Remember how I used to write detailed posts about house projects? Let’s bring those back for the garden. But let’s not make them too detailed.
We’ve lived here for seven years (!!!) and have always wanted to have a vegetable garden but also always had other yard stuff going on that precluded it from happening. 2023 is the year!
And we’re going all in! (Of course)
Our current plan is to have two 4’x8′ garden beds (maybe a third later on, we’ll see), with the following things planted:
- Broccoli
- Green Beans
- Beets
- Carrots
- Peppers
- Tomatoes
- Cucumbers
- Basil
- Cilantro
Click to see larger
We (meaning Steven) started the tomatoes, broccoli, and peppers from seeds inside, and the rest we’ll sow outside after the last frost (early May).
We got the supplies to build the garden beds two weekends ago (on April 2) and built them last weekend (on April 8 & 9).
They’re made out of 2x4x8′ cedar boards and 4x4x8′ cedar posts. The idea is that you can cut some of the 8′ boards in half for the sides, and use the other 8′ boards as is to make a box, but lumber never comes in the exact same size (or square) so we had to do a few extra cuts.
We treated the cedar to protect it from weathering and decay,
and we built the base in Dragonstone then assembled the rest in the yard.
Voila!
We still need to:
- add supports in the middle
- level the yard
- fill the beds with soil
- sow the seeds/transport the plants from inside
We placed the beds in the northwest corner of our yard, which, believe it or not, gets the most sun, because of our tree layout.
We see deer here frequently so we’re both concerned how much of the crop we’ll get and how much the critters will. We have to come up with a fence solution to keep the wildlife out. Stay tuned. Ha.
Our garden has the same layout as yours. We put a short (waist high) fence of chicken wire around it which worked well for the first few years and after that the deer got smarter and starting chomping off the tops of my tomato plants. Maybe we’ll upgrade it, maybe we’ll just live with short tomato plants…we’ll see.
I haven’t had very good luck with a lot of the crops BUT fresh bell peppers are amazing if you can get them to grow.
Thanks for sharing your design! Then did you reach over the fence to pull weeds and harvest? I was wondering if that would get in the way. And of course they figured out a way to still get in there. Ha.
I bet we won’t have great luck either LOL! I hope SOMETHING grows!
Oh this is fun! I actually was thinking about the Dragonstone posts from back in the day. They were fun to read because stuff like this is just NOT something I’m good at, and it’s fun to read about people who are good at it. I’m excited to learn more about your garden and how things grow. My stepdad is starting a garden in their backyard, so we’ll see how that goes!
Aww, you are so nice to say that about those posts (and that we’re good at building things) and about this one! I like learning from my blog friends too. Get ready to learn all about gardening in the midwest! Do you know what your stepdad is planting? Is he doing raised beds too?
Can’t wait to keep up with this – so ambitious, and yet I know you’ll get it done. 🙂 Then we’ll see whether the deer appreciate your efforts… 😉
Aww thanks! I think they will! Ha!