Veggie & Fruit Patch

What I missed most while building our new house was not being able to garden. Two years ago we were able to do some landscaping and all the structure was laid out at the front of the house. As well, I managed to find a source of used railway ties that weren't rotten and we used them at the sides and in one area at the back of the house that butts up to the deck which Haydn completed last summer.

Before the rear deck was finished, I had decided to try my hand at Square foot gardening. The raised beds were made using 2x4's, pathways haven't been finished. The problems with pathway materials are: small rocks and stones get hot, slate, flagstone and brick are too expensive for the number that would be required, critters live in mulches, and I'm not keen on the appearance created using landscape fabric. Because the pathways in my yard are close to being beach sand and not much grows in them, the sand is preferable to any of the aforementioned materials. I'm playing with the idea of making designs in the sand paths, but haven't as yet firmed up my ideas about how to do it and/or how designs could be incorporated.

This was the plan I drew up for the first year 2005 garden plan. There were minor changes made to that plan. The rectangle at the bottom right-hand corner, labelled 'Greenhouse' is black metal with 4 shelves in a frame with a plastic cover that has a zipper. It is handy for hardening plants to being outside or to use 'til the weather warms up. (Melons, squash, tomatoes, peppers, and beans don't do well until there is a sustained period of higher temperatures.)

Several books recommended a soil sample be taken to succeed with a new vegetable garden. The sample revealed a condition that is very difficult to correct. The pH was 7.5. There aren't many plants that thrive in alkaline soils. All the chemicals that were suggested by the lab technician I added to correct the imbalance.

I didn’t take any pictures of my garden the first year that I planted it, but I did take several the following year after the rear deck was finished, the summer of 2006. I’ll post those later.