I'm pretty pleased with the results, so far, of my new veggie garden and want to show off some of the beautiful bounty I've harvested. I feel like a proud mamma!
This past May, I started revamping my yard.
To start with, I put in a new vegetable garden. It is a decent size, about 20’
x 6’.
Last fall, I started with a 6’ x 10’
section, using what I guess you could call, a cold mulch method. First, I lay old cardboard
over the grass. Next, a layer of compost went over the cardboard, then leaves, then more
compost, and kept layering until the bed was about 4” high. I threw in a few vegetable scraps too. Then I let it brew
over the winter. In the spring I added some triple mix. The soil is very nice and rich.
In the spring I wanted to enlarge it, as
well as start a new flower garden bed. This time, I hired a couple of young guys who
are students that run their own landscape business. Very impressive young men! They
took out the grass, tilled and then shovelled in four cubic yards of triple mix for
me. Then some mulch.
Below are videos of the fruits of my labour,
so to speak, to date. Already I’ve harvested many radishes, a few tomatoes, a cabbage and some zucchini.
I am particularly thrilled about my Three Sistersplanting, although something ate my bean seedlings in one patch.
From my last post, you know that I want to put some new gardens into my currently all grass backyard. According to the landscape designer's calculations, I will need 21 cubic yards of garden soil to do the entire garden! I can't image moving all that that dirt into the yard by myself. I'm sure hiring a pro to do it will cost a fortune.
This is what I'm faced with now. Blah.
Need a new patio & deck too but that's for another day.
After mulling it over for a few months, I decided I needed to look for a student to do the work. So I looked online and found a young person in my area willing to do the hard labour. He gave a great price too. Mind you, I have decided to do only half the garden this year, so the cost will not be as much.
New Garden Plan A
The City suggested that I:
Mow the grass very short
Put a layer of 5-6 sheets of newspaper over the area
Pile on the soil until a depth of 6"
Cover all the soil with 3" of mulch
Dig a 3" trench all around
New Garden Plan B
My hired student will also be removing the grass. So, Plan B is:
Remove grass
Rent tiller for about $80 and till Earth
Mix in approximately 3" depth of new garden soil
Dig 3" trench around new bed
Less soil will mean less cost!
I think it's doable!
If you are looking for a more intensive way to create a garden where there is grass you may want to check out this article.
At last, Spring is here! As mentioned in a previous post, after removing our pool, the backyard is a sea of green grass,
While looking for garden ideas, I came across something called, "Fusion Landscaping". Fusion landscaping, or gardens, make use of indigenous perennial plants and bushes. These types of plants require less water and less maintenance than something more exotic.
We have a very large lot! I estimated that to do just half the plan I'd need about 10 cubic yards of earth! The next hurdle that daunted me was how to get the earth into the backyard.
