Raised beds are great additions to food production systems.

They can both be lovely and produce higher yields!

Raised beds reduce weeds and pests and provide increased drainage for plants. In Texas, the soil quality is also very poor, so creating raised beds filled with higher quality soil (such as from our compost pile) yields healthier plants.

There are all kinds of sustainable, "trash" resource materials that can be used to build a bed to grow your own food! We regularly find valuable material in perfect condition, and every single day we find new ways to upcycle materials. Repurposing the "waste" we already have in great abundance is a wonderful way to build a more sustainable world.

Here are 4 ideas for repurposed materials to use for constructing a raised bed for healthy plants:

Our greens grow happily inside old monster truck tires. We have a collection of tire gardens at the center of our property planted with lettuces, kale, shiso, spinach, collards, swiss chard, and carrots!

A 55 gallon plastic drum is now home to a dozen plants in this cute vertical garden. Watering is very efficient for this garden. It's super compact, so this is an ideal gardening method for small spaces. It's very easy to make; simple cut slots in the side, fill with soil, and plant your plants in the slots!

Pallets are easy to arrange in an octagon or other geometric shape. This bed is simple lashed together and filled with soil.

The square garden is framed with fence panels, and we set a mini-raised bed planted in a hollow stump in front. Before filling this taller garden with soil, we put tree stumps and other brush clearing at the bottom. This organic matter will break down to self-compost the bed, leading to richer soil over time! This is basically a mini hugel mound.

Speaking of which, hugel mounds are another great option for creating healthier, more fertile gardens. Check out our post for more info on building them!

We hope to inspire you with just a few options for building raised beds to increase your garden's production! Utilizing free "waste" material to build them is a double win for the planet!

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