January 10, 2011 - Life Before Boxes

Yesterday I mentioned I'd like to eliminate the boxes that I have in the garden. As much as I like not having to bend over so far to plant, weed or harvest, I'm finding a few drawbacks in having those solid wood sides around all the beds.

(a) Being situated with one long side (21-feet) facing the hot afternoon sun, it gets too hot and wilts the plants.

(b) The native soil beneath the bed is quite sandy and drains very well, so the raised boxes tend to dry out more quickly and require more water.

(c) The layout is all wrong for utilizing a drip watering system.

(d) It's very restrictive, not allowing me to use much imagination when I plan my garden.

(e) Not having solid sides means I can use the pathways for trench composting, then use those areas for the next years beds.

(f) I'm having problems with sowbugs and odd looking fungi that I never had before wood boxes.

(g) I'm bored. I need a big project on which to work.



Gardens Before Boxes


This is the only photo I have of a garden BDC (before digital cameras). This was taken in 1981, before we moved into town. This garden was intensively planted on raised beds. It was planted on a sand dune behind the house, with nothing but composted horse manure and shredded maple tree leaves added to enrich the soil.

We moved to town in November of 1989, so the first garden there was planted in the spring of 1990. I again had a traditional raised bed, intensively planted garden, along the entire west side of the yard. There was only a small metal shed where the larger one now stands, and I used all of the space between the shed and the back fence as well. I haven't found a single photo of the garden from then until it was moved, ten years later.


In the fall of 1999, our neighbors to the west put a dog kennel on their patio, which ran right along the fence line. Every morning, the neighbor would hose dog poop from the kennel to the small space between patio and fence, which drained right into my vegetable garden. We pulled out all the veggies and planted a privacy row of arborvitae along the fence. The following spring, the garden was relocated to the only other sunny spot in the yard, right off the back deck.


It was a much smaller garden, but I loved the easy access from the kitchen


I planted traditional rows, in raised beds that were from 3'-4' wide for the bush beans and peas down to 1'-2' wide for lettuce, carrots, onions, etc.


I could get quite random with placement of plants, and it was easy to set pots and planters wherever I had the space.


It was small, but productive and easy to maintain. The garden pretty much stayed the same for two years.


My first foray into boxes came in 2002. I had really good luck with this garden plan, but the boxes ran east and west, and there was no problem with overheating and wilting crops.


I'd have to say, this was my favorite for a small garden. Not everything was confined to boxes. There was a small bed of strawberries on the right of the walkway, cabbage and broccoli and nasturtiums at the ends of the boxes, alyssum in the front, herbs to the left. We got plenty of tomatoes from the entire row of patio type tomatoes in the back box.


That garden remained for three seasons. In the winter of 2004, I had extensive and debilitating (for me) cancer surgery, so the boxes were removed from the garden, and the garden was seeded in grass. It wasn't until 2008 that my body finally recuperated to the point where I felt strong enough to once more tackle a garden, so I started off small. I planted a 3' wide strip along the fence between us and the neighbor to the east. That was the summer our maple tree went down in a strong wind, and gave me an entire back yard of sunshine. I decided to extend the garden by building several 4x4 and 4x8 boxes along the east and north sides, with the unused dog kennel in the corner.


East bed 2008


North bed 2008. The north bed will remain the same, with boxes.



Which brings us back to....(g) I'm bored. I need a big project on which to work.



37 comments:

  1. Hmm....sounds to me like you had a nice little garden, and then just "had" to keep going bigger, you big glutton! Haha! Go ahead and let me have it, Granny - you know you want to!!!Hehe..
    Oh well....mine is gonna be downsized this year from 235 sqft. to only 190. Yep,I got me a plan!!!

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  2. I think that you are definitely bored Granny! I have to say that I really love the small garden with some boxes. It's a really nice layout.

    Oh, who is that hot chicken in the first photo from 1981???

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  3. Your gardens are so lovely and neat. If you didn't live clear across the country I would say come on over and plan my garden! You wouldn't be bored!

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  4. EG, you asked for it...BAM!! There ya go, you little poopy head.

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    Robin, now that I have two dogs, who think garden "beds" are for sleeping on in the warm sun, that garden spot is out of the question ;-) I do wish it were possible to go back to it.

    That hot chicken is my oldest daughter, Shannon, LOL!

