April 2, 2011: East Garden Tour

If you don't like to see photos of plain dirt, go no farther.

I finally finished forming all the new beds in the east garden, have rethought my original planting plans, and have begun planting.

To refresh your memories, or if you haven't seen the old east garden area, this is what it looked like a year ago:

East garden March 2010. All the raised beds were boxed in, and were either 4'x4' or 2'x4' and 12" deep. I found it rather restrictive as to what I could plant and where, and the boxes dried out very quickly. The entire bed was 22' long, which is quite a ways to have to walk around while gardening or harvesting.

The new beds 2011, view from the north end (kennel garden): With new neighbors next door, I couldn't plan on using their fence for growing my vining crops or tomatoes, so I am utilizing that area for my walkway. The new beds run east and west, and range from 7' long to 8' long, with widths of 3' or 4'. There is a smaller bed at each end. The boards, which were showing signs of rotting, are all gone.

The view from the south end of the east garden. Here you can see the kennel garden at the end, where a left turn leads into the north garden. The black pots, along the fence at the end of each garden path, will be joined by one more and hold my jalapeno peppers.

East bed #1 is 5' long x 2' deep. I had originally planned on using this bed for cucumbers, having forgotten I bought a packet of Chinese Red Noodle beans. This would be the perfect spot for them, where they can climb the side of the kennel. Some of the many basil plants I have growing could be planted along the front edge.

East bed #2 is 4' wide x 8' long. It will contain spinach, turnips, chard and beets. A dozen spinach transplants were put in today, hopefully not too early. The little plants have an uphill battle ahead of them to survive the strong winds that are blowing again today. I'm going to cover this bed with some net to try to foil the leaf miner flies that always wreak havoc on these crops.

East bed #3 is also 4' wide x 8' long. It will hold three determinate tomatoes down the center. Heavy 5' metal T-posts are pounded in firmly to hold the oversized tomato cages (2 are in, one to go). Carrots will be planted down both sides of this bed. I have transplanted two parsley plants at the end of the bed, and there will also be some marigolds added later.

East bed #4 is 3' wide x 8' long. It will have bush beans on one side and sweet peppers on the other side. Parsley has been planted at the end of the bed, and marigolds will follow later. I don't know if you can see the bit of green at the bases of a few of the fence posts, but they are lavender clematis.

East bed #5 is 3' wide x 8' long. It has carrots (planted yesterday) under the boards, and will have sweet peppers on the other side. Parsley has been planted at the end of the bed, and marigolds will follow later. Chives are growing next to the fence, and will be left where they are.

East bed #6 is 3' wide x 7' long. It holds all of the Walla Walla sweet onions, planted last month. There are hollyhocks, tulips, Shasta daisies and narcissus back by the fence, that's why the beds are shorter at this end of the garden.

East bed #7 is 3' wide x 7' long. This is where I grow my sticks. LOL, just kidding.....the sticks are marking where the next planting of cabbages and broccoli will go. Today I marked circles where those plants will grow, and planted onion bulbs in between the circles. Room was left at the end for marigolds and a final planting of parsley. The lilac tree in the background has to go. I hate to lose it, but my hardest garden job is trying to keep the suckers out of the vegetable beds. Taking it out will also give the garden a bit more sunlight.

East bed #8, measuring 2' wide x 7' long, is the last bed in the east garden, and holds the peas I planted today. I wasn't going to plant peas this year. I caved. These are sugar snaps, and I'll be building a string trellis for them to climb. There is room for something in the corner, but I haven't yet decided what. Possibly a bush squash, but I'm not sure it will get enough sun. Maybe I'll just move some flowers in there.


Total planting area in the east garden is 178 square feet, plus the pots.....182 sq. ft. total. I'm planning on covering the pathways with wood chips. Eventually. Maybe.

I finished hauling compost, digging, leveling and planting just in time to make a home made pizza for dinner, using sauce and peppers from last year's garden.