Saturday, March 14, 2009

my v garden







i was so inspired by urban homesteaders and by good ol' fritz haeg and his edible estates that i decided i should have my own v garden. she (the v garden that is) lives out in front of my house for all the world to see. i have even invited and promised neighbors over for fresh salads! (how can you tease them with your organic greens and say no)

below are the pictures of the process. more pictures to come (of a more mature garden).

in the beginning....
we had this area in our front yard that would just grow weeds and the occasional successful wild flower ( i still need to master my wildflower seed process ). originally we had thought we wanted our v garden in the back, but after a long day of wedding this random plot we realized how ideal the sun exposure was here. and then i read some of fritz's inspiring words about "doing it in the front" and i was pumped. by putting our v garden in the front yard not only have we taken advantage of some valuable space but we are also making a statement. sure i have drought tolerant plants and natives...but now i have organic spinach too!!

building the raised bed was interesting. we first assumed pressure treated wood was ok. but after researching more thourougly we discovered it is very scary. so we took apart erick's first masterpiece and he created a second out of pine. plain old pine.
our raised bed meausures 4"x8" and so far i have found this to be a very comfortable size. i can get around it with out steping in and i don't feel like my plants are too crowded.
leveling the soil was good times. oh the challenges of LA hillside living!