How to Fill a Raised Bed (And Save Money)

For more videos about raised bed gardening check out this playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL812xhuxJaclJKMHKJdNHzt…

Thank you for such an informative option for raised beds. The recent loss of my husband has left me with empty gardens and an empty heart. I am not able to take on the enormaty of his established gardens and wanted downsized options. Our children built me raised beds from wood scrapes and now i know exactly how to fill them without huge out of pocket expense. So glad i stumbled on your channel. I think it was my husband who put you in my path. God bless you and yours. I look forward to watching and learning more. ❤

Thanks for sharing this info. I have been doing the "free method" for years and getting wonderful results. When I moved to North Carolina in 2007 I discovered the development had been built over a tobacco farm - not very conducive for vegetable gardening. By 2009 my neighbors were commenting about how black my garden soil was and still is today. I buried pine, oak, pecan tree limbs from our yard with grass cuttings, peat moss, compost from our kitchen, manure, egg shells etc. I built simple cages to compost from chicken wire and zip ties and dumped everything into them. Over the years, occasionally, I would add a mix of top soil and a bag of garden dirt. It does work! In the beginning I wasn't sure how to set up everything so I used huge planters and moved them accordingly. When I relocated the planters, I discovered the grass underneath was dying which made it easier to dig up and put a plant (normally tomato) with dirt in the spot. Last year we moved to an area with red clay. Doing the same thing and my garden is already producing!

Terrific video Scott. I live in Daytona Beach, Florida. I go to the beach regularly and pick up free dried seaweed. I wash it down , get the sand out and incorporate it in my beds around September. By February, the bed is ready and on fire. I actually use the exact same method you use. I do sprinkle some bone meal 2 weeks before planting. I will try to incorporate some peat moss later this year like you suggested. I think it will help with the drainage. Thank you again for educating us. God Bless you and your family.

Clear, concise good common sense. People need to hear more like this. A lot of people never "get it" and just go buy crap from a big box store and then wonder why their garden doesn't flourish

I like the way he speaks slowly and clearly for those who are new to gardening, as well as raised beds

Thank you so much Scott!! I love your thorough explanation and believe it is important to know the "whys" of anything you are involved in, not just the "how to". Don't change your style of teaching, many of us like to know why. One day those who only know half the story will only reap half the rewards then wonder why. Thanks again!!

Thank you. You solved two of my problems at once, filling my beds and eliminating my brush pile.

Another thing to help with the bulk is deciding to dig a pond. Not only do you get dirt for your mix (for free) but you also have a place to keep fish for an additional food source.

I was trying to figure out how many bags of soil needed for my plants when happened to see this video. So glad to learn about this amazing method before trimming my tree branches and buying soil (planned to do it tomorrow). This will definitely save me at least half of the costs. Thanks for sharing!

I had huge planters at each corner of our in ground pool. Over in the shade of a mulberry tree I placed our rabbit hutch and run up on cement blocks. Every fall I would rake out that rabbit poo and add it to the planters. It composted down all winter and in summer when I added the annuals..... Huge, beautiful flowers every year.

I recognized the drop in my soil and now I know what to do for my vegetable and flowers gardens❣️ Thank you sooo much ❤️

Thank you for this clear and direct information. Just building my cinderblock bed (I watched your video for that as well) and wasn’t sure how to fill it for cheap. Luckily I just collected like 10 bags of leaves and I’m about to do some pruning so it’s awesome I can reuse everything to lower my cost. Thank you

Finally! The best advice on soil that makes sense. Thank you so much! Paying for growing soil is a drag.

I agree and kind of practice this approach. Burying compostables in soil is a great way to attract and feed earthworms and build up healthy garden soil. Though, it's wise to be mindful of which things release NPK as they break down, and which ones eat up NPK in the soil. (Ex: too much wood can initially eat up too much nitrogen, and release it much later, but the right amount Is beneficial to soil composition and aeration). I just spent a day slogging in muddy clay that wouldnt drain from a 4'x4' terraced bed, despite adding several 5 gal. buckets of compost. I finally alleviated my colorado clay/drainage issue in my veggie garden by mixing in my bolted spinach pieces, grass leaves, torn up news paper, dead branches and torn egg crates with the soil. Then, tested again with water and FINALLY had fluffy soil that drained easily!🥳 it's definitely good advice to use your readily available organic matter and amend it with preexisting soil to save $, and I'd add to use cover crops that restore nutrients and build up soil too. Otherwise, I have always bought in bulk from a local dirt yard after inspecting their soil blends & composts in person. After a while, with this "free soil" approach, you'll have to remove fertile fluffy soil from over flowing garden beds, and that will be a good problem to have for sustainable gardening practices. :)

Absolutely genuine ' matter-of-fact' video that makes so much sense! Thank you! Really helped solidify my approach to filling my 4x8 raised bed cost effectively.

I have a buddy who has 3 thoroughbred horses. He composts the manure from his barn in some large compost bins and it comes out soooo nice. Black, rich, organic material. I get a trailer load or two every year to add to my garden and the one raised bed that I have. I built the raised bed with some old porch posts that I had replaced with Aluminum and filled the bottom with very old dry rotted fire wood and some of that compost. Then added some bulk mix that I had purchased. Worked great the first year and each year I just add some compost and turn it over with a shovel. Great video! Keep on keepin on.

Thx Scott, it was a really good idea to hear this thing from you too. This method is sustainable and recycles all the wastes around a household, then finally produces again meal for a family. Pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris. (Ter 3,19)

Thank you! You are so right about purchasing soil for raised beds. I'll remember the log and branch trick for my next raised bed.

Awesome video, man! I'm starting a vegetable/medicine raised bed garden this year and your videos are the best and most informative I've found so far. Thanks for all the work you've put into these