|
I wanted a vegetable garden, so the answer for us was raised beds and the required deer fence. Some people use 1 x 12 treated lumber for their raised beds, but I was not comfortable with the treating solution and opted for cement blocks. |
|
Construction is underway . .
.
 |
|
 |
The enclosed garden is
45 x 19 x 40 x 19 feet.
The reason for the
non-symmetrical shape
was to use a North-South
axis as well as to take
advantage of an existing
spray field and to
minimize the cutting of
any non-cedar trees in
the location.
I also wanted to
allocate more space to
the beds and minimize
the loss of space to
walkways.
I ended up with
single beds with 32
inches of plantable
surface next to the long
fenced sides and one
double bed in the center
with 48 inches of
plantable surface. The
single beds are 39 feet
and 33 feet; the double
bed is 28 feet in
length. There is also a
composting area that is
57 x 55 inches. |
The beds are 16 inches high (2 8-inch high blocks) and are filled using a modified Lasagna method of gardening. First, I layered wet newspaper (20 sheets overlapped), then purchased topsoil, then purchased composted manure, then shredded newspaper, then a "4 in 1 mix" from a local nursery. All of this was topped off with another layer of newspaper sheets to help control weed growth and, finally, a top dressing of hardwood mulch.
Eventually I will have a
shade cloth to help
filter our extremely hot
sun, and plans are to
add a tank to capture
rainwater. For those of
us that capture
rainwater, we hate to
see the overflow water
running down the cliff! And, of course we will
need an irrigation
system to use that
captured rainwater. |
 |
|
<<< Back to Our Gardens
Adding a Gravity Water System >>> |
|
|
