Raised-Bed Vegetable Garden: Four Quadrants of Productivity

You don't need acres to grow vegetables. At Sunset's test garden, coordinator Bud Stuckey built four 4x4-ft raised beds using Trex composite lumber. He double-dug to 22 inches and amended with compost. Here's the planting plan:

Quadrant 1

'Blue Lake' bush beans, lettuce (dark red leaf, 'Red Grand Rapids', 'Lollo Rosso' in bean shade to prevent bolting), 'Bolero Nantes' carrots between lettuce, and peppers ('Golden Summer', 'Ariane', 'Purple Beauty').

Quadrant 2

'Celebrity' and 'Early Girl' tomatoes, 'Dark Opal' basil, 'Long Red Cayenne' peppers, 'Sun Gold' cherry tomato, sweet basil.

Quadrant 3

'Ambassador' zucchini, Japanese eggplant, 'Orange Bell' peppers, sweet basil.

Quadrant 4 (Herbs)

Chives, English thyme, golden lemon thyme, parsley (triple curled and Italian), non-bolting rau ram (Vietnamese cilantro), savory, 'Inferno' peppers. 'Blue Horizon' ageratum and white sweet alyssum border the bed.

Seed Sources

Johnny's Selected Seeds (207-861-3901), Natural Gardening Company (707-766-9303), Nichols Garden Nursery (541-928-9280), Renee's Garden (831-335-7228), Seeds of Change (505-438-8080), Territorial Seed Company (541-942-9547).