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    Shawn Ann, if I planned yours, I'd have to change it at least a half dozen times, then toss out the plans. That's just the way I am :-)

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  5. I gotta say, I'm ready to head back into the garden too. We couldn't BUY snow this winter, so with no snowmobiling or skiing, I'm ready for some work too!
    Hubby is even so bored , he's talking about going to Arizona to see the grandson. Now I KNOW he's bored......he HATES the drive down there (but always has fun once we're there!)
    When are you guys thinking of heading home?

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  6. Sue, I tend to forget how cold it is at home, when the sun is shining on me warmly down here. We are going to aim for the first three days of good travel weather around mid February, which will be at least two weeks earlier than we've ever gone home before. Once we're past January down here, I can install the irrigation timer and not have to worry about it freezing and breaking.

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  7. First, Gran, I had no idea you are a cancer survivor! I am in awe of all that you do in spite of setbacks and I am sure all your gardening activities bring positive health results. I was already singing "go, granny, go, granny..." - now I'll have to kick it up another notch!

    Second, I love all these photos and am sure whatever you do will be great. I think a mixture of ground beds and raised would look beautiful, nice variety and pleasing to the eye!

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  8. I love these pictures, Gran. They look as if they were taken straight out of a gardening magazine. It's interesting to see how a person's garden evolves. It hasn't quite been 2 years since I started mine and already I'm looking forward to the next one. LOL. Next time, I think I'll opt for simple straight rows will paths mulched with wood chips.

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  9. Erin, and it will give me something else to do besides painting and redecorate the inside of the house this spring ;-) Yes, I'm eying two of the bedrooms and Mr. Granny's "man room". I should be able to handle that before it's time to begin gardening.

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    Thomas, I gave up on the wood chips. I whined for them all last summer...there are big piles of them at my daughter's place, but I can't get anyone interested in loading them for me. I don't do loading.

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  10. Are you sure you aren't just bored because you are in AZ? Or maybe you wan to take care of a couple of my beds? I could use the help.

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  11. Granny, I love all your gardens, especially the smaller one. This looks so cute and gives me so many ideas to do gardening even in smaller places. The place I live, we have a yard but full of shade and I have very small portion which gets some sun, so looking at your smaller garden I feel anything is possible. Happy planning for your Garden makeover :)

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  12. Daphne, yes...that would be the case. I'm trying to bite off more than I can chew this year ;-)

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  13. Thank you, Sarada. I hope it helps you plan a small garden of your own.

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  14. Loved the photos of your ever changing garden. I am sure whatever you decide will result in a productive garden :)

    I do like having a mixture of in ground gardens and boxes as it gives me more flexibility.

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  15. I've been lurking here for quite a while and enjoying your words and pictures. All of the pictures of your gardens at various times and stages are inspirational. And, there's not one bad one! You should see my one bed with it's feeble attempt at turnip greens. Something is unfair here :-)

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  16. Rachel, I'm hoping this year will be better than last year, which I really think was the worst year ever for gardening. except for green beans and squash :-)

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    Dianefaith, you should see my two tiny boxes of pitiful greens here in Arizona! Things sure are growing slowly.

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  17. That tour was amazing. All of the past gardens were so beautiful, the rows so perfect, the textures and colors pleasing to the eye. Good stuff. This new garden re-do will be fun to watch!

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  18. Thanks, Kelly. Now I'm really going to have to do it, you know ;-)

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  19. You know, Granny, if you feel like you want a change, I say go for it. I kind of like the combination of raised beds and ground level beds. That's what I would vote for.
    Survivors rock! Congrats, and here's hoping for many more birthdays.
    ~~Lori

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  20. I love the BDC photo. I still have a camera that takes 35mm film but I haven't used it in a decade!! I wonder if it still works! I saw at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden that they did raised beds without using wood. Instead that just made a mound of soil and planted on top of it. Surprisingly it worked.

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  21. Thanks, Lori. I'm heading into my 7th cancer free year. I think I might make it ;-)

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    Meems, I can't even remember life BDC! But I wonder if anyone will ever view the thousands of photos I've taken, after I'm gone. I love to view them on the computer, and I have them all dated (unlike my regular photos), but Mr. granny never sees them unless I make an effort to show him something....he will, however, sit and look through a photo album. He'd never insert a CD into a computer to view those I've saved.

