Our Transformational Gardening method is easier & less work than traditional organic gardening, and is perfect for both beginner and experienced gardeners. Our method is as healthy for humans and the environment as it is for the crops. This post lists all the supplies you will need to set up your new food garden. The learning process is a commitment driven by enjoyment and rewards. We are here to support your gardening journey!
Start small and learn at your own pace
We give first time food gardeners the basic information and support they need to have an abundant harvest right from the start with less work! Although most of our growing methods work anywhere we add many tips about Climate Zone 5b and 6a for our local community of gardeners in the Chicago area.
Review these key resources:
Before you dive into this post about supplies and setup go to our introduction video and blog post Grow Your Own Food about our innovative method called ”Transformational Gardening.” We adapt the latest soil science to small garden spaces and raised beds.
Then read our blog post Planning Your Food Garden.
Now you are ready to jump into a detailed summary of our method Transformational Gardening Basics. We provide our gardeners with the best products for success. Our method is easier to learn and less work because you will use 100% microbe-rich compost as your “new soil.” Plus, you will use our microbe-rich worm castings (worm poop) instead of most organic fertilizers.
Then come back and continue reading this blog post “Setup Your Food Garden.”
Please contact our support team with questions about the setup process and ordering products. As an educational nonprofit, we are here to give you confidence at all stages of your “Grow Your Own Journey.”
Ready, Set, Grow!
Our online store sells the top quality products that are unique to our innovative food gardening method like microbe-rich compost, microbe-rich worm castings and raised beds. We use 100% compost as our NEW SOIL and worm castings (worm poop) instead of traditional organic fertilizers usually purchased in small bags from a garden center.
Supplies list: Below is a full list of what you will need that includes our online store products as well as items you can buy at a garden center. We also sell dense leaf mulch and topsoil ONLY for use with non-food gardens – flowers, native plants, ornamental plants, shrubs and trees. Learn how to create a soil blend for a native plant garden.
Before ordering online contact Deep Roots customer support at support[at]deep-roots-project.org OR orders[at]deep-roots-project.org and text us at (708) 655-5299. We deliver by truck in Chicagoland raised beds filled with our “new soil” (100% compost). If you are not in the Chicago area, ask our customer support where to buy microbe-rich compost and worm castings similar to ours in your area.
We do additional garden setup work besides delivering filled raised beds. See our store page about general garden labor and talk to our customer support team. We also work with a landscape architect and a native plants specialist if you need a garden design.
What you need to setup a food garden
Find the best location for your raised bed. Know how to choose the best sun exposure. Your garden will be more successful if you know how much sun each of your garden spaces gets. Learn more in our blog post on finding optimal sunlight.
Raised beds, planter boxes, growing containers. We recommend a cedar raised bed along with some large containers (wood or cloth). Some very large plants like squash take up too much space and don’t work well in a raised bed with lots of other crops.
We sell custom-made cedar raised beds and planter boxes in standard sizes and in custom sizes, including beds on legs. Our beds last longer than most wood beds because we make them from thicker cedar boards and use a special design that resists cracking from expansion of freezing soil during winter.
You can buy raised beds from another source or make them yourself from wood or bricks. But don’t use treated wood which contains toxic chemicals. We don’t sell cloth planting containers which you can buy at garden centers. Our cedar raised beds come filled with compost. View our raised bed store page. View our blog post Why Raised Beds Are Best.
Our microbe-rich compost is your new “soil.” Our microbe-rich compost is better than topsoil, soil blends and conventional organic soil for filling raised beds. Food crops love it. It is also the best compost for enriching your beds annually and for planting new crops. It is made from plant waste and animal manure using heat-loving microbes that kill off weeds and pathogens. The heat process makes more nutrient-rich materials available.
We fill all our raised bed orders with compost. If you provide your own beds, fill them to the top since it will settle a few inches. Add more compost in the fall after the harvest or at the start of every season. We also deliver bulk compost to fill YOUR raised beds that you set up yourselves.
Commercially bagged soil and compost are not your friend. Bagged soil and compost that you purchase from garden centers AND the soil in your yard lack the optimal amount of microflora and nutrients for a healthy, vibrant successful food garden. Many commercially bagged composts don’t have the best ingredients for healthy plants.
How to find microbe rich compost in your local area. To be safe use Deep Roots compost or a similar compost (made with heat and containing manure) that you locate in your area. The U.S. Composting Council (USCC) has a database of the vendors they certify that lists the compost ingredients AND if thermophilic heat process was used. Make sure the vendors don't use wood chips or tree waste.
View our compost, worm castings and mulch store page. Learn more about this product in our blog post Compost, Microbes and Soil Science. We sell microbe-rich compost in bulk at a lower price than the same product sold in cubic foot bags. We deliver bulk compost and also sell bagged compost that you can pickup from our Oak Park workshop.. We deliver and fill cedar raised beds and cedar planter boxes with our 100% compost.
Enrich your beds with compost in fall and spring. Spread a 2-inch layer of our compost over your raised beds and containers in fall after harvest and/or spring before planting starts. Use a mixture of half and half compost and worm castings when planting seedlings and seeds. This is the same compost you used to fill the beds and containers.
