Back in 2009, a neighbor built me an elevated garden (http://possumlane.blogspot.com/2009/07/stand-uppity-garden.html) It was a wonderful creation, a real back saver, but, alas, like so many other wonderful things, it was not built to last. One must NOT use treated lumber in a garden – the poisons leach out of the wood and into your food. So, the untreated wood next to wet earth for several months of the year tends to rot – quickly. I truly meant to rebuild it, possibly using synthetic wood for the sides, but, well if you keep up with what has been going on here, you can see how my time has been spent. Running a Kitty-Hospice was just so much more important. Then after losing Punkin, it has been extremely hard to work outside as Punk was never more than a few feet away – unless I was on the mower or had the weed-eater out. It is hard working with a little kitty ghost seeming to be peeking out from everywhere… But this week-end I bit the bullet and demolished the old one that by now was propped up on concrete blocks. Much of the wood was so rotted thru I had had to prop it up so it would not fall on Punkin who loved to camp out on the pallet I kept under it. In fact he spent most of his last week that he was outside on that little shelf which is why I did not knock it apart sooner.
Once down, I managed to move some concrete blocks in place, and given the lateness of the season and my time restraints and other obligations, I simply put a pallet on the blocks, nailed a half sheet of plywood to it, and opened up a BIG garden bag. That is a dustpan in there… I use that to scoop the old soil from last year, stored in the garbage can, to fill the new bag and smooth it off.
You might recall, I have used these garden bags to grow potatoes in for a couple of years, and last year grew carrots and onions in them. But this BIG bag has a diameter of 4 feet and holds as much potting soil as the old 4x4 garden it is replacing. So, last night, when it was not raining as they said it would, I planted a couple rows of yellow wax beans on one half saving the other side for Italian flats to go in as soon as the wax beans have 3 good leaves. Today I will fill 2 new potato bags with soil and start the carrots. Then this Saturday I hope to visit an organic grower and pick up some baby plants for the rest of the garden areas. I guess Spring has sprung even tho they are saying we might have temps in the bottom of the 40s by this week-end. SIGH.
This years potatoes and a bag of onions…
4 comments:
I went to a farm and ranch store last week and bought a 100 gallon polypropylene stock waterer that had a crack in it. I got it for half-off, making it $50, but now wish I had tried to get it reduced even further. Anyway, Peggy has been wanting to grow a few flowers (I'll believe it when I see it), so I got it for her, and then bought a yard of soil to fill it with. Of course, I have a lot of soil left-over, but that's good. I painted the waterer with stripes.
Where do you get those garden bags? I'd like to try that.
Ralph
Looks like you have everything planned for an easier way of gardening. Our neighbors built raised gardens.. they could sit on the sides to pick beans... had their cukes running on vines over head... they are artists... if they can think it .. they can build it.. he has two big greenhouses...
We've had strawberries from the fields around here.. we don't have them in a garden. Thanks for coming by to see my weeds..LOL
I wish I had 1/2 of your knowledge when it comes to gardening. I'm like Ralph ... where do you get those bags and do they come in smaller sizes?
Don't overdo it, Jan ...you've got a lot of critters and humans depending on you !!
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