Monday, June 29, 2009

Our raised beds

Kay, the big reveal... or something like that.

In truth, they're a little out of control. And I was really hoping to wait for the sunflowers to bloom before I posted pictures, but who knows how long that will really take. And actually, the tomato plants are so tall they're blocking the sunflowers anyway.

In order to satisfy everyone's before/after fix for the day, here we go:



It was quite a daunting project, as you can see. This thicket of weeds was the remnants of our garden last year. Let's just say it went a little untended with the wedding the the trip to Australia and the holidays and everything.



Progress...



Notice how we actually have to move the dirt mound on the right before we can put the other 2 beds in.



Oh, they were so cute back then.



I found out quickly that the squash/cucumber trellis wasn't tall enough so I tied a few extra pieces of wood along each side.



Squash infestation.



The current jungle state. That's patty pan, butternut, japanese cucumber, zinnas, radish, tomatos, basil (and probably more) all tangled together.

Out. of. control.

The corners for our beds came from Burpee. Highly recommend their system as it takes all the engineering out of the project. You can get them here.

14 comments:

Maggie @ Eat, Drink, Marry said...

Oh man... are you running out of ideas for squash? I remember the gardening days of being SO SICK of it by summer's end. We can't garden in our current place, but I still find myself buying more of it than I want to at the farmer's market just because it's what you do in the summer... eat squash until you're sweating yellow.

paula said...

this looks amazing, I may be a bit jealous:)

Marty J. Christopher said...

Sigh. I love your garden.

Amanda said...

I love patty pans. They go so crazy though.

Maggie--I always grate it and freeze it for making squash bread and soups during the winter. It means I can grow and buy to my heart's content :).

Anonymous said...

this is why I want a house. Gardening.

MFAMB said...

so awesome!! i have a zucchini infestation. but i haven't run out of uses, yet. thanks for the tip on the raised bed system. next year i am all about the raised beds!! right now i am all about the earth box.
xoj

Unknown said...

I say you might be due for Thanksgiving in July! Time to feast!! I can't believe everything has grown up so fast. Love it!!

Devon said...

Oh, your beds look amazing! I got mine planted a little late (we have tended to have late April snow here in Seattle) and am awaiting my first tomatoes and squash.

Also, do your chickens stay out of your garden beds? We're thinking about getting a few and I was wondering about them pecking around in my veggies.

I very much enjoy your blog!

Anonymous said...

I so love your raised beds. the minute I live somewhere with a backyard, I'm putting some in. check out this amazing raised bed garden that feeds a restaurant in napa: http://bythebyblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/road-trip-napa.html
something to aspire to...

Crystal said...

Amazing! Such a transformation... maybe I can figure out a few tiny raised beds next year...

♥Min Eden♥ said...

Helou there!
I saw your lovely potting bench...

http://alovelymorning.blogspot.com/2009/05/semi-diy-potting-bench.html

The thing is that I "collect" pictures of pottingtables, and I would love to borrow yours too...I promise to mention and link to your blog.

Please let me know if it´s alright.

Here you can se my collection of

P O T T I N G T A B L E S

LaWoodstock said...

I love your garden!
Full of colors, plants, life!
GREAT WORK :)

Amanda said...

We wish you would come back now.

Anonymous said...

that is incredible - it's amazing how quickly they grow! i'm dying to get out of my teensy apartment so that i can have a backyard packed with yummy veggies - i will tuck your garden away in my memories for future inspiration!