Worm castings (worm poop, also called vermicompost) is rich with micro organisms and nutrients and is used when planting seeds and seedlings (also called transplants). All worm castings are not equal. Our worm castings from a Wisconsin farmer has more densely packed nutrients and micro-organisms than our compost. View our worm castings store page and worm castings blog post.
Fish emulsion is a liquid organic fertilizer made from fish waste that is rich in nitrogen. It works on vegetables, perennials, shrubs and trees. We don’t sell it in our online store. It should contain 5% nitrogen, 1% phosphorus and 1% potassium. It supplies the primary and secondary nutrients plants need to grow healthy and strong. It also nourishes the beneficial micro-organisms that are in the soil. The right nutrition delivered at the right time is so important for the health of your plants. Make sure you buy 100% organic fish emulsion fertilizer that is certified by the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI). Read more on our fish emulsion blog post.
Also remember that healthy happy plants are more resistant to disease and insect pressures. Tomatoes that have been fertilized with fish emulsion can grow up to two times larger than non-fertilized plants. Applying fish emulsion is easy. Just use a watering can. Dilute according to the instructions on the label. Apply every three weeks during the growing season.
Seedlings and seeds. Buy the correct seedlings and seeds for spring, summer and fall for your climate zone. Get tips and planting dates in our Planting Calendar for Chicago area which works also for areas with climate zone 5b and 6a. Learn more in our blog posts on planting crops for beginner gardeners and experienced gardeners. View our blog post about the fast growing veggies from seed.
A water filter for your hose is needed if you are using municipal water containing chlorine which kills beneficial microflora. Buy it at garden centers or online.
Drip Irrigation is great if you have many raised beds and/or are out of town often. It’s healthier for plants, a more reliable way to water and uses less water. Ask our support team about our custom irrigation kits.
Dense leaf mulch is sold on our online store for creating edible landscapes that include native plants, flowers, shrubs and ornamental plants. BUT… don’t use this type of mulch on your raised bed food gardens. As it decomposes, it doesn’t provide the microbes and nutrients that food crops need. It decomposes and shrinks too slowly. You quickly run out of raised bed space to enrich the soil with fresh compost.
Straw mulch is one of many materials we recommend for mulching food gardens to suppress weeds and keep moisture in the soil. But we recommend that you place a half inch layer of our compost around your plants before applying the straw. Or apply this double layer of compost and straw over the entire bed.
Organic pest prevention sprays we recommend are OMRI certified fungicides, Neem Oil, BT (Bacillus thuringensis), and Pyrethrum. We also recommend Diatomaceous Earth powder for slugs. We don’t sell them in our online store. See our blog post on Environmental Pest Management (EPM) for more details. We use sprays in limited amounts along with our biodiversity planting system to prevent and manage pests.
“Floating Row Cover” (optional) is a white light-weight gardening fabric used to warm spring seeds and seedlings when the temperature dips below what some plants can’t handle. Temperatures in the Chicago area can be unpredictable in the spring during climate change. It is also used to keep flying pests like cabbage moths and squash vine borer out of your beds. Look for this product online.
A drip irrigation kit (optional) is strongly recommended. The Deep Roots kit is simple to set up and affordable. Correct and consistent watering is extremely critical to successful gardening – especially for beginners, large gardens and gardeners who are out of town frequently. Talk to the Deep Roots support team about drip irrigation options. View our blog post Deep Watering Is Best.
Your local food garden information service is an essential part of your food gardening tool kit. Deep Roots uses the Chicago Botanic Garden Plant Information Service. This indispensable service is FREE and convenient. They are staffed by about a hundred volunteer master gardeners. They answer questions by phone or by email. Their hours vary depending on the season. Send them photos of your pest problems. Since they use traditional organic growing practices, remind them that Deep Roots gardeners grow in 100% compost and use worm castings instead of commercial organic fertilizers.
Chicago Botanic Garden Plant Information Service contact information: website, Email: plantinfo[at]chicagobotanic.org, Phone: (847) 835-0972. Plus, here is a sample of useful information on their website: Tomato talk - Pests and Diseases
“Grow Your Own Food” blog posts
See the full list of our Grow Your Own Food blog posts. Each post is assigned ”tags” which are under the post title. If you need a quick answer to a gardening question give us a call or send a text to our customer support team – support[at]deep-roots-project.org AND 708-655-5299.
Deep Roots online store
See our online store for details about prices, ordering and delivery of raised beds, planter boxes, microbe-rich compost, worm castings, leaf mulch and more. We don’t sell traditional soil, since we use 100% compost as our growing medium. Our online store has 2 sections – (1) raised beds and planter boxes and (2) compost, worm castings, fertilizer.
Please contact our customer support team before placing an order online so we can assist you with the details and answer your gardening questions. You can pay by credit card in the store or by check.
(708) 655-5299 and support[at]deep-roots-project.org
Sign up for our newsletter
Please leave your cell phone number when you sign up for our eNewsletter, if you want text message announcements now and then.
Donations help us provide organic kitchen gardening education to individuals, organizations, and entire communities. Thank you in advance for contributing to our community and for sharing our website and blog with friends and family.
