Rebuild Time Part 2

Last spring, we replaced half of the old wooden beds in our garden with metal ones. This year, we finished the job. There were still two 4-foot by 11-foot and two 1-foot by 11-foot wooden bed to replace. One of the smaller beds was filled with asparagus, which we relocated outside the garden. Part of the other smaller bed had horseradish, which we pulled out and deposited along the back treeline. After that, there was just a lot of dirt moving to do.

Garden bed rebuild in progress.

It has been a very wet spring. Because of that, and my lack of enthusiasm for hard work, the rebuild took several weeks to finish. My husband really did most of it. He built the six new metal beds, shoveled tons of dirt, added compost, and relaid the stone paths. I helped by decided which type and how many bags of new soil we would get to fill in and I added those bags to the beds. And finally, it was all done.

All the bed replacements finally finished!

But that was not all of the rebuild. For the past couple of years, the deer have been making themselves at home in the garden. Beyond the nibbled plants and obvious hoof prints, we got photographic proof last fall.

A taller fence was obviously needed. Our original fence was four feet tall. We got a couple more rolls of 4-foot wide plastic mesh fencing and 6-foot long bamboo poles for fence posts. The process of adding height to the existing fence actually went more smoothly than I expected. I had a plan, of course, but was still surprised that the plan worked so well. We wove the bamboo poles through the mesh fencing then lifted them up and zip-tied them to the fence posts that were already there. Then I went around and hand "sewed" the seam between the two fences so there wasn't a gap.

"Sewing" the fence seam together with some garden twine.

The result is an 8-foot tall fence all the way around our garden (except for over the gate).

Let's see those deer jump over this! (I know they could so please don't.)

With the garden now better protected, I got the rest of the seeds and plants into the ground. I had planted the hardier seeds - radishes, arugula, pak choi, chard, and peas - and the direct-sew tomato seeds (as directed) before the average last frost date and before we finished the fence. 

A lovely row of sugar snap peas.

After the fence I planted the bush beans, turtle beans, rattlesnake beans, blue Jarrahdale pumpkins, and glass gem ornamental corn. I also transplanted pepper, zucchini, yellow squash, and cucumber plants.

The young plants hardening off a few days before transplanting.

The spring rains continued and I mostly stayed out of the garden. Yesterday, I finally thinned out the seedlings. I also added a fence for the peas. Everything is growing, though much of it is unhappy with the large amount of rain. 

Corn and radishes before thinning.

This poor little cucumber plant isn't well.

One other thing we planted outside the garden was some luffa plants. We had very good luck growing them a few years ago. We still had some seed left and they were still viable, so now there's a tall teepee in the back yard near the new asparagus bed. There is also one long pie pumpkin plant under the teepee. 

I don't know why I didn't take a picture of the whole teepee.

You grow, luffa!

So far, the pumpkin and luffa plants have been left alone by our backyard wildlife. We'll see if that lasts. 

Oh deer, oh deer.

A sweet, fluffy bunny.

 

First Seeds in the Ground

It was the perfect weekend to work on the garden. I’m glad I planned ahead so we had nearly two full days to move soil and build fencing. When our six cubic yards of garden blend soil arrived at around 10:30 Saturday morning, the driver told me that it was a good thing I had gotten my order in early. He was already booked solid for deliveries and folks who had called on Friday, presumably trying to take advantage of the gorgeous weather that had been forecast, would have to wait until Monday.

Soil ready to be moved into the garden beds

As I was paying for the soil, another delivery truck arrived with the twelve blocks of peat moss I had also ordered. It was kind of fun blocking up the street for a little while all for the sake of my new garden. From my experience last year with the museum’s garden beds, I know that the soil around here can be heavy with clay. Even as part of a garden blend that contained sand and compost, I knew we’d have to lighten it up a bit.

Peat moss with a bonus free gift – a wooden pallet!

So, with all our bed-filling ingredients ready to go, my husband and I got to work. Before we moved any soil, however, we lined the sides of each bed with 7 mil plastic. The recycled plywood we used to build the beds was pressure treated. That’s why it’s still usable and not just a rotten pile of mush but we don’t want chemicals leaching into the soil and then into the plants.

It took about three hours and 52 wheelbarrow trips to fill all eight beds with layers of garden soil, peat moss, and shredded leaf mulch. My husband shoveled and moved load after load while I raked everything into the beds and blended it all together. By the middle of the afternoon, the pile of dirt was nearly gone and I was ready to sit down.

Progress by the end of the day Saturday

On Sunday, we picked up work again. My husband moved the last of the soil into the garden beds and I did some more blending. It think it’ll be a while until all the soil components are really worked together but if gardening has taught me anything, it’s patience. With the beds now filled to my liking, it was time to plant some seeds. The first official planting in the garden was actually a horseradish root. After that, I put in my cool season vegetables – spinach, chard, peas, beets, carrots, scallions, pak choi, and arugula. I planted them all in one bed in a series of wide rows using twine as a guide. I made a small fence for the peas at the end of the row for easier picking.

Rows lined off and ready to plant

While I was planting, my husband was building. We need a fence around the garden. That is an indisputable fact. There is a lot of wildlife in the area and while I enjoy watching the deer and rabbits and occasional woodchuck, I do not plan on feeding them from my garden. Most of the perennials growing around the house have already been sampled. We salvaged some lattice fence from the old pool to use around the garden.

Starting the fence

The lattice is two feet tall so when placed on top of the edge of the garden beds, we get a three-foot tall fence. On the north side, however, the beds sit into a slight hill so it is, effectively, only a two-foot fence. A deer can easily lean over a fence like that to nibble on my plants. I plan on planting vegetable along the inside of the fence that, in my experience, deer don’t usually browse but we also have a back-up plan. We added five-foot tall posts in the corner so that, if needed, we can stretch a line higher above the fence and add tin pie pans or whatever that might deter the deer. We’ll just have to wait and see how it all works out.

The garden on Sunday afternoon

I made it through the weekend with just a few minor scrapes and bruises, some sore muscles and an unexpected sunburn on the backs of my elbows. I have to say, that when I stood in my garden with the fence all around and the first seeds planted I felt almost giddy with happiness. It is exactly how I envisioned it!

My Shaker Garden!