I love gardening -- so long as my gardens feed me. Oh, I don't mean my soul. Just watching plants grow is spiritually fulfilling, to me. I mean plants that give you enough food and herbs that allow you to enjoy their bounty in season and still have enough to put by to carry you through to the next year. Our winter was so mild, everything came in early, so I hope our current temperature drop doesn't freeze the smallest plants during its two-day visit.
Above is my mini-orchard, planted five years ago in lasagna garden beds prepared the year before. See how I did it, without shovels or back-breaking work, here. This type of garden is perfect for anyone with rocky soil and can be done in a half hour. I even used the method to top off my 6' x 20' container garden that initially started out as a modified French Intensive garden, so it's a combination now. In five years, the soil had settled to almost twelve inches below the top, so it needed refurbishing -- and, a new coat of paint!
The system works great in planters, too! Morning watering is done with a stroll and a cup of coffee in hand. And, that's pretty much all that's needed until harvest time. Gives me plenty of time for everything else in my life -- especially, writing.
Ornamental gardens? I do them to make my house look nice but my main love is the vegetables and herbs that feed my family. How about you? Do you have a summer garden? What type of gardening do you prefer?
For those of you who have just happened upon this page, I'm Entry #424 in a group of 1682 participants in this 2012 A-Z Writing Challenge! Do yourself a favor and check out a group of fantastic bloggers. You're bound to find someone you might like to follow. Don't forget to leave some loving comments and spread the word. It could even inspire you to think about joining next year's Challenge, yourself!
Looks like you have a big back yard; I like your garden concept and I am sure whatever grows there does taste delicious! We have had gardens before or at least tomato plants but not for a bit; I think we need to feel more settled where we are at before we can think of planting :)
ReplyDeletehave a good day!
betty
We have had our raised bed gardens for a few years now...each year we make another bed because there's something else we want to grow. Having the fresh stuff is wonderful. And this year, I managed to have kale, chard and spinach all winter. Yay!
ReplyDeleteI've been trying all sorts of different things to get a pretty front yard. This past autumn was the most radical, with pulling out a lot of dirt and putting in all compost, so maybe, just maybe! something will grow :D
ReplyDeleteYours looks completely spectacular :)
Hi, Sharlene,
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog. I have gotten way behind on reading blogs. But when I saw your comment I had to stop by. I am not much of a gardener, but I am interested in it. Just no land to do it on. We live in a townhouse.
Glad to see you are dong the A-Z blog challenge.
Can I hire you? :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Sharlene - thanks for coming by my blog 'Jan Morrison,This Crazy Writing Life' Think you might better like my one called Living the Complicated Simple Life! I love gardening and I've heard of the lasagna method and now I'm going to check it out.
ReplyDeleteOh, my dad had a book published quite a number of years ago - it was of his paintings of local churches and writings on them - Yep - called it A Month of Sundays! ha!