Gardening & Landscaping
MisN
member
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Veggie Garden Newbie
DH and I will be planting our first official vegetable garden this year and I'm hoping for a little assistance. Unfortunately, our backyard is North facing and gets very little sun (previous attempts at tomotoes have failed).
So...we are taking the plunge and planting a front yard veggie garden. Since it is our front yard, we wanted to make it as aesthetically pleasing as possible. We are thinking a raised bed (cedar beams?) running down the side of our front lawn which will require removing some lawn. We will obviously need to get a delivery of soil.
Any suggestions/help on how we should construct, what soil to use, good plants for newbies and aesthetics?
Thanks!
Re: Veggie Garden Newbie
I have 2 raised bed 4x4 'square foot' gardens. We constructed from cedar and actually put bottoms on the beds and didn't bother removing any lawn underneath (lazy
As far as soil goes we used "Mel's mix" like they talk about in SFG books... 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 peat and 1/3 compost. 8 cubic feet total for each bed (for 6 in. depth). I actually used my own compost, didn't have quite enough, so I bought a bag of organic in-ground garden soil to make up the difference. Worked just fine.
Plants... I have tons of herbs... basil, cilantro, parsley, rosemary, dill and sage (several of the herbs draw beneficial insects, bonus!). I also do tomatoes (with cages), jalapenos, strawberries and sugar baby watermelons (trellised). Once the berries and peppers go towards the end of summer I usually throw in some radishes and carrots in their spot.
I think everything is aesthetically pleasing when cared for properly!
Good luck!!
Hannah
I also follow the SFG method. Just make sure your wood isn't pressure treated (cedar shouldn't be, I would think).
Consider working in flowers into your beds. Marigolds, nasturiums, dahlias, etc. all attract beneficials and/or repell/trap bad bugs. Plus, they make things pretty! With a SFG you're essentially making a quilt pattern of veg/fruit/herbs...it can be really attractive.