Those raised beds are just gorgeous; I love the way they fit in with their natural surroundings.
They're over 20 years old now and some of the timbers have rotted out...we're going to have to do some serious repair this coming winter.
The natural surroundings are...um...created. That garden patch, when my mother moved there, was compacted, nearly-sterile soil (overuse of chemicals by previous owners) and wide open on the south and west, from whence come our hot, drying, summer winds. We planted trees around the edge for windbreaks and privacy and to encourage (hopefully insect-eating) birds.
The raised beds were necessary in order to grow anything at first; the soil has recovered a lot now, and we use the far end as a wildflower garden. We used soil we'd dug out for the water garden, mixed in sand (our local stuff is heavy clay) and composted leaves and aged horse manure.
The design was based on readily-available 8 foot treated landscape timbers. Richard drilled holes in the ends, so they could be held in place by reinforcing rods; half-lengths crosswise on the top layer hold it all together. The long beds are made of sequential 8-foot lengths, with only the top cross-pieces at the ends. They were designed so I can reach beyond the middle of the bed for weeding. It makes for tight spacing for the corn, for instance, but it's a lot easier to care for the beds. Doing it again, I'd put landscaping cloth along the sides, to prevent soil leaking out as the timbers warp with age.
We might put in another long bed this year, into which we could move the soil from the one that's worst broken-down, and continue to grow things while we rebuild that one. But we really need more rainwater capture and storage, the way things are going with the city wells.
YUM! There is nothing in the world like food fresh form your own garden!!
Yup. If you don't garden for awhile (as we didn't, concentrating on the wild land instead) you forget just how good it is. There will be a fall garden this year!!!
So sweet...so juicy...so irresistible.
MM, looks tasty. *looks for breakfast*
Pancakes for breakfast, corn for lunch...though I have considered putting corn *in* pancakes...
That's impressive! The corn looks yummy. I'm making my first meal for two tonight with the cherry tomatoes I planted, and I have some beefsteak and roma tomatoes that are about ripe. It's my first year of making a serious attempt at a vegetable garden. I organized the plants poorly, so the tomatoes have shaded out some other things. I'm going to rearrange two narrower beds in the fall. In the meantime, I at least have tomatoes!
It can be hard to figure out, at first, where to put things and what to plant when. And every time you move, that changes.
Oh yum. I love those summer lunches - especially tasty after a day spent swimming.
No place to swim here...water being scarce...but good anyway.
YUM!
I think I want to do some vegetables gardening in the next couple years... as soon as I find space in my tiny lot for it. It's really cool for kids to see exactly where their food is coming from and to have a part in growing it. Make them more inclined to eat the fruits of their labors :)
Even a small play-pen size raised bed can grow enough to be interesting and educational for kids. My first garden, behind the garage, was quite small and too shady--but I grew enough parsley to sell bunches to local grocer (this was...um...probably nearly sixty years ago.)
Wow. And I'm barely starting to get lilacs.
I gather you aren't in Texas...
Our garden was completely overrun by gophers. Now, thanks to the dogs, there are huge holes dug out from the corners (they are so deep, the dogs can disappear in the hole, with only their tails sticking out). The local rabbits/skunks/coyotes/raccoons are probably living in it now.
Container gardening? I did that in one location. It's good for herbs, green onions, strawberries. | 
