Using a raised bed garden has many advantages such as drainage, easy
tracking for rotating crops and weeding...just to name a few. Using 8 beds
I'm going to grow vegetables organically.
Raised Bed Gardens
Spring/Summer/Fall 2010 (VIDEO AT BOTTOM OF PAGE)
I can't express how easy and satisfying
it is to garden in raised beds. Yes it did cost
more then just digging up the earth. It did take time & money to
seal it with linseed oil for protections for years to come. But the
ease of watery, weeding and the overall organization of the gardens
is wonderful! The good news is...you only have to do the hard work once.
Although I do
enjoy gardening, it's nice to have a youngster around to help out
with the back-breaking work.
The furthest beds from the back door I planted my
perennial vegetable & soft fruits. I planted a bed
of Strawberries & Blueberries. In another bed I
planted
Asparagus & more Strawberries!
Since
these beds need little maintenance and I only have to harvest
them a
few times a year they're the perfect pick to be
furthest from the house. Notice the chicken wire
covering the beds. Apparently squirrels & rabbits
love strawberries too!
I planted 2 year asparagus crowns this year so I
couldn't harvest
anything this year but I should have a small taste of
what's to come in the spring of 2011. And full
harvest for the next 5-8 years thereafter!
PS...I wanted as little daily
maintenance as possible so I laid down some soaker hoses.
I started my seedling inside this year but the sun REALLY harms
the tender plants if you don't gradually take them out for just an hour or so daily for
about 2 weeks before planting them in their permanent
places.
This year I'll be starting my seeds
outdoors in a cold frame as much as possible. That
way I wont have a problem with frost and get an early
planting from seed (less expensive).
Next
to the fruit beds I decided to grow potato's. I
really felt I was wasting my time & valuable space since
potato's are about $5-$8 for a 10 lb bag. I WAS
WRONG! These Potato's were the BEST I've ever eaten in my life! Not only
did they taste great but my
daughter and I had a great time harvesting them
together. I'll be planting more of them in
2011for sure.
I really
didn't get the potato yield I was hoping for because I
made some serious rooky mistakes. I relied on the soil I
purchased to have adequate manure & compost...it didn't.
The ground got hard so the potatoes grew small.
About 60% were tiny but...still very edible.
This
coming year will be different. I have Rabbits!
Rabbits
=
Ready to use fertilizer!
Ready
for this? So I planted what I thought was
sweet corn. NOPE! It was feed-corn.
Kind you feed to livestock. DAMN!
This year
I'm going to read the freaking package and plant the
3-Sisters together...Corn, Beans & Squash.
DO NOT GET OVER
ZEALOUS!
I didn't realize
how many tomato’s each plant would yield. I tried to make
sauce for canning but after about 3 buckets of cleaning
tomato's I was tired of it. I got about 8 buckets and
allowed about 3-4 more buckets to spoil on the plant. AN
ABSOLUTE TRAVISTY! That should never happen! I now know that
2 cherry & 4 beef tomato plants are plenty for a family of
4. Granted it isn't enough for winter storage but...I have a
better understanding of yield and spacing for next year.
If I can get my greenhouse up in the spring I should be able
to extend a few plants through most of the winter for fresh
produce.
Listen and listen closely...
PLANT ONLY WHAT YOUR FAMILY WILL EAT!
Look at these beautiful beets. Every single one of
them spoiled in my refrigerator! Geeessss.
Here's a real bitch! I
tried growing broccoli and cauliflower...tried.
Well...not a single cauliflower flowered and my broccoli was
very dismal. The plants took up SO MUCH SPACE and
didn't yield. Never again! I'll use this space
for other plants that will yield and the family will eat.
Sorry for the blurry picture
but these are Brussel sprouts. I planted them a
little to close so I didn't get the size I hoped for but I
do have 4 plants that did well. I just had some for
dinner and they were delicious! I'm not planting
them in the garden next year, instead I'll be planting them
as an annual in the 'Food
Forest'.
Seed Bed
I realized, a little late
in the season, that if you want continues produce you MUST
have a seed bed. No one told me that lettuce turned
bitter and spinach stops producing after a few week.
LIVE AND LEARN!
Last,
but not least, was a huge surprise to me as far as
productivity and the amount of use our family got from it.
Cyndi's HERB GARDEN!
This is the first garden outside
our backdoor (kitchen door). Every backdoor should
have one of these. I'm going to divide the roots in
the spring and plant them out in the
Food Forest as the 'Herb Layer' this coming spring 2011.
We cut the plants down to dry but have since realized these
plants can take 0c (32f), and colder, and still
grow!
I learned so much this year that
I can't wait until next growing season!
Don't over plant.
Plant only what you'll eat.
Food is ALWAYS better regarding taste, nutritional (no
pesticides used), when grown
yourself. YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR FOOD IS COMING FROM!
Don't plant to early! I lost a few good plants to
frost. Check your local weather for last frost in your
area.
