If you’re on a mission to grow your best edible victory garden, these are definitely the best vegetables to grow in raised beds.
I’ve grown all these vegetables in my raised beds over the years with ease. In fact, most of these crops are ones I now grow every year. And you can, too!
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10 of the best vegetables to plant in your raised garden beds.
Growing crops can be difficult, but there are also incredible benefits of gardening. Honestly, I have not quit gardening yet so I must be getting something out of it.
The truth is that gardening does not come naturally to me. I’m more of an animal husbandry type gal. But none-the-less, I love to garden and continue to do it.
Knowing about the best crops to grow, the required soil depth and the best fertilizer to use will help on your journey.
It’s also great to know about the best raised garden beds and gardening methods to choose from when you’re first getting started.
What vegetables can I grow in a 4×8 raised bed?
The options are truly limitless with a 4×8 foot raised bed. All 10 of the vegetables mentioned in this article would grow wonderfully in a garden bed of that size.
You can also grow vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, yellow squash, and melons (as long as you properly trellis them).
How deep does a raised bed need to be to grow vegetables?
I suggest a raised bed to be at least 6 inches above the ground when growing vegetables. The deeper, the better.
Through the year on my homestead, our ‘sweet spot’ has always been 10-12 inches above ground.
The exception to the 6 inches rule is when you’re growing root vegetables such as garlic, carrots, and sweet potatoes. Since these crops grow downward, you’ll want a deeper bed to accommodate their growth.
Why are these 10 vegetables the best for raised beds?
When it comes to growing food, Florida begs for raised garden beds. Our soil is just complete sand and would take years of mending and feeding it for us to plant vegetables there.
Before you start buying seeds, do your research so you know what to prepare for.
Cucumbers
I was growing cucumbers for the first time last season and it was SO much fun. They vined all over the place and grew these beautiful yellow flowers, so make sure you have a trellis.
A regular tomato trellis can do if you have one laying around. I harvested so many cucumbers from two plants it was unbelievable, really.
Looking back, I could’ve used them a bit more wisely by planting them in a location that would’ve provided shade for my lettuce or kale. I’ve mentally noted that mistake and will adjust properly for this season.
Vining cucumbers like full sun, so don’t be afraid to use their beautiful blanketing vines to provide shade for your other crops.
Additionally, there are three options of cucumber variety when growing this crop. You choose from slicing, pickling and burpless/seedless.
Tomatoes
Tomatoes another great plant for garden beds. If you don’t want to give, or don’t have, the space in your beds for crops like tomatoes and cucumbers you can grow them successfully in containers.
Tomatoes love, love, love full sun so slap those beefy, red beauties directly under it. You’ll want to plant deeply, mulch completely, and water generously. Be sure to trellis your tomatoes and prune the suckers that shoot off the bottom to promote great air circulation.
Update: I’m growing tomatoes first the first time in a few years and noticed some browning at the bottom on the lower ‘branches’. I took some fine pruners and snipped off the brown, followed by snipping some suckers off also, and I can not believe the improvement! There hasn’t been any brown growth since! (2 weeks!)
Garlic
It’s said that you can plant a little pasta garden and repel pests. I don’t mean you’ll actually grow pasta, that’s not possible. But if you pair your garlic and basil with your tomatoes, there should be no nematodes at your garden party.
I’m actually currently growing garlic and will be harvesting in the Spring, then planting another round to harvest in the summer. Garlic is a root plant so, depending on the variety you plant, you’ll need to make sure your raised bed is deep enough. You can also plant carrots near garlic to repel pests.
Update: I absolutely love growing garlic. Although I missed growing it this last season, I might try for a fall crop! My garlic crop lasted almost a full year. Note, I’m in Florida so I fully expected my garlic to mold! It’s VERY hard to preserve root vegetables here.
Beans
Beans are my husband’s favorite crop. Again, if you’re in need of shade, beans can be a great candidate. There are so many varieties of beans you can plant. I love french climbing and Kentucky wonder beans for when I need shade in the garden and don’t want to use my hoop gardens.
I love blue lake bush beans if I just want beans with no trellis-stress. Beans provide the soil with nitrogen, so be sure to pair this crop with a heavy nitrogen feeder such as cabbage and broccoli to make this one of the best vegetables to plant in a raised garden bed.
Update: When planting beans, don’t plant them near peppers! I made this mistake the 2020 Summer season and I wondered why my beans were stunted and my peppers are moving at a snail’s pace.
Kale
We’ve only ever planted Red Russian Kale, and only had success with Red Russian Curl. This Spring season coming up, I’m going to try Blue Curled Scotch Kale so I’ll let you know how it goes.
Red Russian Kale is a great vegetable to plant in a raised bed because it doesn’t take a lot of space. You can get away with planting them a little closer together than suggested. Additionally, kale is also a great cut-and-come-again crop, producing all season.
Beware though, kale can get mighty bitter in hot weather. You can add row covers to your gardens to provide a little more shade if needed! Row covers are easy to assemble and I use them every season here in Florida.
Spinach
I have an announcement! This winter is the first time I have ever successfully grown Bloomsdale Spinach in my vegetable garden! Seriously
Y’all, that is a huge achievement for me. I don’t have a lot of it, but by God, it’s there and I’ve put it in a smoothie because my picky husband wouldn’t eat my bitter Red Russian Curly Kale. Yes, I’m pointing fingers.
I’ll tell you what variety of spinach I’ve had wild success with is New Zealand Spinach! New Zealand Spinach is a great vegetable to plant in the garden in every season, even summer because it is heat tolerant.
A small disclaimer though, these plants get quite large. My spinach was planted right next to my cucumbers and it worked out perfectly.