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  22. Meems, I meant to add....maybe you can't see that the soil is mounded in all the gardens prior to the boxed in ones. I gardened like that for probably 25 years before trying the boxes. I would just keep digging amendments into each bed, which brought the soil level up probably 4"-6" above ground level. I'd mound it up into whatever width I wanted (usually 2' and 4' wide beds), then rake the tops level and tamp the sides with the rake (angle the sides toward the top of the bed) just to firm it up. I could use narrower pathways between beds than I can with the boxes.

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  23. Wow! Your beds look so perfect! No garden of shame for you!!!! I especially liked the beds with the brick walkways :)

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  24. Katie, that's my favorite, too. Unfortunately, it's out of the question with the two dogs.

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  25. Your garden looks lovely! I love how the boxes define areas. It's like a work of art!

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  26. I am always messing with the garden and it changes alot from year to year. There are real advantages to going without the boxed edges (you listed most of them) but I do like the boxed edges because I can keep my walkways narrower and I can use the edges to secure grow tunnel and vertical supports to them. Trade offs both ways. Not using edging is definitely more frugal and sustainable in the long run.

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  27. I love your small garden you had by your deck, it's charming and productive, not many can say that. Shame for shame on that neighbor! I'll be looking forward your next project.

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  28. Granny! Long time no post. I loved your overview on the transition of your garden. I've got a whole new challenge this year... moved from Spokane to Western WA and I have a huge yard that is 98% shaded. lol... we'll see how I do!

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  29. Wow! Even your little gardens are so beautiful!! So tidy and organized. *sighhh Can I adopt you? I need someone organized in my life! lol I try and try to organize the garden areas but I just haven't quite gotten there. yet. Maybe this will be the year!

    This may seem a ridiculous question, but how in the world does the soil in a non-contained raised bed.. stay raised!?!? Seems to me at the first run it would turn into a mud puddle and drizzle down the yard... maybe that only happens to me. lol!

    Hugs to ya!
    Wendy / sassyb

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  30. Bethany! I'm so surprised that you moved west, I thought you were going to move north! I wondered where you'd gone to, but my reader didn't pick up that your blog had moved, so I just thought you quit posting for the winter. Of course, I've now checked back to the old blog and see you are posting! I'll get you into my side bar, and pooh on Google Reader for not updating you any more. I have the same problem with Kitsap. I'm so used to reading new posts through Google Reader, I forget to consult my own side bar! I'm so glad you commented, and that I found you again.

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  31. Wendy, I have never had a problem with the soil staying raised. I make a mound 2-4' wide, rake the top to make it flat, then hold the rake at a slight angle and firm up the sides (with the back of the rake) so the ends and sides are shaped like

    / \ (imagine a flat top)

    I lose about 6" of planting area all around the bed with the sloped sides, so my 4' beds are actually more like 3' of planting width. If I want a full 2' of width, I start with a 3' wide mound.

    If a side should begin to crumble, just tamp it back in place with the back of the rake. I don't recall it happening, but I suppose it has. Before long, the roots of the veggies will hold everything firm.

    French intensive and biointensive gardening, using raised beds, were being used long before someone decided to put boxes around them ;-)

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  32. Yeah it was kind of a surprise to us too! But my hubby finished school and the job he got was in Renton. We found a nice little place in Carbonado though, which is a TINY town of about 600 people. It takes him an hour or so for the commute but to him it is worthwhile. But it's so rainy here that the trees have so much moss there's ferns growing out of them!

    Someday we'll make it up to the property. I'm not working now so I'll probably take my girls out there for some extended week trips :)

    I think most of my followers didn't pick it up that I'd moved. I don't think I moved right, though, I could have kept the blogger blog and it would have transferred. Having said that, I do love Wordpress, there's a lot more things you can do with it.

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  33. Bethany, since you have Google Friend Connect on your new blog, maybe it will do updates in the reader now. I don't know why it didn't do your moving post.

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  34. I think that the old Google connect was attached to a different account, because I have less followers on the new blog than I had on the old one. But I have no idea if I could combine them, so I guess make sure you are following with the new one? It's kind of annoying I have a hard time figuring it out... oh well.

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  35. Oh I loved seeing the history of your gardens. Can't think of what more you could do except make the garden bigger or maybe start an orchard?

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  36. I loved the way you did things, I Loved your boxes and I loved the Garden pictures so much I'm going to put them up on my Patio...Thanks so much fo sharing. Your and Inspiration. Ginny

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