Garden and Grill: Building Raised Beds for a Texas Vegetable Garden

We've recently replaced our old barbecue grill with this new cast iron smoker. All I can say is that cast iron makes a huge difference! This is one of the best grills we've ever owned. Food cooks faster, and the warming rack adds more space. Our last cook-out, we used it to bake the potatoes and corn on the cob.

Why I Enjoy Raised Bed Gardening

Raised garden beds have become one of my favorite ways to grow vegetables. They warm up more quickly in the spring, provide better drainage during heavy rains, and make it much easier to improve the soil over time with compost and organic matter. They also help define the garden, making weeding and maintenance much more manageable.

Planning the Summer Garden

One of my favorite parts of gardening is deciding what to grow each season. I try to include a variety of vegetables that we'll actually eat throughout the summer, including tomatoes, peppers, melons, beans, squash, cucumbers, and okra. By planting several different crops, there's usually something producing even when another vegetable is struggling with the Texas heat.

After a day spent building garden beds, there's nothing better than firing up the grill and enjoying a meal outdoors. Gardening and backyard cooking seem to go hand in hand, especially when fresh vegetables from the garden begin making their way onto the dinner table.

I had a lot going on this week, but managed to spend my Saturday working on adding more raised garden beds. The box in the middle is where I planted my Galia Israeli melons. These will vine toward the other melons from the opposite direction. 

I have several potted gardens in the front yard and figure this should be plenty enough to keep me busy. So far I have growing - Watermelons, cantaloupes, green beans, okra, squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers, Jalapeno's, Serrano's, Zucchini, and eggplant. Since I've started a raised garden bed, I have plenty of empty pots to start my flowers. I'm hoping to get to those this week. I know, I'm getting a very late start!

And by the way, the weather today was absolutely perfect! In the uppper 70's or early 80's. This is amazingly cool compared to what we endured with last year's heatwave. I'm really hoping for a good growing season!