Raised Garden Beds Archives - Page 2 of 10 - One Hundred Dollars a Month

Raised Garden Beds – Backyard Garden Tour

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By Mavis Butterfield on May 17, 2013 · 10 Comments

Happy Friday everyone!

I thought I would give you a mini garden tour today and show you what’s growing {and what’s not} in our 16 raised garden beds. If you are wondering why I’m holding Miss Lucy, it’s because she is not longer allowed in the front yard. Every time she’s out in the front, she bolts.

She’s a free spirit. What can I say.

Okay, before I show you all the vegetables that are thriving, let’s talk about these 2 stinkin’ garden beds shall we? I cannot get ANYTHING to grow in these. Nada. Nothing. What is up with that? I even tested the soil. These beds are cursed I tell you. Cursed!

I think I’m going to have my online boyfriend sing to them or something when he visits me in a few weeks for the Mother Earth News Fair. Something has got to be done about this.

Has something like this ever happened to you? Seriously, what’s the deal?

The cabbage {which is in the bed right next to the duds} is totally thriving, And no, I did not add another cabbage in the empty space yet. I thinkI’m going to leave it empty.

Radishes. We are picking them today!

The onions and kohlrabi that are in there are doing great.

The square foot garden. So far so good. I’m really surprised at how well all the different plants are growing next to each other.

Swiss Chard. Ahh I love how it’s growing in perfect little rows.

We planted 6 beds with tomato plants last week and they are doing great.

Here’s a close up of one of the tomato plants. I’m thinking we are about 60 days away to fresh salsa. What do you think?

We planted garlic last fall and typically harvest towards the end of June or early July.

Close up of the artichoke leaves. I seriously thought these were gonners, but after some serious watering, they perked back up.

Check out the beets! They are coming alive. I need to get out there and thin these soon.

Here’s a view from the back of the garden. I think everything is looking as it should for mid-May. In about another month or the tops of all the raised garden beds should be covered in a sea of green and it will start to look dreamy.

Right now I’m wishing I had a few more garden boxes.

Hmmm. I wonder if I can get the HH to build me a few.

What’s new in your garden? Are you tomatoes in yet? Have you spotted any tomato flowers yet?

~Mavis

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Raised Garden Beds – Growing Cabbage, Garlic, Tomatoes and More

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By Mavis Butterfield on May 10, 2013 · 15 Comments

The backyard is finally starting to look like a real backyard garden again. Out 16 4×8 raised garden boxes are really starting to fill in and it won’t be too long before they are overflowing with yummy vegetables to eat.

I still think the cabbage and radish bed looks the best.

Do you have any great radish recipes? Someone said they are good sauteed, like in a stir fry. We will have a bunch to harvest over the next 2 weeks and I need to find a few good recipes for them.

Radishes, onions and kohlrabi.

If you look closely you can see the kohlrabi bulbs starting to form at the soil line.

The square foot garden. We added 3 tomato plants to it a few days ago. Next on the list are beans and cucumbers.

Check out the bed of Swiss chard.

The chickens will be so excited!

I’m kind of surprised there are no signs of garlic scapes yet. I love using them in stir-fry dishes and it seems to me they should be popping up by now.

The year started off pretty mild but lately the weather has begun to really warm up for this time of year {I think so anyway}. Since we didn’t get any snow this past winter, I think the vegetables might be a little behind. Either that or I’m the one who is behind. I’m not sure which is which.

If there is one thing I have learned over the years about gardening is that it’s better to wait to until the weather warms up a bit to get all your seeds planted. Otherwise they just end up rotting in the ground because your’e to stinkin’ excited to start gardening and you plant them too early.

Thinning the beets is on the agenda this weekend.

Be still my heart. Tomato plants.

Here is the view from the garden gate. Pretty neat-o if you ask me.

If you find that I am posting less than normal this weekend, it’s because I plan on spending most of it getting caught up in the garden. My online boyfriend Ryan from Botanical Interests is coming to visit me in a few weeks when he’s up here for the Mother Earth News Fair and I want to get everything looking in tip top shape for his arrival.

Peace Out Girl Scouts, Have a great weekend!

~ Mavis

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Companion Planting: Tomatoes, Onions and Carrots

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By Mavis Butterfield on May 9, 2013 · 7 Comments

Last night Lucy the garden dog helped me get a little companion planting done in the raised garden beds. Typically I bring the squirt bottle out with me and zap her with it if she walks in the garden beds, {and it works!} but she is still on the mend and I didn’t want to startle her.

Luckily she didn’t munch on any of the vegetable plants, so I was okay with it.

The other day my neighbor Hudla and I planted 66 tomato plants in 6 garden boxes {11 in each}. I was able to get 4 of the boxes planted with companion vegetables, 2 with onions and 2 with carrots.

If you have kids and you have never grown purple carrots before, you should give them a try. Your little monkeys will think they’ve got the coolest vegetables on the planet when they pull those babies up.

I think in the other two garden boxes I will plant a flat of leeks in one of them and maybe some fancy lettuce in the other. We’ll see. I have to go through my seed packets and see what I have.

Right now it looks like there are a bunch of string beans laying on the ground between the tomato plants, but no worries. In a few days they should perk right up and the garden beds will be looking in tip top shape.

How about you? Have you planted your tomatoes yet? Do you plan on doing any companion planting? If so, what will you plant beneath your tomato plants?

~Mavis

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Mavis Garden Blog – Planting Tomatoes in Raised Garden Beds

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By Mavis Butterfield on May 7, 2013 · 7 Comments

My neighbor Hudla came over this morning to help with a few tomatoes plants. We bartered French breakfast radishes and eggs {mine} for garden labor {hers}. Does it get any better than that?

I’ve decided Hudla is the best garden assistant on the planet. Mainly because when she comes over, she’s only here for one hour at a time and she’s fast like lighting. It’s super easy to drop everything for 60 minutes and go outside with her and get some gardening done in between cooking, cleaning, blogging and taking care of Lucy.

Did I mention Hudla home schools her kids? Yep. So she’s totally good at juggling 20 million things at once and thinking ahead. Of course we’ve only done “fun” gardening project so far. Re-potting plants, planting vegetables and working in the greenhouse.

I suppose when it comes time to dig the well and the irrigation canals out back she might not be so eager to pop over for an hour.

We’ll see.

Our raised garden boxes are 4×8 feet and are filled with some pretty good soil. In years past I have packed the garden boxes with as many as a dozen plants and each time the results were pretty much the same. Awesome.

This year Hudla and I planted 66 tomato plants in 6 garden beds {11 in each bed}. 4 across the back row, 3 in the center and 4 across the front. Plus we still have a bunch left over.

Here is what the 6 raised garden beds looked like after all the tomato plants were in.

Now, we just have to figure out what we are going to plant around the bottom of the tomato beds. According to my Companion Planting Chart not only do carrots love tomatoes, but tomatoes love onions. Which is pretty stinkin’ perfect because I still have 2 flats of onions and leeks I’ve been neglecting in the greenhouse for months.

Looks like I have the perfect place to plant them now.

Giddy up! Summer is finally on it’s way.

~Mavis

P.S. Have YOU planted your tomatoes yet?

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