Backyard Garden

I have been wanting a garden for some time now and I finally got it...for Mother's Day!  Ever since I attended a workshop on school gardens, I have been in love with Gardens of Babylon's Personal Farmer program.  Recently, Peter Anderson from Gardens of Babylon came out and installed two cedar beds, one 4x4 for perennials and one 4x8 for vegetables and such.  For my husband and I plus two kids, this is the perfect size to feed our family of 4!

A raised bed garden can really be made out of any material, but cedar is especially great because it acts as an insect repellant, there are no toxic chemicals like other treated wood and it is easy to work with.  I opted to go with a 1 plank high small bed and a 2 plank high large bed.  A one frame depth will accommodate about 90% of vegetables, but 2 frames are needed if you want to grow more root vegetables like carrots and potatoes.  I also chose 2 frames to keep out the rabbits as they seem to like our yard.

After the beds were installed, Gardens of Babylon helped us get a really good dirt.  You won't grow much of anything unless you have good dirt, it's really the backbone of everything.  Our dirt is about 50% compost and 50% sifted topsoil with worm castings and sand mixed in.  Did you know there are about 3 million bacterial counts in just 1 Tbsp. of soil?

We wanted to do the planting ourselves, but the Personal Farmer program will also plant and take complete care of your garden if you want them to!  Peter helped us select vegetables and taught us about intensive planting.  With intensive planting, you get a lot more return in a small space.  We configured our garden in a north/south direction to allow for optimal sun per plant, which by the way you need about 8 hours of sunlight for your garden.  In this placement, the tall plants go in the back (north end) and then slowly get smaller toward the front of the bed (south end).  So, we planted tomatoes, several kinds of peppers, zucchini, cucumbers, green onions, chives, and parsley in our large bed.  My small bed is our perennial herb garden with rosemary, sage, thyme, oregano, and basil.  Then, at the corners, we planted marigold and zinnia to attract beneficial insects; our built-in protection!  Also, close by we planted foxglove and coneflower, which also act as a protection for your garden against pests.

There are so many neat concepts you can design with a garden!  You can make a pizza garden, 3 sisters garden, take advantage of companion planting; the possibilities are endless.  My kids were so excited to dig in dirt and to help plant.  I can't wait to see their faces when we start getting some vegetables! What a great way to eat fresh and have fun all at the same time!