Thursday, January 21, 2010

Locating the garden beds.

I wish I had paid more attention to which parts of our yard were in full sun last summer - it's hard to tell in the dead of winter what the best locations for the raised beds will be.

I had been considering the front yard, on either side of our walkway, for two 4X4 beds each, but now I wonder if those spots will be shaded by the house for too much of the day.

The area alongside our house might be promising as well, but again, I'm not sure how much of the day it will be in full sun. I also wonder if being so close to the neighbor's fence is a good idea.
She's a gardener too, but from what I've read on some local gardening sites, some neighborhoods don't seem too keen on front yard vegetable gardens.

I'd also like to put a couple of 2x2 beds in the front parking strip. I've tried several times to do something interesting with that space, but so far nothing has lasted.

There has also been some local drama to do with raised beds in the parking strip, but as best as I can tell, it's allowed as long as you aren't creating an obstruction.

Someone down the street from us has a couple of small beds in their parking strip that they use for summer squash every year, and I think it always looks lovely.

The backyard is a more neighbor friendly option - but any beds in the back yard will need something around them to keep the chickens out.

This weekend I plan to finish getting this spot set up - I've decided this is where I'll put my first planting of peas. I'll probably start with Oregon Sugar Pod II. I plan on going to a couple of garden stores this weekend to see what seeds are in stock. We're having such a mild winter so far, the peas can probably go in sometime in the next few weeks - easily by President's day.

The last spot in the backyard is where the chicken coop used to be.
I'm sure the soil in this area is very fertile, but I'm not sure how much shade there will be from the fence and the Wisteria. However, since the grass is already dead there, I think I'll put in a bed and give it a try.

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