Dan and I started our garden last year mainly because I forced him to do so. I grew up all over the Midwest and my fondest memories of our house in Wisconsin that had a huge garden in the back. My family only did this two or three summers but I remember being so excited when we had fresh corn out of the garden and remembering how much better it tasted than something store bought. Beyond that, I also thought this was the better way to get more veggies into our diet (Dan's a dedicated carnivore so I had to do something to make him eat better!) but without spending hundreds of dollars in the grocery store every month on produce. Why buy it when you can grow it?
When we bought our current house, there was a long strip of gravel (on top of many, *many* layers of decaying plastic) that used to be a dog run. At first, we thought that eventually we'd dig it up and plant grass on it. After trying to do so, we realized that it would take a backhoe and that would be too expensive. We then decided it would be a perfect place for raised beds. The gravel would provide not only good drainage but an informal walk way around the beds.
Our final design involved building three beds. Two that are 6 X 10 feet and one that is 4 X 4. The variety of pots you see at the bottom are mainly to cover up a rather uneven patch of gravel (I'm trying to convince Dan to build yet another bed on top of that - we'll see if that happens). Eventually (not seen in the picture), we added PVC piping arches over the beds and
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When we bought our current house, there was a long strip of gravel (on top of many, *many* layers of decaying plastic) that used to be a dog run. At first, we thought that eventually we'd dig it up and plant grass on it. After trying to do so, we realized that it would take a backhoe and that would be too expensive. We then decided it would be a perfect place for raised beds. The gravel would provide not only good drainage but an informal walk way around the beds.
Our final design involved building three beds. Two that are 6 X 10 feet and one that is 4 X 4. The variety of pots you see at the bottom are mainly to cover up a rather uneven patch of gravel (I'm trying to convince Dan to build yet another bed on top of that - we'll see if that happens). Eventually (not seen in the picture), we added PVC piping arches over the beds and attached bird netting as a way to discourage the deer, squirrels and other critters that would eat our bounty. It was the best idea ever.
How did the first summer turn out? It was an odd one to be sure. It was the mildest summer that most people here remember and actually rained which kept our rain barrel stocked and the garden happy. For the plants though, you could tell some of them weren't enjoying the weather as much as we were. The tomatoes and corn did not produce very much while the peppers and carrots were having a field day. It was a good season as it gave us a lot to think about for this one. Dan may say I have thought about it too much and you may see what he means in a later blog.
How did the first summer turn out? It was an odd one to be sure. It was the mildest summer that most people here remember and actually rained which kept our rain barrel stocked and the garden happy. For the plants though, you could tell some of them weren't enjoying the weather as much as we were. The tomatoes and corn did not produce very much while the peppers and carrots were having a field day. It was a good season as it gave us a lot to think about for this one. Dan may say I have thought about it too much and you may see what he means in a later blog.
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