The Garden Plan

Good morning! I had enough interest in the garden I thought I would try out another post for you all since it’s been a while. The garden is something I have dreamed about since we moved out here. I always knew that space was going to be my massive beautiful fenced in garden filled with all my favorite food & flowers and a place for kids to learn and play. Like every project, it takes a lot more time and money than you expect so it will be a slow process, especially doing it on my own!

I honestly didn’t expect to start on the garden yet…it all started when I got offered tons of free compost from a friend and had no where to put it, so I thought, well if I put a few piles here and there maybe at some point I will bed a raised bed around it and fill it in with soil…andddd you all know how I operate, I have zero patience and within a few days I was on my way to the lumber yard to get myself some cedar boards! The first batch I actually got for free, it’s rough cut 2x12x8′ cedar boards, meaning its not top quality. In my opinion, all thick cedar like that is top quality so I was totally happy to get all of that FOR FREE! The next couple batches were also rough cut but in better condition so it was a fraction of the cost. I will let you know, while 2×12 boards are absolutely thick and gorgeous, they are also about $60+ per board. Granted, they will last a very long time and are all organic. Cedar is the preferred wood of gardens because its beautiful and durable while not having anything toxic in it, such as pressure treated, to harm your plants. You can do pine or other inexpensive woods, they just won’t last as long and hold up to the elements.

After the beds started being built, I felt ancy to get the rest of the garden going, because I knew if this was something I wanted to start it had to be done right the first time. After all of our renovation and project experience this is something we have learned the hard way once or twice. I feel fortunate to be good friends with our neighbors where one of their family members works for our small town local farm. I paid him to bring out one of their massive tractors with a roto-tiller attachment to till up the entire garden space. This was something that was way easier to have done before having to work around planter boxes so I knew it was worth the initial investment. The whole garden area was super overgrown with uneven ground so this also helped get everything more level and suitable for walking. I spaced out about 15 yards of cow manure compost through the area so it could all be tilled into the soil and make for rich healthy soil for the crops. We will do pumpkins, squash & corn directly into the soil.

The other reason I chose to do the planters like this is because it was much easier for me to do on my own. You keep the two side boards as is (no sawing required) and for the two end boards you literally just cut it directly in half..which I think ends up being about 47-48″. I used a miter saw but you can use a hand saw, circular saw, table saw, whatever you have available, I just think the miter does the cleanest cut. This will create a 4×8 planter bed which is very large and can hold a good amount of plants! I used 4″ exterior (rust proof) screws to join the ends together…its as simple as holding the boards together and screwing into them. These screws are long enough to go through both pieces of thick wood and create a durable hold. I did about 4-5 screws each side. I will say, it does help to have a second person hold them together while one screws. My dad was able to come up and help me assemble these for that reason! And that is literally it folks, super simple!

Next step is putting them where you want them and filling it. You can do chicken wire or weed paper on the bottom I actually skipped this step because we did that with our planters on the back patio and felt like I still got weeds. Weeds are just inevitable in a garden unfortunately! So I got about 20 yards of cow manure compost from a good friend who works for one of our small town farms, I also picked up about 15 yards of regular lawn soil and I did a 50/50 mix of the two in each bed! Its also good to overfill the beds because the compost will keep aging and breaking down to lower the soil level. All topsoil/landscaping places sell different mixes, they have pre-made garden soil that has all that good compost mixed in as an option which is basically what I created on my own, its usually pricier from those places but would make it easier for sure! Read the descriptions online for whichever topsoil place you pick and it’ll tell you the percentage of everything in it.

From here, you are ready to pick what you want to plant and do the fun part..buying and planting!!! This year I decided to only get things I know we will eat. I also made sure to get lots of flowers that attract bees and butterflies for pollination..super important step I skipped last year! I also placed herbs throughout..there’s certain herbs that help deter pests, marigolds also help deter pests!

Flowers for pollination:

Salvia, cosmos, lavender, marigolds, golden rod, butterfly bush, echinacea, milkweed, sunflower, nasurtium.

I just went to the local nursery and looked for flower that showed bees and butterflies on their tags but there’s lots of good resources for this online. What did we do before google?

As far as what to plant together…I did a lot of research online and read many gardening books. There’s lots of helpful charts on Pinterest for plant companions and what NOT to plant next to each other. It’s very important to research this before planting because there are certain plants that will harm others or stunt growth. Here is what I have so far in my beds:

Future plans: At some point, hopefully sooner rather than later we will have this entire area fenced in. This insures all my hard work isn’t touched by deer, rabbits, rodents, oh and my own dogs. While I love the look of a shorter garden picket fence, I have read its worth the investment of doing a 6′ fence to keep deer from hopping over. I want to fill the area around all the beds with either rocks or cedar chips, this is something I will assess once I build more beds and can envision it a bit more…it will also come down to which is more affordable most likely. All of the supplies like that are unfortunately not cheap. We will add in more fruit trees, plant things such as pumpkins, corn, and sunflowers into the ground, build a greenhouse, have a play area for the kids, and I would love to have a dining area where we can come out a feast in all it’s beauty! Of course we will have to think of the important things such as irrigation as well. Like I said- lots to be done and a large investment to still be made so we will take it one step at a time but I can see it in my mind and WOW is it lovely!!!