After wanting gardens but having a hard time figuring out where to put them in our yard and how to do them in such a way that they would be easier to maintain and harder to neglect we finally decided on Mel Bartholomew's SquareFoot Gardening method. I poured over online pictures, watched countless videos, read blogs and forum posts and finally presented my ideas to Rocky. He and I went back and forth but finally we agreed that we would build raised bed gardens on our deck with Mel's methods. Last week we got the first one built and partially filled. A few days later I added the Perlite for drainage and more soil mixture to fill the bed.
I'm so happy with these beds, they are a good height for gardening without bending, and they look attractive. Rocky had come up with a great design. We used mostly recycled/repurposed materials for the table with new cedar wood for the walls. Actually no treated wood is touching the soil so there is no concern of contaminants touching the soil or getting into our food.
I have been inspired to garden from Rocky's parents because year after year they have beautiful prolific gardens and a bounty of fresh food for the table.
We want more fresh veggies, especially organic ones, but they are costly. This past weekend I was able to get some advice and help with picking some seeds for our garden, and as well Rocky's mom gave me some seeds and some seedlings to get us started.
We will be planting in the beds:
onions
garlic
shallots
strawberries
cucumbers
beets
pole beans
bush beans
Roma tomatoes
cherry tomatoes
carrots
rhubarb
sage
cilantro
rosemary
basil
rutabaga
yellow squash
zucchini squash
summer squash
bell pepper
and a flower assortment that attracts pollinators
and the following in the ground:
asparagus
watermelon
cantaloupe
pumpkin
My goals with this garden are:
1. to get outside more, hopefully even daily
2. to bring more fresh organic food to our table
3. to encourage the kids to eat healthier
4. to learn and teach the kids gardening principles
5. to reduce our carbon footprint by growing our own food
Today we built our 2nd bed. I'm drilling drainage holes as Rocky squares up the sides and attaches them to the table. It feels good for us to be working hard side by side building our 2nd elevated square foot garden bed. We finished construction just before dark. Once again recycled materials for most of the table, this one had a bit more new/purchased wood though in the table part and then of course the cedar for the sides. I can't wait for my seeds to arrive so that I can get my plants started and growing! Looks like mywww.seedsofchange.com order has shipped except for one back ordered seed combination. w00t!
Earlier today I planted some onions, and shallots in the first bed. Here's a peek at both beds filled and gridded off for their plantings.
1 comment:
Very cool! Organic food is very expensive, but well worth it in my opinion. Happy to see you gardening....it's very healthy and rewarding!
As far as the garden planning, I don't know how you're separating your plants, but I thought I'd share what I just learned....just in case you didn't know either...
tomatoes and peas don't like onions... but carrots do. :) tomatoes and peas like carrots too. I guess, in the garden world, carrots are the social butterflies. :) teehee...
I don't know about other combination, but there's a book out there about plant combinations that promote growth...or death for the plants. :)
I'll get you the title later. I have to ask Jamin's mom what the title of the book is. :)
Love ya!
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