Four years ago we started
our garden at the lake house. We started with tentative steps, more of a conceptual
idea, where we would get the best sun and drainage…so we tilled.
How did that work out?
Well…first we discovered we had tilled over an existing
drainage tile! We did not till up the
pipe and had sufficient soil to keep going.
Outlining the freshly
tilled soil with garden timbers we began adding garden grade (compost) to
enrich the soil…a never ending process I have found (enrich and re-enrich with
compost…some we make ourselves).
The first summers
crop was bountiful…more than we could eat and share with the neighbors…but my “master gardener” was not happy…not enough
room to plant all the different possibilities…so we dug up more yard, more
landscape timber and more “enriched soil”!
Texas summers are hot and often dry, so keeping this garden
watered was always and issue, as was keeping the grass watered…so we added a
sprinkler system fed off the lake…free water (well not exactly).
The garden is now
approaching the size of a small truck farm (just kidding!) with an increasing
diversity of vegetables and herbs. Add to this pots and hanging baskets and you
have a wonderful pallet of vegetables and flowers. Oh yes and fruit trees too,
peach, lemon and fig.
The master gardener
tired of bending a stooping and asked for raised beds…”how high” I asked. Three
feet would be fine. Quickly calculating I saw a “LARGE” investment in treated
lumber and fill…can’t just use dirt…has
to be a “formulated” garden mix…well of course…silly me! So I designed a
slightly raised bed with my fancy CAD program from Google and submitted for her
approval.
The new raised bed were filled and planted…now we wait.
There is an old Texas saying that you shouldn't plant a garden before Easter because of a late freeze and sure enought one is forcast for later this week...will we survive?
Stay tuned for more.
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