"One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it brings."

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Getting the fruit and vegetable gardens ready.

I always love getting the side yard cleaned up and ready for planting. It's usually an all day job but one of those really rewarding ones where at the end of it you can see what you accomplished. To me it always looks so "pretty" all clean and neat with newly amended black soil ready to be planted in.
This is our side yard which I first showed in the post Moonscape Makeover. Here is where we do most of our fruit and vegetable growing. It's also the area we put the Littlest Gardener's playhouse recently. I thought it would be a fun place for her to play and be able to watch our food grow.

The entrance to the side yard, the gate is kept closed so our dog doesn't go in and help herself to what ever happens to be growing here.

If we were to do this over, I know that we would've used crushed gravel instead of pea gravel around the beds. Pea gravel is difficult to walk on and impossible to roll wheelbarrows or the yard waste can on. I raked and weeded the raised beds. Then I mixed in steer manure (store bought) with a pitchfork. Every year I add some new nutrients to the soil, some years it's compost other years steer manure.

Sweet Peas garden ready to plant. She's going to plant her Sugar Snap Peas on the trellis.

This is where our Blueberries all grow. They are too close together, but that hasn't stopped them from being heavy producers. I mix in peat moss around them every other year or so to help keep the soil acidic. Here is some good information about growing Blueberries.

This is looking down from the other end of the side yard. The closest bed has a Fig tree 'Desert King' and strawberries. They seem to do really well together.

I have the tomato seeds started inside, we're trying two new ones this year; 'Black Krim' (thanks Ginger) and 'Tigerella'. Every year it's fun to decide what else we will grow here. Some years it's broccoli or potatoes. We've also tried corn, pumpkins and zucchini.
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35 comments:

  1. Crushed gravel is so hard on bare feet though!

    Nice veggie and fruit patch. Everything is so tidy and well thought out.

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  2. What great raised beds! Someone did some work there. I love to see people using every square inch of small gardens, just as I have to do. My 2 "square foot" veggie gardens are sandwiched between my house and my neighbor's too. Can't wait to start playing in the dirt! Thanks for the tips on Blueberries, too.

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  3. This is all so fabulous..I love you garden and yard and raised beds..everything. It will be so exciting when everything grows and can be enjoyed! Wonderful work!!
    Yay!Have a happy day!
    Kiki~

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  4. Looking good, Catherine! I have my strawberries scattered everywhere. They breed like rabbits. In February, I dug them out from my perennial garden and now, I am thinking where to put them. Your blueberries look good. Mine also grow very close to each other. You will love Black Krim. It was our favorite last year. Although, some people have trouble deciding when to harvest it because of its color. Happy March to you!

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  5. It all looks so tidy Catherine. What a great place for the Littlest Gardener's play house too. She must have fun watching the plants grow and helping her big sister watch the peas climb. Looks like you are having pretty days to work in the yard.

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  6. It is fun getting it all spruced up for planting. Love this little area Catherine..I'll be checking out the blueberry link, thanks for that and also your observations on the type of gravel to use for walking and rolling things. I've been wanting to use some gravel and now I have something to consider.

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  7. This information was helpful and interesting. Do you prune your blueberries? We never have, maybe we will after the leaves drop this year.

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  8. That's funny, we have to be careful with our dogs too...they LOVE tomatoes! Your garden is looking great. If it ever stops raining here long enough, I need to get out and get our beds prepped too. I've never heard of the Tigerella tomato, I'm intrigued.

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  9. How beautiful!! Was the white picket fence already there, or did you add it? I"m trying to decide how to seperate my back yard & side yard for dog/kid containment purposes. I can't decide between white picket, wrought iron, or moveable lattice panels...

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  10. I let grass grow in my garden.. mowed regularly, just to provide green setting and will hold soils together against heavy rains. Everything seems to on high gear to sprout in your garden! ~bangchik

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  11. I long for that time, when you get out and start that cleaning up! Raised beds are the best, too! It's interesting how muck looks exactly the same in different parts of the world:-)

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  12. .. not "how muck" but "how much"...

    Interesting error... muck also looks the same:-)

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  13. How neat and tidy your garden is, Catherine! I hope to be able to watch your veg. and fruits grown along with your flower gardens. You are right to keep Gracie out of the garden. When I had Callie the labrador retriever, she once went through the garden,stopping it seemed at every tomato plant, and taking just one bite from each tomato before moving on to the next....she was so exuberant and enthusiastic, though, just had to laugh and love her! Have a great week, Catherine!

