The Gardening Passion Expands
The garden that created a bidding war
For years I had a plot at the community garden (Community Oasis Garden; exploring the passion) because there wasn’t enough sun in our yard. The only sunny spots in our yard were the front yard or the kid’s playset. Eventually, the playset was abandoned in favor of bikes, street hockey, playdates, and sports. The Gardening Passion Garden was the first intentionally built garden in our backyard.
After researching cedar lumber for the beds, I decided to skip the hassle of building boxes (not my strong suit, anyway). So, I purchased the cedar garden boxes found at the two big box stores and whipped together thirteen boxes. Banging those together in less than a few minutes was very satisfactory!
Playset Be Gone
I was bent on reusing as much of the playset material as possible. The border was easy; it was a unique shape and already in place. The great thing about CedarWorks playsets is that they use cedar wood (with no chemicals). But I tell ya – disassembling that thing was difficult!
Those playsets have about a dozen different nails, screws, and attachments. Eventually, I just started cutting around them. In the end, I had quite a few 4” x 4” pieces of lumber that I could use for a few beds. We adopted the playset when we bought the house, and it came with yards of recycled tires and shoe soles as a base. Yards and yards and yards of the stuff. I gave away almost all of it to local daycares. Deconstructing this playset area was a beast!
One Giant Experiment
The Gardening Passion Garden garden was a solid five years of practicing gardening until I finally felt I had it all put together. Using different bed sizes, shapes, and rotating crops. Learning about composting and how close the composter should be to your garden (spoiler alert: not close). Studying soil building and soil composition. Exploring with starting seeds, building a grow rack, and grow lights. Trialing with cold frames and hoop covers for our boxes. Trying different pest control and bug controls strategies. Practicing preserving by freezing raw and cooked foods and water bath canning.
Meanwhile, I was building and expanding the garden, adding wildflowers, fruit, and chickens to the mix. In short, it was a pretty busy couple of years, to say the least. Yet, when I’d look out the window to see the family foraging in the garden I found, again and again, my grandmother’s words coming true “if you build it, they will eat it.”
Adding Wildflowers
I remember the summer adding wildflowers to the garden became a pillar of the garden – and every garden since. That summer, there was a noticeable drop in produce production. Tons and tons of fruit flowers but not very much fruit. As experimentation often goes – the proof is in the pudding. Every garden I have incorporated perennial wildflowers into the garden, and it has produced a measurable difference!
Adding Fruit
Adding fruit was a slip-er-ry slope! Certainly, planting something once and having it mass-produce is the best! Nothing I tell ya is better than picking fruit from your own backyard. And if you have pre-teens that eat their weight in fruit – it can really pay off! So, I started with strawberries and raspberries, then added blueberries the following year.
Adding Chickens
One day I saw something online about building a chicken coop from garden pallets. Well!! That sounded reasonable… except it wasn’t. Did you know pallets come in all different sizes and shapes? I didn’t. And unfortunately, my building skills were novice-level at best. Nevertheless, it was a great undertaking and turned into a family project. It doesn’t get any better than that – and, we got eggs!
The Gardening Passion garden’s produce
Raspberries, Strawberries, Blueberries, Pumpkins, Birdhouse gourds, Eggplant, Peas, Lettuces, Kale, Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, Cucumbers, Jalapenos, Beans, Garlic, Plum Tomatoes
Garden Herbs
Echinacea, Sage (in a wooden bucket pot), Rosemary (in a wooden bucket pot), Thyme (in a wooden bucket pot), Oregano (in a wooden bucket pot), Chocolate mint (in a wooden bucket pot), Spearmint (in a wooden bucket pot), Chamomile (in a wooden bucket pot), Chives (in a wooden bucket pot).
Patio Pots
Lemon Balm (in a wooden bucket pot), Lemon the lemon-less lemon tree, Container strawberries, Aloe.
The Gardening Passion Garden Expands
And boy, did it expand! I started out staying within the border, but pretty soon – whoops! You can see a clear pattern – the more I learned, the more the garden grew! What a ride this garden was!
It seemed like just when the Gardening Passion Garden was perfected, we moved.
In hindsight, our move from The Gardening Passion Garden was perfect timing. I needed a challenge, and the Quick Turn Garden; two years and counting was just that challenge!
Which garden experiment made the most substantial impression on your gardening learning process?
~ Lola
“There are no gardening mistakes, only experiments!”
The gardens we’ve built
Why I Garden; if you grow it, they will eat it
Community Oasis Garden; exploring the passion
The Gardening Passion Expands; the garden that created a bidding war
Quick Turn Garden; two years and counting
The Empty Nest Garden; totally out of control
The coops we’ve built
How NOT to Build a Chicken Coop
The Bored Engineer’s Coop
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