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This is our fifth spring in this house, our gardens did pretty well last year. This year we are excited because in addition to our raised bed gardens that line our back yard fence, we have added an in-ground garden for 2015.
Our raised bed garden(s) started as a 5' wide by 20' long garden outside of, but up against, the fence of our backyard. The next year I extended the raised bed to about 35' long. And the next year I wrapped it around the back of the fence adding a section that is about 4' by 25'. In an attempt to be frugral (aka cheap), rather than a typical raised bed built with lumber, I used cedar logs that were about 8"- 12" inches in diameter for the outside wall and for the inner wall I used a mixture of softball sized rocks, left over decking lumber, and repurposed concrete garden ??? that were at the house when we bought it. So, the only cost involved in building the beds was some humus/manure soil I added to the free soil to fill the beds. As I mentioned, this is the fifth year for the raised beds and I had noticed deterioration to the original cedar logs used for the raised beds. They may have to be replaced next year, but I think 5 years is a pretty good lifespan for a raised bed garden wall. And who knows, they may make it 6 years.
Our new in ground garden is about 12' x 30' and is located outside of our fenced in back yard as well. I had a friend plow the garden at a cost of $40. In hind site I wish I would have had him make it a little bigger. My original thinking was I didn't want the extra burdon of to much more weeding, but the measures I have taken to reduce the need for weeding have paid off pretty well, and the actual time I have spent weeding has been pretty minimal.
I will try to keep a record of the new things we planted as well as an
update on the perennials we planted last year.
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Annual Edibles
Beans, Pole (8)
Cucumbers (6)
Eggplant, Little Fingers (4)
Eggplant, Hansel (8)
Lettuce, Buttercrunch
Lettuce, Red
Lettuce
Greens, Russian Red (4)
Greens, Mustard (8)
Kale, Vates Blue Currled Scotch (4)
Kale, (4)
Onions
Pea
Pepper, Banana (4)
Pepper, Ghost (1)
Pepper, Jalapeno, mild (4)
Pepper, Jalapeno, hot (4)
Pepper, Lemon Drop (4)
Rubarb (3)
Squash, Summer Straight Neck (4)
Squash, Zucinni (1) Swiss Chard, Bright Lights (8)
Tomato, Roma (10)
Tomato, Better Boy (4)
Tomato, Cherry
Tomato, Early Girl (4)
Tomato, Yellow Pear (1)
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Herbs
Basil (1)
Chives, Garlic
Lavender
Mint
Rosemary (1)
Sage, Pineapple (1)
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Perennial Edibles
Blackerries - we have a small wild blackberry patch in our yard, and we are glad to have it.
Blueberries - this spring we have added 7 blue berry bushes to our yard. Hopefully we will have berries next year.
Strawberry - this spring we added 8 everbering strawberry plants to our raised bed garden. Considering dedicating that section of the garden to more strawberries next year. Shoots from the existing strawberries have already added about 5 more plants.
Figs, Brown Turkey - This is the fifth year for our fig bushes. Last year the almost looked dead, but sprouted new growth at the base leaving dead original stalks. We trimmed back the dead stalks and the new growth made noce, but smaller bushes than the year before. The year the same thing, the larger stalks from last year appear dead, with new growth coming up from base. Last year we had very few figs. I'm afraid it will be the same this year.
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Flower Garden
Black-eyed Susan
Bee Balm, Bubble Gum
Butterfly Bush
Coneflower, Cheyenne Spirit
Coneflower, Pink Tennessee -
Daffodil,
Dafodil, Dwarf
Fern, Japanese Painted
Fern, Southern Wood
Fox Glove
Hosta, Earth Angel -
Hosta, Lemon Lime -
Hosta, Patriot
Iris, Dwarf, White
Iris, Siberian
Iris, Wild Tennessee
Lily, Calla
Lily, Canna
Lily of the Valley
Shasta Daisy
Trillium, White
Yarro
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Related Links & Resources:
● Garden Pictures
● Golden Jubilee Tomato
● Tomatoes Deliver Flavor And Cancer Defense
● Fall Vegetable Garden Plan Essential
● Tomatoes Deliver Flavor And Cancer Defense
● Blueberries Are Tasty Disease Fighters
● Late Spring Planting Options
● Lemon Basil
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Garlic
Chive Books & Seeds |
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