A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum Vegetable Gardening New veggie gardener, cold frame/raised bed?

Hello! I live in central Minnesota, and last year I bought my first house. I didn't start gardens, because my husband's and my first priority was the lawn. Now that we have the lawn under control, it's time for gardens!

I'm afraid I got so excited about starting my seeds indoors, that I might have too big of a project started. My seedlings are doing very well, but I haven't made my final decision about the location of my vegetable garden.

So far, the research I've done leads me to believe that in general the garden should be in full sun. I have a nice shed with three feet of rock border on each side, and the side that faces my house will be in full sun all day. I want to put a permanent garden there. It would be 10' long, 3 1/2' deep.

My questions are:

Should it indeed be full sun, all day?
Is it OK to plant against a shed?
Should I make it a raised plant bed?
Should I make it a cold frame?

I appreciate all input, I am completely new to this. Thank you!

Well I am so far from your zone and area that I can only answer a few questions.

Your plants do better in full sun and planting against a shed is fine, in fact might be a good idea. You can put a trellis or netting against the shed and grow cucumbers or peas as they like to vine.
If your soil is good with good drainage, you don't need a raised bed. Just get your ground tilled well.

Thank you! I decided to build one. I might not need it, but it looks lovely and I was able to bring good soil in (mine was quite sandy) and I mixed in an appropriate amount of organic fertilizer. I can't wait to start planting!

It snowed this weekend, but next weekend is supposed to be 70's. Now I just have to decide when the weather is safe!

Just check your weather station(they'll usually have a computer site)...they'll have frost dates for your area.

Would love to see pictures of your raised garden bed! I'm thinking of builing one next season too. Purely because I like how they look :-)