Planting Our Garden

"Then God said, 'Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you.'" Genesis 1:29
After we installed the drip irrigation, we added more dirt and leveled it to within 4" from the top, removing any large rocks we found. We ignored small rocks - too many to remove!

Next on the agenda was amending the soil. We started with one large bag of Miracle Grow every 8'. As you can see, Hubby just dumped it in one big pile. A rake works good for leveling.
Fertilizer and lime came next. Hubby measured out what he needed and just spread it by hand. Nothing too difficult about this process.

Now we can go shopping for plants, seeds, etc!! We found the best nursery and were very excited about our finds. Here's a list of the seeds we purchased: mustard, parsley, basil, coriander, chives, arugula, lettuce, peppers, onion, sweet corn, and fava beans.

We also decided to plant marigolds and nasturtium.

You may recognize the plants: shallots, two varieties of onions, strawberries, seed potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, and rhubarb. Yum, yum!

Now that this project is completed, what's next? Wait, didn't we build the raised bed to hold dirt from the patio area? Of course! Oh my. We still have more dirt to remove. Does that mean another raised bed? Hmmmmm, I wonder.

Living water

"And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I [Jesus] say to you he shall not lose his reward." Matthew 10:42

Hope you all had a great weekend. Back to our landscaping. Let me explain how we installed drip irrigation for the raised bed. The process is fairly simple.
First drill a hole completely through the end 12" from the top, centered from side to side. We drilled our hole at the deepest end, but either end would be fine. Then run a piece of tubing (cut to length plus a few inches) through the hole.

On the inside of the bed, attach the hardware to the tubing. Next, figure out where your lines need to run in order to irrigate the entire bed. Our bed has an interior width of 4' and each line has a 24" spread (12" on each side). So, our lines lay 12" from the edge with a 24" space in the middle. Insert the mounting piece for each line.

On the outside of the bed, attach and adapter/pressure meter for the garden hose. Be sure your pressure meter is in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendation. Our lines are manufactured for 15 psi.

Attach your lines and run them the length of the bed. Drip irrigation is more efficient if the lines are not kinked under the soil so be sure they are flat on the ground. At the far end, slice the tubing to the appropriate length plus 6-8". Cut two more pieces approximately 2" long. Fold the end of one line several times and slip one of the 2" pieces on to secure it closed. Repeat on each line.

The lines are 12" under the surface for a couple of reasons: 1) the water won't evaporate as quickly as if it were near/on the top, and 2) this depth allows us to use the tiller at a maximum 8" depth without interfering with the drip lines.
Now it's time to test the system for leaks. Gently turn on the water and increase pressure until you've achieved the recommended force. In a few seconds, the water should be gently dripping onto the ground. Check all connections for leaks. If nothing is leaking, you're done for the day!

Our reward? One happy garden!!

Filling the raised bed

"And again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground." Genesis 4:2
In order to lay the patio, dirt must be removed first. A lot of dirt. The soil had eroded down the slope toward the house until it was half way up the vent on the wall. After we leveled the soil to below the vent, we had to remove another 5" to make way for the gravel, sand, and stone. That's a lot of dirt. This shot was taken right after Hubby tilled the soil. Tilling makes light work of excavating. All this dirt will be thrown into the raised bed.
Before adding dirt to the raised bed, we removed the walls at both ends. That's why we didn't drive rebar into the end walls. (See yesterday's post.)
When this picture was taken, we didn't have the tractor, yet. Everything was done by hand. We loaded the little wagon attached to the back of the mower, drove into the raised bed, tilted the wagon, and dumping the dirt as I drove out the other end.
Hubby was so wise making the bed 4' wide - everything worked like a charm!
We added enough dirt to fill the bed to within 12" from the top, put the end pieces back in place, slammed in the remaining pieces of rebar, leveled the dirt, and called it good! Tomorrow's post: drip irrigation!

One raised bed coming up!

"For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it?" Luke 14:28
We didn't build a tower, but rather a raised bed. And I'm pretty sure we purchased enough materials to complete the job (see yesterday's post). Here's a quick run-through of how we did it.


From the highest point, figure out where the land drops 18" (laser level & yardstick works for this). This determines the length of the bed. Our mower & tiller determined the inside width (4').

From the lowest point, lay timbers - leveling the ground as necessary. When the bottom row becomes even with ground, go back to the lowest point and start a new row of timbers. All the while, use a tape measure to keep the inside width consistently 4', a 6' bubble level to make sure the two outside walls are the same height, and a smaller bubble level to make sure each timber is level in all directions.

From the lowest point, mark every three feet on both sides. Girls, fingernail polish works great for this! Alternating between a 1/2" bit and a 5/8" bit, drill a hole at every mark. A 3' drill bit allows you to drill all the way down the ground. Standing on the timber helps secure it while you drill (I stood on the other end).

(NOTE 8/28/07: We found using the larger drill bit allowed the timbers to pop up. From here on out, we will always use a drill bit the same size as the rebar.)

Next, at each hole, measure from the ground up and add 18". Cut pieces of 1/2" rebar to this length and place next to appropriate hole. On each side wall of the bed, drive the rebar into the holes using a sledge hammer. The holes drilled with the 5/8" bit will be a breeze. However, the holes drilled with the 1/2" bit will be quite a work out! Don't drive rebar into the end pieces - yet.

Here's the finished product! The timbers are stacked and leveled, the pieces of rebar have been driven into place (except on the ends), and we're ready to start adding dirt. See you tomorrow!