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A little over a decade ago, Martha Stewart built her dream vegetable garden. Framed by a 10-foot-tall powder-coated fence, the planting space measured a grand 150-by-96 feet, and with the help of two other detail-oriented gardeners, she filled the area with thriving produce. “The geometry was excellent; every lettuce was perfect,” recalls Stewart. Then the moles came. Not one for using toxic pest repellents, Stewart was forced to move her veggie garden to a different spot on her Bedford, New York, farm, near her chicken coops. But last year, a new solution came to mind: raised garden beds. Stewart and Ryan McCallister, the head gardener at her estate, decided to move everything to the old donkey paddocks and construct 56 raised beds in the fertile half-acre plot.
Within a month and a half of completion, they had artichokes. A few weeks later, there were 10-pound cabbages, pristine cauliflower, and more peas than Stewart knew what to do with. “I couldn’t believe what was happening in this garden,” she says. “I vowed I would never plant any [other] way than raised beds for vegetables.” Ahead, we asked Stewart to share a few of her holy grail products that helped bring her new veggie garden to life.
Miracle-Gro Raised Bed & Garden Soil
Miracle-Gro Raised Bed & Garden Soil, The Home Depot
After constructing the raised beds out of 2-by-10-inch white oak boards, Stewart and her crew filled them with Miracle-Gro’s Organic Raised Bed & Garden Soil: a peat-free blend made from upcycled green waste with quick-release fertilizer. In every state except Alaska and Hawaii, the soil is locally crafted within 150 miles from the stores in which it’s sold.
A Long Bamboo Stick
1/2 in. x 6 ft. Natural Bamboo Poles, The Home Depot
The same bamboo canes Stewart buys in bulk and uses as stakes for her tomato plants are also what she uses to create straight rows of plants within the beds. By lightly pressing the sticks into the soil, she’s left with a long, level indentation that she can sprinkle the seeds into.
Okatsune Pruners
Okatsune 103 Bypass Pruners, Amazon
When it comes to trimming leaves and picking herbs, Stewart will reach for these pruners first. “They’re the best, sharp as can be!” she says. The sharpness can be credited to the hardness of the steel as well as the angle of the blades. The two curved parts bypass each other, sort of like a pair of scissors, resulting in a clean, precise cut.
A Hori Hori Knife
Barebones Hori Hori Classic, Terrain
This multiuse stool not only slices through thick stems, it’s also a digger. Stewart’s version has measurements engraved on the blade, which is especially helpful when you’re, say, planting Galanthus bulbs and need to bury them exactly 3 inches down.
Twine on Twine on Twine
#30 x 190 ft. Twisted Jute Twine, The Home Depot
There are two things Stewart consistently shops for when she travels: seeds and, more surprisingly, twine. She collects all different kinds of twine (ply jute, sisal, etc.), mostly to see how they compare to one another when she’s tying up her tomato vines. “When you start to become a serious gardener, you find uses for things you’ve never dreamed of,” says Stewart.