I was looking at photos from a couple of years ago and realized how much my garden has evolved in just four years. In 2009 FitzGyver built me my first raised beds out of some scrap lumber. I got a pretty good harvest of potatoes even though I crowded the bed with squash plants, too!
By 2010 we added several more beds ... all with hinged covers and chicken wire because Mike was sure that the deer would get into the vegetable beds ...
That year I devoted more room to potatoes ... here interplanted with lettuce early in the season. I was using hoops from an old barrel to hold up the plastic cover on this bed. I made cages for the potato plants out of chicken wire and added more soil to the top as the plants grew ... my version of "potato boxes ...
Which actually worked quite well...
Later in 2010 I replaced the old wood boxes with plastic Square Foot Garden Beds ...
... and bought a little pop up greenhouse and these cute little bed covers. None of this lasted very long ... the plastic beds were too shallow and the zippers on the greenhouse and bed cover were really hard on my hands (and they tore pretty easily).
By January of 2011 FitzGyver stepped in and started "engineering" some new raised beds made of cedar with PVC hoops ...
He also built me some nice cedar potato boxes ...
Then in March we cleared out the brush on the side of our property and found room for more beds ...
In the spring I found a great deal on half wine barrels at a local hardware store with a small garden shop. I used a bunch of them to add "edible landscaping" to the lake side of the house.
This configuration worked pretty well ... by August some things were looking good ...
... but the old pop up greenhouse was quite literally falling apart. Mike started doing some research on a new greenhouse for me, found one he liked ... and we realized that in order to fit it into the garden area we were once again going to have to reconfigure the raised beds ... so once again we tore everything out ...
Mike added power and water lines to the beds and the greenhouse ...
And by the middle of April I had an all new and improved garden ready to be planted.
I'm putting the drip system back into the beds ...
... which are all planted now and growing well ...
... and I have realized something as I've written this post ... it wasn't so much the evolution of a garden as it was the evolution of a gardener. I've learned a lot about what works and what doesn't. I've learned not to plant things that we really don't like eating (kale) or things that take a lot of room to grow and are easily purchased (dry beans) ... so a smaller garden works and is easier to care for. I'll still continue experimenting (and evolving) ... I'm trying out an heirloom blue corn this year (FitzGyver says I can't grow corn here ... we'll see). I wonder what next season will bring? I can't wait to find out :)
Enjoy!
Wow, what an evolution! Your garden looks great! I love the greenhouse and I think that the new tomato boxes will work out well!
ReplyDeleteI loved this post...what fun you have had...and your garden is wonderful! I too can't wait to see what next year brings!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful history and love your greenhouse!
ReplyDeleteI liked all your gardens each year!
ReplyDeleteVery cool to see how your garden has changed over time. It's nice to have a record to look back at and see how much you have learned and changed!
ReplyDeleteHurrah for the evolving garden and gardener! It really is about finding the right combination of growing beds, supports and structures, and crops that work for your climate and your eating habits. Good work and it was interesting to see the evolution laid out like that.
ReplyDeleteIt's great how you and your garden have evolved over time. I'm working to add more perennial plantings to my place including fruit trees and bushes so it will look very different in a few years.
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