Hudson, 94 years old, with her garden. When a gardener was too frail to do the planting herself, a previous garden recipient was recruited to come and plant for her. Care of the gardens after that was easy. Coming out each day to "see how my garden is doing" drew all the gardeners out into the sunshine.
Garden in a narrow space, feeding a family of seven.
Mighty-fine cabbage--good soil, and attentive nurture results in good food.
Gallery of Gardens 1 2 Our mission and how to help Photos of garden building How gardens help people E-mail us
Read more about HGP: articles from Smithsonian | Sun Magazine | Vegetable gardening resources (links)
© 2005 The Home Gardening Project Foundation. Last updated October 2005.
