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• Posted by: Canokie on March 18th, 2012 at 03:51 pm

  This spring I rearranged my garden again. Last year's layout didn't work so well because our dog kept digging everything up, and fencing each individual bed didn't allow for easy access for me to weed and harvest. So over the winter I came up with a new design, a potager style garden, in one corner of the backyard. It is completely fenced off from the back of the yard, and will provide just over 100 square feet of raised beds when complete. I reused the old beds by reassembling them into new shapes, and even reused the fencing and the soil. It's still very much a work in progress, but here it is. I transplanted my lettuce and spinach from last fall into the new beds, and a few purple cauliflower plants in one corner. There are also sugar snap peas along the fence, and Yukon Gold potatoes in one bed.

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• Posted by: on June 1st, 2011 at 01:08 pm

  
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• Posted by: Canokie on May 22nd, 2011 at 06:25 pm

  We've been eating a LOT of salads the last week or two. This weekend I planted sweet potatoes in one of the end beds, and filled up the bed on the other end of the row with tomatoes, peppers and basil. I left some lettuce at the end of the bed where the tomatoes are, but we'll be eating that up this week. I also planted three cucumber plants along the fence in one of the beds with the potatoes. The potatoes are starting to bloom now. Looking forward to being able to dig them! As soon as those two beds are empty, I'll plant melons, squash and okra.

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• Posted by: Canokie on April 30th, 2011 at 06:03 pm

  Today I filled the fourth raised bed with a mixture of our native red clay soil and a bag each of composted chicken manure and cotton burrs. Then I planted 8 tomato plants and 5 pepper plants and one basil plant.
  
  I also attempted to finish putting rabbit fencing around the raised beds, but I cut myself with the wire cutters and had to call it a day. I'll finish tomorrow.
  
  Here are a few pictures. The potatoes are huge, and lettuce, spinach, beets and onions are doing well. As soon as these crops are finished, probably in another month, I will replace them with sweet potatoes, summer and winter squash,melons and okra.
  
  My biggest problem seems to be that my seedlings don't come up evenly. I'll have to try to figure out what is causing that. It probably doesn't help that our blue heeler pup likes to dig and sunbathe in the beds when I'm not looking! Really have to get the fences finished...

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• Posted by: Canokie on April 30th, 2011 at 07:16 am

  Hi Coralrocks,
  
  No, they are not cedar, just the cheapest wood I could find at Home Depot (yellow pine I think?) I think cedar would be much better, but it was a lot more expensive. However, after removing the old beds I built last year and seeing how rotted they were after just one year, I will probably use cedar next time.
  
  I would like to use something more permanent like bricks or stone, but unfortunately I have a 10 foot easement along the back fence and I am not supposed to build anything permanent there. Although, I suppose a raised bed built out of stacking rock or brick could be moved too... one piece at a time lol! Since along the back fence is the only place in my tiny backyard that gets adequate sunlight, I had to put my garden there.
  
  If you have some old cedar boards I would definitely use them! I am interested in the composite wood your son used for his project. Do you remember where he got it? Maybe it would be cheaper than cedar.

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• Posted by: Coralrocks on April 29th, 2011 at 04:30 am

  Canoke, love your raised garden beds. Just curious about the type of lumber you are using. Is that cedar? I have some old cedar boards from an old deck that I replaced and I was thinking about using them to build a raised bed. My sons eagle scout project built raised garden beds at the nursing home so the people in wheelchairs could have easy access to gardening. He used composite boards that don't rot and created a seating bench on all 4 sides.

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• Posted by: Canokie on April 9th, 2011 at 02:00 pm

  Potatoes are up and doing well, and the onions are taking off. Spinach, peas and lettuce are coming along too, in spite of the heat. The back yard is still under construction and somewhat of a mess, but I recently got a new firepit to put in the middle of the seating area. Just need to lay down the weed blocking fabric and spread a layer of crushed rock in front of the patio and in between each bed.
  
  The last bed needs composted manure and sand mixed in, and then it will be ready for the tomatoes, peppers and okra. I have a dozen sweet potato slips coming next month - not sure where I'm going to put those yet! Might need another bed...

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• Posted by: Canokie on March 5th, 2011 at 03:31 pm

  I've been very busy putting in the new garden the last several weeks! My son built four raised beds, each one eight feet long, three feet wide, and a foot high. We positioned these along the back fence for maximum sunlight, plus the vining crops can now climb up the fence.
  
  Since our backyard is very small, I designed a layout that includes benches along facing sides of the two middle boxes, with a third bench along the back fence, creating a U-shaped seating area directly in front of the patio.
  
  This new design provides nearly 100 square feet of raised beds, enough to grow most of my own vegetables if my calculations are correct. Since I am in zone 7, I can grow crops most of the year. In fact, I transplanted a few spinach plants that survived the winter into one of the new beds. That stuff is amazing!
  
  We need to haul another ton of garden ready soil to fill the boxes, then I can finish planting. So far I have snap peas, spinach and lots of Yukon Gold potatoes in the one box that is full.
  
  Next project is building a raised bed in front of the house, outlined in rock, and planting an assortment of blueberry bushes and a couple of tea bushes in a mixture of peat moss, shredded pine bark, and garden soil. I recently learned that tea is grown on bushes that belong to the camellia family, and some of the cultivars have very pretty, pink flowers. They also like very acid soil, so my theory is that they will make good neighbors for the blueberries. How I love my tea :)

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• Posted by: Canokie on February 26th, 2011 at 10:12 pm

  After messing around with styrofoam cups in a kitty litter pan, which were constantly falling over, I treated myself to some plastic pots and trays like the nurseries use. What a difference! Best $10 I ever spent :)

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• Posted by: Canokie on January 22nd, 2011 at 10:07 pm

  I just found a really neat garden planner online that I thought I'd share:
  
  http://www.gardeners.com/on/demandware. store/Sites-Gardeners-Site/default/Page-KGPJS

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