As I promised, I’m sharing my first-year beginner experience growing vegetables and herbs in galvanized steel raised garden beds. Overall, I’m thrilled. I’ve learned so much. I loved the anticipation watching vegetables I planted grow. I will consider this year my starting point.  Even if it was the wettest summer in recent history which compromised the growing season, I’m ready for more. I’m already planning to invest in more raised beds next year.

I started out with three galvanized Land Guard raised beds from Amazon: two 4x2x1-foot oblong and a 2x2x1-foot round. I assembled them myself, which turned out to be much easier than expected. I selected these because they were smaller-sized beds, highly rated, well priced and aesthetically pleasing.

If you’re in the market for raised beds, do your research as choices abound based on size, color and materials. I personally chose steel because it should have a longer lifespan than wood. Learn more about getting started in my “Try Galvanized Metal Raised Beds to Grow Garden Options” post. 

What I Planted

What did I grow in my new raised beds? I started with the basics: tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, squash and herbs. I also grew lettuces, Swiss chard and more herbs in containers.

I had hoped for a stunning season, but frankly, it was pretty average. The weather wasn’t optimum during much of the season with excessive rain and often torrential flooding conditions. While many, including local commercial farmers in my region, lost some of their crops early in the season, it hasn’t been a total washout. You know how it goes with gardening: You win some, lose some. 

Best of the Best

Best by far were my Sweet 100s and Sungold cherry tomatoes that were coming in by the handfuls daily. I’ve always had great success with these varieties in my former driveway container garden. This year, I moved them to the back of the house in a new raised bed and large pot in a spot between boxwood and euonymus shrubs. Climbing up to 9 feet, I got a later-than-usual high yield that are still producing.

In addition,my Early Girl tomatoes came in late, too, but have been prolific and tasty.

Other Successes

I enjoyed growing eggplant – both Japanese and traditional – that gave me pleasure roasting them in sheet pan ratatouille throughout the summer (recipe coming!). I plan to plant more of both plants next year.

Garden cucumbers are the best, so tender and sweet. Still going strong, I’ve enjoyed them with tomatoes, salads, refrigerator pickles and smoothies since August. I had my doubts early on because I had to replant them as the first plants literally rotted in the soil from all the rain.

My herbs, including basil, dill, parsley, mint and lemon thyme, were happy in my raised beds and pots. I trimmed back the basil in August and expect another pesto batch later this month

Worst of the Worst

Sadly, my zucchini plants were a huge fail. So disappointing. Large, healthy beautiful plants did not produce a single vegetable. Through my research, I assume it’s largely due to the extreme rain this summer, causing blossom drop. Or perhaps it was lack of female flowers or even the evil squash vine borer, although I don’t think that was the case for me. Ironically, my summer squash planted in the same raised bed did yield fruit, not a ton, but enough to please me this beginner season.

Cultivating My Green Thumb

So as a hobby gardener, I am prepared to roll with Mother Nature’s punches and have an open mind to enjoy the journey. I’m not to total newbie to gardening. Years ago, I had a small plot in the back yard that my Dad rototilled every spring. That was until the trees spread their limbs, turning that space into a shade garden. So now, I take that experience along with recent years’ driveway and deck container gardening successes to make a go at raised beds. Below I share idea on getter better at raised bed gardening.

Start Earlier Next Year

For starters, I need to get my veggies in the dirt earlier next year and hopefully the weather will accommodate. Frankly, I was so laser focused on building the raised beds and how to fill them, the actual planting came in second place this year. Not only did my plants get a late start, but choices at local nurseries were picked over.

Continue Improving Soil

Because my beds’ soil is a work in progress integrating a combination of hügelkultur and lasagna gardening methods (see this Gardening Channel post for an overview), it’ll only improve because I’ll continue to amend the soil as it overwinters and I’ll be making my own compost, too.

Location and Crop Selection

Because of my yard’s topography and sun exposure, I need to be more mindful where I plant certain vegetables. Next year, I’ll be moving my veggies around and investing in a few more raised beds. Doing so means removing a hydrangea and peony shrubs and pruning my Chantilly Lace hydrangea tree heavily.   

I didn’t consider how high the cherry tomatoes would grow when planting them downhill along foundation in back of the house. A hard fall (ouch!) convinced me to grow lower plants in this spot next year. LOL!

Similarly, my squash plants got unruly where I planted them, so next year I’ll need to figure out a better job to contain them vertically. Already have some ideas in mind!

Do My Homework

My excitement continues to build as I learn through experience and keep an open mind about expectations with my raised beds. My sister-in-law has become an incredible raised bed gardener growing an enormous variety of edibles from everything imaginable including delicata squash, figs, okra and artichokes. She has a wealth of information to share that I’ve saved to memory after spending an afternoon enjoying a walk through her flourishing yard and the fruits of her labor for lunch. The eggplant dish was simply divine!

Join Garden Groups on Social Media

It’s fascinating to learn from the real-time experiences of home gardeners through Facebook groups across the country, in similar growing zones, regionally and locally. I highly recommend finding some social media garden groups to see what others are experiencing. You’d be amazed what will show up in your feed, how much you’ll learn and being part of a forum for advice.

Tomato Hornworm, Oh My!

This year I’m mostly an observer, soaking up information like a sponge to be aware and better equip myself for next year. For example, I kept seeing images of tomato hornworms assuming (and hoping!) they were a garden pest I’d never come across, as I haven’t yet in all the years I’ve been growing tomatoes. Until this year.

These large prehistoric-looking caterpillars will chomp away at your tomato plants while blending into the plant usually unobserved. Fortunately, I saw one covered with white cocoons of a parasitic braconid wasp, and then immediately saw his brother a few branches away.

Garden group buddies recommend leaving the hornworms with the cocoons so nature takes its course (learn more)  and disposing those without cocoons before they devour your plants. In addition, through the groups I’ve learned hornworms glow in the dark using a blacklight, so I have one in my Amazon cart.

Parsley and Dill Caterpillars

I’ve learned to appreciate the other caterpillars hanging out on my parsley and dill plants that that turn into the black swallowtail butterfly. I watched them perched on the stems of the herb plants and grow bigger daily. Then one day, they’d just disappear, as one of my fellow group members so accurately explained was her experience. I hope come across the butterflies in my flower garden as I did a few summers ago.

On Tap for Next Year

With autumn just around the corner, I look forward to the next phase of the garden season. Which means starting to compost, cleaning out my raised beds and transplanting many of my perennial flowers and shrubs that have gotten unruly.

I’m am trying my luck growing garlic, so I’m mulling over where to plant them this fall. Another bulb I’m interested in trying is onions. I’m planning on trying them a container next year. See Little Green Yard’s post on growing onions in containers.

And then I’ll focus on plotting out my edible gardening for next year. I’m already mentally preparing a list that will eventually land in my journal for my next year’s raised beds. Something to look forward to during the doldrums of winter!

I know I’ll be planting more eggplants than this year and some paste tomatoes to accompany my cherry varieties. Definitely on my list will be cukes, lots of basil and more herbs. I’ll try my luck with different types of squash (fingers crossed!), hopefully the lime-colored kousa and yellow or green pattypan.

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