A Garden Bomb

Sometimes you succeed and sometimes you don't.  That's just the way it is with gardening and you might as well be prepared for it.

This 4' x 8' bed is at the back patio and is full of dirt, compost, and some decaying leaves and chips.  I decided that I would broadcast lettuce and carrot seed to try and get a good harvest before winter.  So, I broadcast the seed and watered and watered and watered.  It's been hot so the babying was a necessity. Soon the seeds germinated and were "thick as hair on a dog's back."  I was pleased, so I continued to water them.  Eventually they grew to about 2" tall and I noticed they were fuzzy.  They were TOMATO SEEDLINGS! Argh!  We had tomato plants scramble across this bed for two years in a row.

I got rid of the seedlings with a hoe and planted some fall starts purchased locally.  Here we have green and purple cabbage, kale, and bunching onions.  You just have to roll with it.

4 x 4 Raised Bed

Here is our 4 x 4 foot raised bed. Currently, it contains 2 tomato plants, 2 fennel, 1 cilantro, 1 parsley, 2 pepper plants, and cucumber seedlings (hence the wire fencing in the foreground) and one sweet potato vine. It IS a tight fit. We did have yellow jackets take up residence, but our good friend E (who must have skin of leather) kindly disposed of the squatters :) Will keep you posted on the progress!

Potatoes and Onions

The potatoes are flowering! We're halfway there. Will wait until the vines die before harvesting. The onions are developing nicely!

Why we love raised beds...

We love raised beds. You can amend the soil (compost, compost, compost) and plant such a beautiful variety of plants without a lot of weeding. In this bed, you can find sage, chives, a volunteer potato plant, broccoli, oregano, cabbage, purple basil, and even a few onions from last year. This is one of the oldest and most productive beds that we have AND it's near the back door :)

Gone to Seed...

The cabbage and kale have now started to bolt! This means we shouldn't have to buy seed for our fall crop! Kind of pretty, too, don't you think?

After the rains...

The rains have finally come! After a rough dry spell in the MidAtlantic region, we have had 3-4 good rains. The garden plants are rejoicing :) The plants have pretty much recovered. Glad we mulched the tomatoes in the garden with grass clippings, or they may not have survived.

I love raised bed gardening. You can cram so much stuff in them! Note the 4 x 8 bed above. We have tomatoes, kale, thyme, chives, and cukes (in abundance - gotta keep an eye on them or they might take over). It also gives you an opportunity to intensely use your resources - compost, worm castings, etc. by placing them in the bed. I have 3 of these beds right outside my kitchen door and they are by far the best kept and most used. Hope gardening is going well where you are!!