New Garden beds

  I *finally* got out to rework the garden bed Zander and I began summer of 22! 

Matt tossed clover seed over the back several years ago as a ground cover. They have gardened on the back lot several times over the 15 years they've been here, and it's good soil, but more exposed to cold than near the houses. 

Zander and his sis learned about food security and planted seeds each day at VBS '22 (vacation bible school), and we gave the marigolds, beans and sunflowers they started a home, along with tomatoes, peppers and pink celery. We used wood rounds and chicken wire around the bed to define it.

Kale, chard and lots of clover

When I moved across town last fall, I put in a couple of chard, Perennial kale, (homesteaders kaleidoscope, seed from Experimental Farm Network), plus garlic and Babington topset leeks. I've had the leeks a decade, after getting sets from Peace Seeds; whose founder Dr. Alan 'Mushroom' Kapuler recently passed.  

Mushroom loved sharing plant diversity and knowledge, and will be missed! (The next generation of Peace Seedlings tubors and seeds are available from Alan's daughter Dylana and her partner Mario)

Began by clipping the clover and dandelions with garden snips, in prep for setting the new surround. Leaving roots in the ground keeps the microbiome in good shape, and makes the nitrogen from the clover bio-avalible. (I pull out morning glory!) I lifted and seperated the stray clumps of garlic and tuckled the little shoots into the kale yard, plus another Leek set!  

Chop and drop

After bolting second set of raised beds panels together, and clipping the clover, set the longer one over this bed and finished assembling. (I got two sets of beds last summer, and saved a pair of panels from one that's set up by Rose Cottage to shorten it, and extend this one.) At 3 × 9', it fits over the bed perfectly! 

1st bed in process

It's gratifying to see these beds in place, and the surrounds will hold in amendments. (Kelp, rock dust, a bit of lime and Epsom salts,...) Last step was topping the first bed with a layer of leaves as mulch, which I raked from under the dogwood in the front yard. 

Cardboard down for second bed

The arbor vitae on the N boundry came down several years ago, exposing the back garden, and the deer discovered the bed this summer! They seem especially fond of the kale, so I made a cover from the chicken wire we had around the bed OVER it! (And the kale is beginning to recover!) 

We saved the fence panel from the greenhouse build, and are thinking of fencing options.  

I may plant wildflowers, cosmos, zinnias, Sunchokes, fennel and such along the base of the retaining wall next spring to act as a summer barrier till we set up something more permanent. 

6' and 9' beds 

For the second bed, I put a layer of our own compost on top of the cardboard, (packing boxes for the beds and Greenhouse!) There's a small blueberry at this end of the shorter bed,  which I clipped around and mulched.  

Winter garden Seeds

I'll sow mâche (corn salad), fava (both cover crop from the Linfield Garden, and Ianto's Return from Adaptive Seed), Austrian Field peas (fix nitrogen and provide winter greens pea shoots), and winter radish in both beds, after adding a layer of potting soil to the smaller one. 

I've several Leek Sets sprouting in pots inside, and will set them out when they're bigger - I look forward to being able to harvest these leeks again! I need to soak the beans, and will pick up the field peas from Buchanan Cellers tomorrow.

'The more you do what you love, the more it will make sense!" Alan Kapular.