Raising A Garden

For the last two years I have been growing a square foot garden. Not a raised bed, however. What I did was double dug a plot two feet deep into my lawn. Well, at least from a distance it could pass for grass. The soil was compacted clay. So what I ended up with was a two foot deep basin which retained water. 

In May of the first year it rained. Lots of rain fell. Rain filled the double dug plot, drowning most of my plants. I replaced the drown plants. The remainder of the growing season I didn't get any other drowning rainfalls. The garden was fairly successful.

Last year I wanted to build a raised bed frame but couldn't justify the expense of the wood. So on my patio, I mixed forty pounds of sand and all the shredded leaves I gathered from the front yard the autumn before with one foot of soil I dug out of the plot. I then filled the plot with the mixture and mounded the rest on top.  The plants were above the surrounding lawn, up out of any retained rain water. No plants drown and the garden yield was better.

This year I was able to fit the expense for wood into my budget by spending less on beer and whiskey, eating away from home less and making due with my current wardrobe. Such a sobering sacrifice for two 2"x12"x16'*, one 2"x12"x12'** and one 2"x4"x8'*** boards, a box of exterior screws and some landscaping cloth.

I can't wait to finish constructing the frames and raise my garden beds even higher.

*50mm x 30cm x 4.87m
**50mm x 30cm x 3.65m
***50mm x 200mm x 2.43m

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Behind In My Gardening

The weather has me behind schedule in my garden. Well, if I had a schedule, I would be behind.

There is a folk truism in this part of the world that says you plant onions and peas on St. Patrick's Day, March 17th. I didn't even have my garden ready for planting on St. Patrick's Day. I still don't have it ready and it is almost April.

This year I want to actually raise my square foot garden. I want to get some real drip irrigation with metered emitters, not the weeping hose I have been using. Plus I want to put down 1 mil plastic mulch over the drip system to try and eliminate weeding, increase soil temperature and retain moisture.

Ten days after the pea planting target date, I ordered online a 30'/ 9.1m roll of 1 mil red plastic mulch that is 4'/ 1.2m wide. I plan on making two 4' x 4' (1.2m x 1.2m) raised beds. So I should have enough mulch to cover both beds, almost completely, four times.

To get the order minimum up to $40 in order to use a discount coupon I received in the mail, I ordered some packets of Zinnias from W. Atlee Burpee. Burpee was a Philadelphia company that I remember visiting thirty-five years ago on Clarissa St. just NW of W. Hunting Park Ave. They are now in Bucks County, PA in Warminster, PA where you can still visit their store.


I love the ease of growing Zinnias. Beside their beauty, zinnias attract bees, butterflies and goldfinch love the mature seeds. All three creatures are a pleasant plus to the garden experience.

I hope my order ships really soon. In the mean time, I need to get some 2" x 12"/ 5cm x 30cm boards and a 2"x 4"/ 5cm x 20cm board or two for the corners of the bed frames and some exterior screws with which to fasten them.

Then there is the peat moss, vermiculite and perlite for the soilless growing medium.

The vegetable seeds to buy. 

The potato towers to erect.

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I love the growing season!

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved - Photographs from Burpee.com