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Clarence Booker

A letter from five raised beds

Bed by Bed

A free letter most Sundays from the garden: one bed, one job and one thing to try.

One email a week, most Sundays. Unsubscribe any time.

The year, letter by letter

A letter's picture in every month it went out. Read across for a year, down for a month.

  • A letter, with its picture
  • No letter that month
  • The month hasn't come yet

  1. The tomato bed

    Deep planting, tall cages and a thick mulch from May on.

    1. The tomato bed, January: Choosing tomato seed for the year
    2. Feb
    3. The tomato bed, March: Sowing tomato seed on a bench
    4. The tomato bed, April: Planting tomatoes deep
    5. The tomato bed, May: Tying up tomatoes as they grow
    6. The tomato bed, June: The first ripe tomatoes
    7. Jul
    8. The tomato bed, August: Too many tomatoes
    9. The tomato bed, September: Saving seed from the best tomato
    10. The tomato bed, October: Clearing the tomato bed
    11. Nov
    12. Dec

  2. The bean and pea bed

    Peas in March, beans in May and seed saved in the autumn.

    1. The bean and pea bed, January: Planning a bean trellis I can reach
    2. The bean and pea bed, February: Swapping bean seed with a neighbour
    3. The bean and pea bed, March: Peas up the string
    4. Apr
    5. The bean and pea bed, May: Shelling the first peas on the porch
    6. The bean and pea bed, June: Picking beans little and often
    7. Jul
    8. The bean and pea bed, August: Long beans for the pot
    9. The bean and pea bed, September: Drying beans on the vine
    10. The bean and pea bed, October: Saving bean seed
    11. Nov
    12. Dec

  3. The greens bed

    Spinach, collards and kale cut at a comfortable height.

    1. Jan
    2. The greens bed, February: Greens in a cold, wet month
    3. The greens bed, March: Spinach and lettuce before the heat
    4. The greens bed, April: Herbs along the edge of the greens bed
    5. The greens bed, May: Cutting collards from a tall bed
    6. The greens bed, June: Making shade for the greens
    7. The greens bed, July: Collards through the summer
    8. The greens bed, August: Sowing greens for the cool months
    9. The greens bed, September: A cold frame for the greens
    10. The greens bed, October: Next year's greens, planned in October
    11. Nov
    12. Dec

  4. The root bed

    Carrots, beets and sweet potatoes in a deep, loose bed.

    1. Jan
    2. The root bed, February: Planning the root bed
    3. The root bed, March: The right tool for the root bed
    4. The root bed, April: Sowing carrots before the rain
    5. May
    6. Jun
    7. The root bed, July: Lifting the first beets and carrots
    8. The root bed, August: The second sowing of roots
    9. Sep
    10. The root bed, October: Lifting sweet potatoes
    11. The root bed, November: The last roots of the year
    12. Dec

  5. The squash bed

    A raised hill, a bottle of water and plenty of room to run.

    1. The squash bed, January: Where the squash goes this year
    2. Feb
    3. The squash bed, March: Raising the squash bed one board higher
    4. Apr
    5. The squash bed, May: Young squash and a bottle of water
    6. The squash bed, June: Watering squash at the root
    7. The squash bed, July: Squash vines on a tall bed
    8. The squash bed, August: Mulching under the squash
    9. The squash bed, September: Curing squash for winter
    10. Oct
    11. The squash bed, November: Putting the squash bed to sleep
    12. Dec
Shortened garden tools hung at wheelchair height

The root bed · November 2026

The last roots of the year

What I leave in the ground and what I lift this week.

Recent letters

Each one is about one bed in one month.

Cedar raised bed under construction with tools

About

About me

I built my first raised bed twelve years ago from a pile of cedar boards, and I have been adding to the row ever since. Now there are five of them, each at working height, with a trellis at one end and a tool wall by the back door. Every bed has one crop family, and every year they move one place along.

Each Sunday I write down what happened in one of the beds: what I sowed, what I picked and what went wrong. The letters are free. What I sell is the part you can print and use yourself: the plans I built from, a calendar and a rotation planner, a few plain charts, and two video courses for anyone who wants to build their own beds and grow all year.

For the bench

The letter is free. If you want something to pin up or wear, there is this much.