Soil & Garden Beds
Our Resources
VIDEO: Making Raised Beds and Using Containers (below)
GARDENS FOR LEARNING: Chapter 7 - Planting Your School Garden, pp. 56-59
CSYSG TRAINING HANDOUTS: Download on bottom of the page.
Building Healthy Soil
Download the whole story on healthy soil, preparing beds, and making compost from Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS), UC Santa Cruz
Try Cover Crops, crops you can plant outside the growing season that build up your soil, also from CASFS, UC Santa Cruz
Gardens for Learning, Chapter 7 (download link above), reviews double digging, a technique for improving your soil deep down, especially when you are breaking new ground.
Making Raised Beds & Preparing the Ground
Sunset's take on making raised garden beds in the ground and making planting boxes
Videos on making raised beds and prepping the soil from GrowOrganic.Com and from National Gardening Association
Also Related: Making Compost and Amendments
CSYSG's Videos on Making compost bins and Worm bins
Vermicomposting, or letting worms do the work, from CASFS
Calculate how much soil you need to fill planting boxes:
Soil Buildings Systems (adjusts for settling);
Soil Direct (for different sized and shaped beds);
Convert from cubic feet to cubic yards.