I owe you guys SO MANY posts.  We have been working so hard on the garden area and the chicken coop renovation.  I shared the particular garden method that we have used for several years now in this post.  The post is old but it explains it all to you… and how we made it our own method.  I will never go back to the old way of tilling up grass or weeds, because this method is so simple.  It’s a little more work in the very beginning, but you really have no weeds to pull and you don’t have to water.  UNLESS there is a terrible drought.  Then you may have to water every now and then.  The last thing I want to do is stand out in the beastly heat and pull weeds.  Anyway… look for an update on the garden hopefully this week.  Have you ever tried that method?

This was taken on May 30… right after we planted our garden.  

Normally we get our veggies planted the first of May and take our chances on frost.  We usually have to cover our plants a few times but it is always worth it to us in getting them in the ground early.  We didn’t get our garden out until May 30… for so many different reasons.  Number one, the weather was ATROCIOUS here in Ohio this Spring.  It poured down rain so much that the area where we wanted our garden was pure mud.  Also… 

Garden Trellis Idea

Eventually, we will have all raised garden beds.  Therefore, we didn’t want to spend a ton of money mending the soil in that area.  It needed it because it was once a field.  But, we didn’t want to let an entire growing season go without having vegetables.  It’s truly one of our favorite things.  So… we decided to amend the soil just in the rows where we are planting, now, and then add raised beds here and there when we have time.

Deb had some time to make a few raised beds and I LOVE how it turned out.  We LOVE cucumbers and zucchini so we knew we would eventually need some type of trellis for our garden.  She used cattle fencing and made a frame from 2x4s.  And she made up the raised garden beds herself by using 2x12s for the box and 2x8s for the top piece.  It was all made from scrap lumber.  She stained it and then gave it a few coats of polyurethane to help protect it from the rain.

We want this garden area to be full of raised beds because it is MUCH easier to plant and pick your garden when it is up off of the ground.  I think we will enjoy our garden for years to come this way.

A few more things coming to this space this year.  

• More garden beds of different material.  We may make some that look different and some more that look like this.  I think we want a variety.  But we need to see what that will look like.
• A LARGE urn in the middle of the garden for a focal point.  We will plant flowers in it to give the garden a little cottage feel.
• Homemade tomato cages… this is a must SOON.  We have a few but need more.
• A large arbor as we walk into the garden.  We made one several years ago that we designed ourselves and LOVED it.  
• A fence around the entire area… probably a picket fence but unsure about that yet either. 
• A compost area around the coop.  

Also… our chicken coop renovation is in full gear.  If you missed stories, I shared a glimpse of them on a few reels, here and here.  I will be sharing soon on that progress as well. 

How is your garden doing?  Ours took FOREVER to start growing.  They were stunned for about two weeks. I think you will be shocked at the update.