Raised Beds

March 2, 2020

Kitchen garden in late winter

I really like to work on kitchen gardens, and that seems like an understatement. I love to work on kitchen gardens, and I really enjoy setting up the soil and rolling the sandy soil between my fingers. Rolling the sand, I get to see what the grains look like and see what I can do with the soil to get it to a level where you can grow some edible plants. I love seeing my clients light up when they realize they have grown their own lettuce from seed, and they can just pick a beautiful french radish from the soil and snack away in the late morning. It’s so great to anticipate and plan for weather changes and transition a garden from one season to the next.

Check out Laura’s kitchen garden. Laura is an amazing client and friend to have, not only because she’s incredibly smart, incredibly tuned into her garden but also because she can be a challenge in the best of ways. She’s a scientist and my explanations with her are always initially concise but she wants to learn more and know more about how plants grow, why they do the things they do and she really keeps me on my toes. I like just winging it, and feeling the changes but she is great at working with me on reasons why things work the way they do.

let’s just say, I never have to explain transpiration to her. Anyway, check out the yield she’s been getting. This is all hand watering and an abundant supply of compost, grown on site from her hearty compost bin with worms.

March 2, 2016

Three Sisters Planting

I’ve been on a research kick all Winter in order to prepare for Spring and I really wanted to try something new and challenging for the Spring. I came across a few posts regarding the Native American way of planting and how it can be beneficial to both the soil and plants. You’ll find more info. here . The idea is to plant the corn first, then once it’s 5″ talk, you plant the beans around the corn. The corn will provide support for the beans. After that you plant squash for ground cover.

The corn I planted is called Oaxacan Green Dent Corn – from Seed Savers.

I prepped the soil through the Fall and Winter by using the box as a compost bin. It didn’t really smell but I had to be dedicated to turning the soil. The soil appeared to be very rich, fertile and better than anything I had ever purchased at any gardening center. I would do this again in a heart beat – it really reduced our food wastes as well. I guess having to look at your trash often helps you reduce the amount of trash you make. Eggs, coffee, leafy greens decomposed quickly – citrus not so much.

It still looks a little messy, and I do need to keep picking out any growths that aren’t corn – so medium level of involvement.

October 28, 2015

We love our front yard, unfortunately we have strict orders from our landlord to not touch the grass. Meaning, if we want to start our garden we have to work with pots and raised beds. I’ve seen wonderful raised beds, but I’ve never built my own so this will be our attempt at building.

Our goal is to build 2 different boxes: The first a 4’x4′ and the second a 2’x4′

We want to use the bigger box immediately, for tomato plants. The second, for plants that may grow like vines.

The first thing you’ll need is a plan. Our plan was to have boxes that are about 2′ off the ground, giving the plants enough space for a root structure. Keep in mind you’ll have to fill it with soil and it can get pricey. We opted for beautiful redwood from Home Depot.

These pieces of wood aren’t cheap, so you really want to get your measurements right.

Supplies:

4 – 1″H x 8’L x 1″W

2 – 4″x4″ for corner reinforcement (6’H x 4″W x 4″)

1 box of 4″ screw

1 canvas material for the floor (since we’re on top of cement.

redwood supplies — Redwood for our beautiful raised beds

Building Materials + soil and mulch

I used a sawhorse table to cut saw the 8′ redwood planks in 2. This was the last step, my trusty boyfriend did most of the work to be honest – as I was a little unsteady.

Finished product.

In hindsight, I would have planted less tomato plants in this space to give them space to grow. I had 5 in here and it was overwhelming at times. Next year 3 tomato plants and smaller, edible herb garden.