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  14. It all looks really great, ready to grow.

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  15. Beautiful beds. I'm running bricks between our two vegetable beds just for the reason you cited...the wheelbarrow. Gravel on the outsides. Maybe you could run a couple of rows of pavers across the front for the wheelbarrow. Just pull the gravel back and set them on the ground.

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  16. Thanks everyone for visiting and your nice comments!

    Darla - I've never pruned our Blueberries either, but may do a little just to remove a few dead twigs.

    Rebecca - We put the little fence up for the purpose of keeping Gracie out. It ended up looking good as well as being functional. I hope you show what you end up doing.

    Turling - Great idea with the pavers. Why didn't I think of that?! Thanks!

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  17. I think that I have heard about that tomato variety. Is it a heritage?

    What a great garden, I love raised beds, and can't wait for more space.

    Jen

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  18. I am such a fan of raised beds. I have three on my small property, and they all do very well. It was 46 degrees here today and the snow is melting Yeah!!!

    Eileen

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  19. Isn't this the bed that you built last year? I think I remember the post. It looks so neat and good luck with the edible garden! Just curious, have you grown grapes?

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  20. Your raised beds are a thing of beauty!

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  21. Oh, there is so much I love about this area - where to start...
    Blueberries-it is so wonderful that you can grow them in such a small space. I love all of your raised beds and I bet Sweet Pea can't wait to plant. I do love an area in the garden that is off limits to the dogs ;^)

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  22. Jen - The Tigerella is an heirloom but I'm not sure about the Black Krim.

    Chandramouli - I did start to make a new bed over here, great memory! I decided for now that instead we'd put the playhouse here since our yard is so small. When she outgrows it, the area can become a flower bed.
    I have grown grapes and they did well, but were just way too big for my yard. I'd love to grow them again if I ever have more space.

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  23. Hi Catherine~~ I love your raised beds. They look like they're really easy on your back and the sides are handy for sitting on. I hope you'll keep us apprised of your progress.

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  24. Nice garden you have at the side of your house. I wonder how they would look when all the plants are growing.

    I wish I have that amount of space in my garden. I could only grow my plants in containers.

    Happy Gardening!

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  25. Beautiful and lovely shots !! Great post !!

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  26. Your raised bed area is awesome! So neat and tidy. I love how things look in the spring when everything is cleaned up too. It gives you that "new" feeling, like anything is possible.

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  27. Would you (or The Muscle) please come here and build me some great raised beds like yours?

    I always luv how neat and orderly the yard looks in the spring and to tell the truth, sometimes the lushness of summer bothers me a little. Maybe I need to talk to a professional about that feeling:)

    Our yard is still completely covered in snow, but there's hope that warmer days are coming.

    donna

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  28. That is just the coolest potager, Catherine! It is so neat and tidy and the plants already look fabulous. Your blueberries are gorgeous. Fig and strawberries, must remember that, if we can get the fig growing. The pea trellis set up looks perfect. Before you know it, Sweet Pea will be out-gardening you. :-)
    Frances

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  29. I love your raised beds, they're so beautiful!

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  30. That is such a clean and kept looking area Catherine. I would think anything would be happy growing in that area.

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  31. I can't believe how much you've gotten done already Catherine! This area looks spic and span. I managed to get the grasses cut back yesterday (while it was warmer). Good thing ~ today we woke up to cloudy and snow! ugh After a few days of nicer weather, it's hard to go back to that.
    Thanks for the warning about the string algae in the pond. I'll be on the lookout. I was hoping plugging the filter back in would help but so far, I can't tell it's doing anything?? Maybe it needs the oxygenators before it can balance out???
    Happy planting in your beds.

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  32. Kathleen - Once the weather warms some for you, you can add enzymes to help build up the "good" bacteria in your pond. Also once the plants are in and growing that usually helps with the algae too.
    Too bad about the weather, hopefully the snow will melt quickly and you'll get some nice weather back.

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  33. Wow, that looks like a big job but a fun one. Everything is so clean and neatly organized too.

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  34. Spring blooms bring joy, but seeing that bare dirt gets me really excited. I need to go across the street tomorrow to see if the strawberries given to me by a friend look like they survived the winter.

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  35. That is great use for your side yard. I would love to do that on the side of our house. I bet the little gardener loves her play spot!

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