Colle Davis, inventor, Portable Farms Aquaponics Systems
Grow Food in an Above Ground (movable) Tub
This page offers (free) suggestions and a visual tutorial for building an above-ground garden, often referred to as a raised bed.
In the past 24 hours, June 15, 2020, Colle and I have built a small raised-bed garden to show you how to grow food. This is a great family project with tasks for every member of your family to join in the fun.
The cost of this garden was approximately $100 for the materials. You can prepare the parts and then assemble it anywhere that receives six hours of direct sunlight. Some vegetables require less sunlight, but most like lots of sunshine.
We realize many folks may not be able to afford one of our aquaponics systems right now, but perhaps you can build one of these gardens at home, or consider building several in a community garden to grow food to feed families during this pandemic crises and high unemployment.
This grow tub is 2’x2’x8′ and is built near our kitchen door off our driveway and receives many hours of sunlight.
Personal note: We live in a very dense forest with 100′ trees and there are very few places with direct sunlight. (Robin Hood and Friar Tuck pass through our property quite often and wave at us from our driveway.)
In the final image (below) you’ll see we planted some tomatoes and basil to start our garden but we’ve also planted carrot seeds, radish seeds and many more basil seeds.
Here are the layers necessary for building an above-ground tub garden.

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