Frequently Asked Questions
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Food Shortages: 1/3 of U.S. vegetables are imported (USDA)... politics can affect our food supply
Inflating Costs: 20.5% inflation rate from 2020-2025 (Federal Reserve Bank of St.Louis). Farmers are also HIGHLY tax subsidized... politics can affect our food cost
Pesticide & Chems: 59% of conventional U.S. food tested positive for pesticides. Roughly 77% of domestic fruits, 60% of US vegetables and about 53% of US grains sampled showed residues (FDA).
10-25% of ORGANIC produce tests positive for pesticides (Beyond Pesticides).
Variety Availability: Less than 1% of viable fruit and vegetable varieties for our growth zone are available at retail grocery stores.
Nutrient Retention: By the time produce sits on a retail grocer shelf — often 1 to 2 weeks after picking — it can lose 15% - 55% of its vitamins, and in some cases, up to 90% of specific antioxidants (Chicago Tribune).
Health Benefits: substantial, measurable reductions in depression, anxiety, and mood disturbances, while heavily increasing overall life satisfaction (National Institute of Health). In a study tracking the psychological impacts of nature, 87% of respondents reported that gardening was "very important" or "extremely important" specifically for relaxation and stress relief (National Institute of Health).
36% to 50% Lower Dementia Risk (Ohio State & Health Discovery).
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GETTING OFF THE GROUND! Tending and harvesting your garden is much easier on your body than in-ground gardens.
• Much lower weed and grass pressure
• Lower bug and pest pressure
• Mole and Rabbit prevention
• Full control over soil composition and fertilization
• More efficient watering and soil moisture control
• Cleaner produce due to less contact with the ground
• Much less soil and mulch erosion
• Much less disease spread
• Cleaner more attractive look than an in-ground garden
• Raised beds are protected by a food safe powder coat
• Available in multiple color options and designs
• 20+ Year expected lifespan with metal raised beds
Our metal raised garden beds make gardening more comfortable, and can lead to healthier plants and more abundant harvests—all while adding a clean, attractive feature to your outdoor space.
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Gardens are typically custom bid, not cookie-cutter. However, we pride ourselves on offering and recommending highly efficient gardens designed to maximize your food production efficiency.
A simple pricing guide to help you estimate cost is:
$25 per square foot of garden bed at a 26” height. This does NOT include plants.
This pricing guide is for the standard square and rectangular shapes at a 26” height, filled with a locally sourced compost/soil blend, organically fertilized, and topped with untreated pine bark mulch.
Cost per square foot will go up for specialty or taller beds, and it will go down if you order more than one bed or go down in height.
Gardens are ALWAYS an investment. Check the “How long will it take for my garden to pay for itself” question for a return on investment breakdown.
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For an efficiently designed, well-producing garden, you can expect it to “pay for itself” in organic produce value within 2 years.
Raised garden bed customers can be expect an organic produce retail value of $22 per square foot of bed space per year. This is based on average yields and prices in our area for common produce like Roma tomatoes and squash if the gardens are properly tended.
Our metal raised garden beds can “pay for itself” even faster if you are harvesting fresh fruits and vegetables instead of buying from expensive specialty stores or farmers markets.
In addition, some gardens may produce higher than estimated average yields, resulting in “paying for itself” even faster.
These are NOT fantasy numbers, these are real-world expectations based on realistic food production that you can expect for a well-tended garden in our East Texas area.
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Perhaps, depending on your method and bed choice, yes you could.
However, we price our installs at retail cost (including discounts if beds are on sale), plus labor, and an install charge. This means that if you were to buy everything yourself, rent some small equipment for a weekend, and do the install yourself….. it would cost about the same as if we did the install.
The difference? We do all the work!
Let us use our own equipment and move THOUSANDS of pounds of soil and compost for you, for about the same cost as doing it yourself.
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YES! We have a wide selection of food producing plants that we can not only provide and deliver, but also plant for you!
We even provide plants that simply are not available anywhere else in the East Texas area. We have a curated selection of prolific plants well suited to grow in our environment offering you new flavors, textures, and culinary experiences… grown from your very own garden!
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YES! We absolutely can maintain your garden for you! Not everyone wants to or is capable of maintaining their garden, but everyone should enjoy their own harvest. We can take care of the tedious tasks so you don’t have to.
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A fruit tree is a multi-decade investment!
Plant it today and harvest several fruits within the first couple of years, and before long you’ll be harvesting DOZENS or even HUNDREDS of pounds of fruit per tree every year, depending on the variety.
Plant a few trees now, and you’ll never have to pay for overpriced, bland, chemical covered grocery store fruits again!
You’ll also get the benefit of choosing varieties that are SUPERIOR to grocery store options that you can harvest and enjoy at peak ripeness.
Aren’t you tired of being poisoned? Fruits are notorious for being heavily coated with pesticides and chemicals in an effort to increase profits. Your home-grown fruit will be clean and fresh, just as God intended.
The best time to plant a fruit tree was 20 years ago, the second best time is NOW.
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Small fruits like blackberries and blueberries are EXPENSIVE at the grocery store, but they are actually very prolific, producing several pounds of produce per plant through the harvest season.
Berries are also very quick to rot and mold, as you have surely experienced with store bought berries. So growing them yourself means you have a much wider window to eat or process them because they have not been in a shipping truck or sitting on a shelf for days.
Aren’t you tired of being poisoned? Berries are notorious for being heavily coated with pesticides and chemicals in an effort to increase profits. Your home-grown berries will be clean and fresh, just as God intended.
You’ll also get the benefit of choosing varieties that are SUPERIOR to grocery store options that you can harvest and enjoy at peak ripeness.