Aerial View
Here is a view of the main part of our (Patti and Sandy’s) back garden. To the left against the fence and not in view is the recycle bins I set up last week. Those have chard and broccoli seedlings.
In the picture on the left is four raised beds. There is rhubarb, sage, romano beans, parsley, kale, basil, thai basil, dill, four types of peppers, garlic chives and two varieties of summer squash.
The center where the best sun shines is two beds that have romano beans, lettuce seedlings, tomatoes, watermelon, butternut squash, garlic chives, thyme, tarragon, cucumbers, tomatillo, shallots and chives.
To the right are two more raised beds. Those have kale, romano bush beans, celery and potatoes.
Sounds like a lot but the yield has much to be desired because of our happy hazard ways of gardening and the deteriorating health of the soil.
This weekend, we totally rehab’ed one of the beds by digging out all the soil, lining the bottom with heavy plastic and cardboard to keep out the tree roots and returning the soil mixed with about 150 pounds of composted horse manure, some bone meal, potassium and humate. Wow, that was a job and a half! Only five more beds to go!
The new bed was watered down and covered with plastic. Today, I set up a frame to hang our squirrel/bird netting. Tomorrow I will set up a drip line using mini soakers spaced 12″ apart as that bed will be devoted to greens. I also plan to plant the Rainbow chard and Red Sails lettuce seedlings I had started from seed early in July. Of course we will also put down a nice layer of straw for mulch.
This fall when the tomatoes are done we will replace the two center beds with four new raised beds. One of the two old ones will stay in the center area and the other moved to join the ones on the right. This will pretty much max out the space.
With the new planting space, our commitment to growing most all our plant food and all that we are learning about creating healthy soil, crop rotation, companion gardening and optimal planting times we hope to triple if not quadruple our production!
Here’s hoping for a fuller greener view this time next year!
Let us know what you are growing in your garden 
In memory of my Dad 8/6/92
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