If you’re looking for a nifty way to get started gardening, I recommend a keyhole garden. This raised garden bed comes with an integrated composter that breaks down organic matter to nourish your plants. If you’ve never gardened before, it’s a great way to learn about composting and gardening at the same time, in the same space.
I ordered my keyhole garden in spring 2020, the Vita Classic 6 by 6 foot garden from Amazon. I was so surprised when the bed arrived in a couple of flat boxes. It took my husband just a few hours to put together and then we filled it with soil and plants.
In the subsequent years, I’ve grown squash, peppers, pumpkins (that was wild 😜), herbs and lots of tomatoes in my keyhole garden. The first year, my husband added a pair of trellis panels to manage the indeterminate tomato vines. It’s a great system for cherry tomatoes, and I’ve kept them every year.
As for what goes in the composter, I keep it to vegetable scraps, eggshells and used coffee grounds complete with the filter. I keep a “compost” bowl in my kitchen and empty it in the composter every day or so. Occasionally, I’ll get my trowel into the composter and stir things around. Interesting things grow out of the composter, too. I’ve had several avocado pits sprout and each year, tomato volunteers peek out of the garden bed. Volunteers are supposed to be the toughest plants, so I let them live.
Watering Vegetables in a Keyhole Garden
When you grow vegetables in a keyhole garden, the best practice for watering is to saturate the compost basket and let the water and nutrients flow from there to the plants. I like that system, but find that in the hottest, driest summer days, it helps to water the plants at the far reaches of the garden bed.
Have you tried a keyhole garden? Let me know in the comments your experiences with this type of raised garden bed.
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