LISA SWEETERS, AP, ON Raised Garden Beds

by Sara Gurgen

In addition to being an acupuncture physician and owner of East Coast Acupuncture and Alternative Medicine, in Palm Coast, Lisa Sweeters is an avid surfer, raises backyard chickens and enjoys raised-bed gardening with her daughter, Sayler, who loves all aspects of gardening, from planting to watering to harvesting.

HOW DID YOU GET STARTED BUILDING YOUR RAISED GARDEN BEDS?

I wanted raised beds, but my husband said it was way too expensive. I found a way forward by using repurposed wood, and we now have huge raised beds. When the city of Flagler Beach was working on rebuilding a long dock/walkway, they ripped out a ton of wood and threw it in the dumpster. So, we went dumpster diving, removed the nails and built the beds.

HOW DID YOU DESIGN YOUR BEDS?

We basically did lasagna gardening. The bottom is cardboard; then logs and branches; then smaller things like leaves, moss and old palmettos. Then we get mulch from the landfill (they chip trees), horse manure from Whispering Meadows, and topsoil from the dump or Stone Plus (they have nice dirt).

HOW DO YOU MAINTAIN THE BEDS?

Instead of commercial fertilizers, I use kitchen and chicken coop compost to enrich the soil; I have three compost bins in varying states of decomposition. For weed control, I use whatever is on hand—the hay and chicken manure from the coop is fabulous mulch for the nightshade plants and the kale loves it as well. Or I use mulch/wood chips from the landfill or leaves.

WHAT TYPE OF GARDENING DO YOU DO?

We do mostly organic/non-GMO seeds and plants, but occasionally I’ll buy some seedlings from the garden center. It helps keep Sayler engaged and interested if we have a little bit of instant gratification. We don’t do synthetic fertilizers (nothing store bought) and we don’t do pesticides. So, the plants are all organically grown.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO YOU THAT SAYLER IS INVOLVED?

I want her to know where food comes from and what a whole plant looks like. We had a huge garden when I was a kid and I had whole carrots in my lunchbox in elementary school. When other kids saw my carrots with the roots, they asked me what was “wrong” with my goods. The adults thought it was cool. Needless to say, nobody wanted to trade me a peanut butter bopper for a carrot. In retrospect, that was a good thing.

East Coast Acupuncture and Alternative Medicine is located at 102 Flagler Plaza Dr., Ste. 102, in Palm Coast. For more information, call 386-302-5363 or visit EastCoastAcupuncturefl.com See ad on page 9.