Top 10 Summer Veggies To Grow In A Raised Bed

As we all know, growing in a raised bed is much easier than growing in a normal garden because of so many reasons like the soil of the raised bed garden that needs no digging or shoveling. Before growing your veggies, you need to build a raised bed garden. There are different tips and tricks to build a raised bed garden on a budget.

Read these full guides to build a raised bed of your own.

How To Start Raised Bed Vegetable Gardening For Beginners?

Certain types of vegetable plants don’t like full sunlight of summer so they either die or there is a big reduction of yield of these vegetables. But some vegetables are very sun-loving and they thrive in full sunlight. In this article, I will share 20 vegetables you can grow in a raised bed in the summer season.

1: Beans.

There are different kinds of beans you can grow in a raised bed in summer. Bush beans and pole beans are the most popular. Bush beans are very easy to grow as compared to pole beans.

Bush beans can grow up to 12 to 14 inches in height. Which makes them perfect for beginners as the plants are easy to manage.

Pole beans are vining snap beans and the plants of these beans can grow up to 8 to 10 feet long. You will need a trellis to support the plants of pole beans. The harvest season of pole beans is longer than bush beans.

2: Eggplant.

Eggplant is a very sun very sun-loving plant. Raised bed heats up pretty well in summer, so eggplants are great for raised beds.

It is best if you grow eggplants from seedlings bought from the nursery or any other store or you can grow them directly from seeds. But for seeds, you have to grow seeds indoors in a very controlled environment.

After the planting of seedlings in the raised bed, carefully add some much and remove any kind of weeds from the raised bed.

If you saw any flower develop on a branch, pinch it off. Pinching the initial flower will produce more fruiting branches to produce more fruits.

3: Carrots.

Carrot is a great veggie ever. You can eat them in the salad, you can eat them raw, make curry dishes or sweet dishes. And the best thing is, carrots are very easy to grow.

Carrots require very loose, sandy soil with great drainage. So the soil of raised beds is great to grow carrots. Any stones in the soil or hard soil can reduce growth.

You don’t have to buy seedlings of carrots. Just sprinkle the seeds of carrots on the soil and cover them with a very thin layer of soil. Don’t bury them, deep in the soil. Water them on a regular basis and watch them grow.

4: Cucumbers.

We all like cucumbers and you are gonna love the first crispy fresh bite of your own grown cucumbers.

Sow the seeds of cucumbers directly in the soil of a raised bed after the last frost of spring. Any unexpected frost can your seedlings. Or you can grow and hardens the seedlings indoors and then plant in the raised bed.

Cucumber plants can grow up to several feet, so you will need a trellis to support the plants. Trellis is necessary for the better growth of plants.

5: Peppers.

Pepper plants are very easy to grow in a raised bed if you start from seedlings. Growing from seeds is a little bit hard. You have to start growing seeds indoors 2 to 3 weeks before the last frost of spring.

It is good and easy if you start them with seedlings. Pepper plants are very sun-loving and thirsty plants. They require full sunlight (6-8 hours) with watering on a regular basis. But remember, do not waterlog your soil.

You can expect the first harvest of sweet peppers in just 60 to 90 days and hot peppers in 140 to 150 days.

5: Pumpkins.

Pumpkin vines can grow up to 20 feet. One pumpkin vine can take the whole raised bed and can be a problem for other plants in your raised bed. So it is best if you plant your pumpkin seedling in a corner of the raised bed and train the vine to grow with the edging.

By doing this you can easily save other plants of your raised bed. Another thing you can do to save plants is to use trellis to keep the vine away. The choice is yours.

But do it before the vine starts producing flowers because you don’t want to disturb the flowering process of the vine. Here is the full guide of growing pumpkin in a raised bed: An Easy Way To Grow Pumpkins In A Raised Bed

6: Squash.

There are different kinds of squash are available in the market like winter and summer squash. Squash vines can also grow up to 20 feet, so it is best to grow them vertically using a trellis, like pumpkins.

The fruit of pumpkins and squash are very heavy, they can not support them on their own. So you will need some kind of bag like a shopping bag or old tights and pantyhose to provide them support on a trellis.

You can plant summer squash in your raised bed in May, June, and July. Summer squash can take up to 100 days to reach full maturity.

7: Tomatoes.

Tomatoes are sun-loving plants. They require at least 6 to 8 hours of sunlight. Start growing tomatoes using seedlings in well rich and well-drained soil. There are so many varieties of tomatoes are available in the market. Some varieties are dwarf and some produce very big plants up to several feet.

So you may have to use trellis to support the plants. One of the biggest mistakes gardeners do in growing tomatoes is overcrowded the tomato plants in a raised bed. There are several different factors are involve in spacing the plants in a raised bed.

Read this guide to learn about spacing tomato plants in a raised bed.

8: Okra.

Okra is an excellent choice for people who live in a climate because okra plants love warm soil. Okra plants are not very well suited for cool soil. From a single okra’s crop, you can have multiple yields.

Okra plants are very easy to grow. You don’t have to buy seedlings, grow them directly from seeds. Sow the seeds in the raised bed soil and cover them with a thin layer of soil. Water them and watch them grow.

Okra plants are very strong plants, you don’t have to take care of them on a daily basis. At the end of the growing season, leave some of the fruits on the plant. Later, you can extract the seeds from those fruits for the next year of the growing season.

9: All Salad Greens.

You can build your own salad garden in your raised bed. Almost all of the greens can grow directly from the seeds. Spinach, lettuce, kale, swiss chard, arugula, and mustard green are excellent members of your raised salad garden.

10: Herbs.

You can also build your own outdoor herb garden in your raised bed. Grow basil, rosemary, mint, parsley, and thyme. These herbs are great to grow because we need them almost every day in our kitchen.