The Beginner 4×8 Bed
The standard first raised bed: eight crops that are hard to kill, spaced properly, with nothing planted next to something it fights with.
The plan
Each square is one square foot; the number is how many plants go in it at recommended spacing. North is the top of the plan — the tallest crops sit there so they don't shade the rest.
No recorded bad pairings between neighbouring squares in this plan.
Why it's arranged this way
Four feet wide so you can reach the middle from either side without stepping on the soil, eight feet long because that is how lumber comes. Tall crops sit along the north edge so they do not shade anything, and the two crops most likely to be picked daily — lettuce and bush beans — sit closest to the path.
- Tomatoes and peppers are both nightshades — keep this whole half of the bed moving in your rotation, and don't follow it with potatoes or eggplant next year.
- Radishes and lettuce are fast: both will be finished long before the tomatoes fill out, so plan a second sowing in their squares.
- Marigolds are here for continuous bloom to support predatory insects, not as a pest repellent — that claim does not hold up.
What's in it, and when to plant
| Crop | Squares | Plants | Start indoors | Plant outside |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tomato | 4 | 4 | Feb 20 – Mar 6 | Apr 17 – Apr 30 |
| Pepper (sweet/bell) | 4 | 4 | Jan 30 – Feb 27 | May 1 – May 14 |
| Basil | 4 | 4 | Feb 13 – Feb 27 | Apr 17 – Apr 30 |
| French Marigold | 4 | 16 | Feb 13 – Mar 13 | Apr 17 – Apr 30 |
| Bush bean | 4 | 36 | — | Apr 10 – Apr 23 |
| Carrot | 4 | 64 | — | Mar 20 – Apr 2 |
| Lettuce | 4 | 16 | Feb 27 – Mar 13 | Mar 20 – Apr 2 |
| Radish | 4 | 64 | — | Mar 20 – Apr 2 |
What you'll need
Bill of materialsSoil and equipment
- Raised bed soil, 12 in deep 32 cu ft · 22 bags · 1.185 cu yd
- Cages or stakes for tall fruiting crops
- Soaker hose — these crops split or bolt with uneven water
- Straw or leaf mulch
- Stakes and garden twine
- Deep container if not planting in ground
- Floating row cover
Seed for this bed
- Tomato seeds 4 plants · 4 sq
- Pepper (sweet/bell) seeds 4 plants · 4 sq
- Basil seeds 4 plants · 4 sq
- French Marigold seeds 16 plants · 4 sq
- Bush bean seeds 36 plants · 4 sq
- Carrot seeds 64 plants · 4 sq
- Lettuce seeds 16 plants · 4 sq
- Radish seeds 64 plants · 4 sq
Soil volume is calculated from this bed's footprint at 12 inches deep — adjust it on the soil calculator. Plant counts come from square-foot density for each crop. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Equipment is listed because the crops in this plan need it, not because it is sponsored.
Other layout plans
The Cut-and-Come-Again Salad Bed
A 4×4 bed of fast greens and roots that you harvest continuously rather than all at once. Ready in six weeks, productive for months.
4 × 4 ftThree Sisters
Corn, beans and squash grown together — the one traditional polyculture with measured evidence that it out-produces the same area grown separately.
6 × 4 ftThe Salsa Bed
Everything for a bowl of salsa in one 4×6 bed: tomatoes, peppers, onions and cilantro, timed so they are ready together.
6 × 4 ftThe Insectary Strip
A 4×6 border of flowering plants chosen for the evidence behind them — sweet alyssum for hoverflies, borage for pollination, calendula and dill for predatory wasps.
4 × 4 ftThe Partial Shade Bed
For the bed that only gets three to five hours of sun. Leafy crops and roots that genuinely prefer it, rather than fruiting crops that will merely survive.