My husband and I have been talking for several years about moving our garden area after our chickens died. They lived longer than we thought they would! But they all finally died over the winter, so we were able to use their chicken pen as a fenced garden area. Part of the reason we wanted to use the fenced area is that we get a lot of deer in our yard, especially in the past several years. I planted tomatoes in one of our wine barrels a few years ago, and the deer ate the tiny green tomatoes. UGH!
How it all began...
Once the weather began to get warm this spring, my hubby dismantled the chicken coop and began collecting scrap wood. He put the wood along the bottom half of the fenced area, so it would be a solid background for the garden. Then we put plastic sheeting over the wood. We placed long 2-by-4s on the dirt to help everything be more level. Then we began moving the cinder blocks we had around our old garden beds. My hubby did a majority of that work by himself, partly because I have been dealing with tennis elbow in my left arm. I did lift some of the blocks with my right arm. Once we got two layers set, we placed some cut-up wood pallets and other fillers in the bottom of the garden beds.
Our next step was to move dirt from our old garden beds into the new garden beds. There were two beds that were about 2 feet wide by 10 feet long. It took us 3 hours to move all of the dirt bucket by bucket. We took a break for over a week after that, partly because we went out of town for a few days.
Before...
during...
We have not decided what to do with this part of the yard yet, but we may move our fire pit...
and after!
We priced topsoil at the local home improvement store and decided that it would be cheaper to buy compost from the area near our dump. We drove to the dump compost on Saturday and picked up one load. Our son Caleb came to help his Dad shovel dirt from the truck to the garden. It didn't take too long, and we even had some dirt left over! I promised our son that he would get to enjoy the fruit (and veggies) of our labor with us, literally! (haha)
That evening, my hubby and I shopped for veggies and seeds. It was kind of exciting to get to this point after so much work! We bought three tomato plants, three pepper plants, a red lettuce, two cucumber plants, two strawberry plants, spinach plants, and several herbs. We also got flowers for our wine barrels and marigolds to brighten up the garden area.
On Sunday, I planted the wine barrel plants, but that was all, since it was Mother's Day. I got a nap, and we enjoyed a nice family dinner with my mom. I was busy on Monday, but when the weather was cooler on Monday evening, we planted all the plants and seeds. The seeds that we bought are: arugula, rosemary, and three kinds of lettuce.
Then yesterday we got the watering hoses and small watering bubblers/umbrella bubblers in, as well as a soaker hose for the herbs and marigolds, which are in the cinder block holes. We are so happy to be done with all of that work and hope that everything grows well!
The water hoses are all set up...
Strawberries are all ready to water...
I may post an update later this summer when things are really growing. It is so nice to have a garden again! (Although I hope Colorado's drought won't affect things too much...?)
Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
Deuteronomy 11:10
The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you planted your seed and irrigated it by foot as in a vegetable garden.
Isaiah 58:11
The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
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