Garden 2012
Mid June
My first garden 3 summers ago didn't have a fence, the following summer I used t-posts and galvanized fencing...spring forward to 2012 and I went all out. Landscape timbers, galvanized fencing...and drum roll please...LIGHTS! A friends garden was lit last year and i was might envious so this year I asked him if I could borrow a strand of shop lights. The lights are 100ft long with bulbs/cages every 10 ft. This amount of light allows for night time weeding and general garden work.
A friend, Bryant, and my bf helped dig the fence posts. After my bf returned to NC I was able to get Bryant back to help put the posts in. I manned the concrete and he made sure the posts were straight and plum. Levels are your friend! After all the posts were in we wrapped the fencing around and used a staple gun to secure the wire to the posts. My friend Dennis graciously brought these lights over and staple gunned them to the top of the landscape timber. I am 16ft shy of fencing and have temporary fencing around this area.
The fence for me is not to keep deer, rabbits, or the all mighty bear cub sized groundhog out, but to keep little Sadie out of my garden. My dogs ruin a garden quicker than any critter will.
All the beds were created from old fence posts when my parents replaced their fencing. It has worked perfectly!
Back to the tour...
Bed 1 - Beets
This area doesn't get much sun so I haven't filled the spaces with other veggies. This is the sacrifice bed.
Bed 2 - Carrots
I have been VERY pleased with how well my carrots are coming up.
The fence boards allow me to work, weed, plant, and harvest veggies without stepping on the soil.
It is very important to prevent the soil from compacting.
All beds are heavily mulched to prevent weeds and encourage water retention.
Bed 3 - Lettuce
My mother has been coming over daily to pick lettuce, she claims its like eating candy.
Bed 4 - Green, yellow, and purple beans
in the empty space i recently planted more carrots.
.......to be continued
This looks great! Thanks for the info on your lights. Where do they plug in? Do you have an electrical source out there or did you run a long outdoor cord? Are the stands linked so that you only have to plug it in once? (if that makes sense!) Right now I have one 500 watt halogen light, but I have to run a cord across the yard, and through a window to an outlet inside. Its a pain...looking for something easier.
ReplyDeleteI run an extension cord from my deck. The lights are one strand, one plug and all light up! Easy peasy. The outlet from the lights are rather short so I do have to run the extension cord to them...but the garden is near my house so its not far. Wish I had such a set up when I had the pigs...they/i worked with a single shop light on the pen (dont have electric working in the barn).
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of mulch are you using?
ReplyDeleteShredded hardwood in the beds, pine nuggets for paths.
ReplyDelete