"Vegetable garden question..."

Most garden vegetables like to be moist, but not sitting in water.  On most packages, it says, grow in well drained soil.  I don't know where you live, or how much rain you get, but if you get daily rain, as in the southern states, planting the way your husband did is a good idea.  I used that technique last when I lived in Mississippi.  When it rained--nearly every afternoon--the rain would collect between the rows.  That allowed the plants to sit above the water level.  In a few minutes, the water would drain into the soil.  Using raised beds--where timbers are placed on the ground forming a square of rectangle and then filled with garden soil, is another method to create good drainage in your soil.

One other circumstance justifies the extra work of the rows.  If you have soil that heavy with clays, making hills is often necessary to drain the soil around the plant roots.

If you live in an area that gets marginal rain, making hills is probably not a good idea.  The roots of the plants might dry out more between waterings in a hilled up row. 

I also hill my potato plants.  As soon as I see blossoms on the potato plants, I rake up an extra 4-6 inches of soil on each side of the plants.  Hilling potatoes allows the plants to produce more potatoes and keep them covered from the sun.  Using heavy mulch can produce the same results.

Gardening is a great productive hobby.  Part of the fun is trying new growing techniques.  Tell your husband that I suggest you get out there and help--good luck with your garden.

Everyone thinks I too am a bit on the crazy side when each new year starts, this crazy PC just can't make up his mind always changing his garden!

Your husbands choice is very good for two reasons:

1. Drainage

2. Warmth

The building of mounds is mostly used with pumpkin and squash, but many use it for lot's of vegi. plants!

The mounds allow for better drainage promoting healthier root growth, this is especially important in the spring rains. The seeds and later plants are more protected from bacterial growth due to too much water, the roots can breath and will not drown!

By placing the seeds or plants in the mounds they are warmer than when put in the ground, the sun provides heat all around the mound. If planted directly into the ground it would take longer as well for the seed to start it's growth!

I built high beds this last winter, better for my back number one reason, great drainage and they are warmer than ground level mounds. Check out my pictures...Planted a little over three weeks ago!

The only draw back to mounds or high beds is they require regular watering as they tend to dry (drain) quickly, the general idea for their existance right!

I had an old farm house on two acres before I moved to the lake.  I read "Square Foot Gardening" (which is like a gardeners bible on this subject and decided to put in a raised bed garden.  I bought a rear-tined tiller* so it would dig really deep and set about making the raised beds.  I tilled down about a foot and got rid of most of the excess vegetation.  Then I made the beds.  They were eight feet by three feet at the base and about seven feet by two and a half feet at the top (because they had to slope to hold the soil in place.  I used the soil from the ’aisles’ to make the beds, then I put straw in the aisles to keep everything nice and tidy.

When I finished, I had a garden of what appeared for all the world to be grave sites.  Some of my neighbors kidded me about it.  But those mounds have a lot of benefits.  First, you never step on them so you never compact the soil; second, you only have to fertilize and weed the mounds, not the aisles; third, it takes less fertilizer and weeding; fourth, the raised nature of the bed makes it a lot easier to plant and maintain, fifth, the plants have about two feet of really loose well watered and fertilized soil and they grow explosively.  There are other benefits but I am tired of counting... :)

I produced red cabbage almost the size of basketballs and I could cut the cabbage from the center and six more smaller heads would grow around the periphery.  I planted two mounds in cucumbers, ate and pickled all I could , and was still taking 10-20 pounds of cucumbers a week to co-workers.  This was true of anything I planted.  I had three kinds of lettuce in one bed and went out every evening when I got home from work with a pair of scissors and cut my salad for the evening.  I pulled up some green onions to go with it and had that almost every night.  I successfully grew anything I could dream of growing.

Is there a benefit?  Yes!!!!!!!!

I also do this. 

I would rather plant in blocks  like this     X   X   X   X                 x    x   x  x  x x x x x

                                                        X   X   X   X

                                                        X   X   X   X                x x   x  x  x  x  x  x  x 

X  X   X   X   X                           the big X’s being plants that grow UP

  x   x   x    x                              and the smaller ones are root crops or low growing..

X   X   X   X   X

  x    x   x    x

because it makes more sense in saving space and less movement to weed the area, (Plant root crops amongst taller plants like tomatoes, becuase it deters weeds) HOWEVER, My husband rags me to no end

when I do this (because it is harder to rototill)  so i plant in long rows.  My garden is about 80 ft long and 35 feet wide. (roughly)

I mound the dirt up like that also, because of erosion.  Not only from the rain but from the wind.  Also you get ground compaction which causes uneven areas of dirt from walking on it and rototilling.

when you plant root crops, the root that is growing underneath the ground is going to grow down and outwards somewhat so mounding the dirt is better to keep the root from being exposed to air and insects.

He will probably have to mound up the dirt a few times during growing season because --well, depending on how much traffic your garden gets, the dirt is going to be displaced.

The reason that potatoes are planted in tall rows like that (with almost furrows in between) is because the root system of the potato plant is large and the potatoes themselves grow off the roots, it makes it easier to harvest them.  Also, that’s why you get green spots on potatoes, that part of the potato has been

exposed to the sun.

Tell your hubby i said Good Luck!

& happy gardening