in Checking In, Green, Mr. Fixit

Playing in the dirt


I’ve been spending the past several weekends finally constructing some raised garden beds in the backyard. I’ve had a vegetable garden since we moved in but the ground wasn’t level and I got tired of the water I put on it draining into the yard (and the weeds moving from the yard to the garden). So back in March, I bought several landscape timbers and some spikes and engineered two nice, level beds for this year’s garden.

It took 3 cubic yards of topsoil, 2 cubic yards of compost, and 4 cubic yards of mulch to fill the area but it’s now full. We’ve got several plants in the ground now, courtesy of the N.C. State farmer’s market. I’ve fenced the garden off (mostly) and spent the past two days putting down soaker hoses for watering. My 330-gallon “Lake Turner” rain tank is now hooked to a sprinkler timer, which feeds the soaker hoses every three days. And, because it’s now level, the water in the hoses doesn’t all drain out the lower end. Sweet!

The plants have been in the ground all of a week but they’re apparently very happy with their new environment. I don’t have very long before I have to put my tomato trellises in place to keep my ‘mater plants in line. With that final addition, the garden will be complete. Then it’s simply watching for bugs and collecting picking fruit and veggies.

We’ll have tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, watermelon, pumpkins, peppers, dill, parsley, and basil soon. It’s a wonderful thing to have it done!