My amazing hubby got the pallet garden all set and ready to go last week. We learned a few things last year and made our improvements. This year we were sure to raise the beds just a little bit off the ground, for better drainage. We used cinder blocks and 4x4s for this need. We stapled "landscaping paper" to the bottom of the pallet. Then we filled in all the cracks and spaces with soil. I also called in my Garbage to Garden mature compost delivery and added that to the mix. Hubby also nailed a few stakes to the outside of the set up. This will allow is to tack up some chicken wire or screen to keep some of the more annoying critters (skunks) away from our yummies. We added a pallet this year as well as a few pot stands. They are really just small pallets that we are using to elevate large pot planters. Also we did all this about a week before we wanted to plant to give the soil a chance to mix with the compost and to give ourselves some time to plan the garden after having a visual aid to finally grasp the real size we'd be working with.
Last year's garden was definitely a success, but I want an even bigger yield this year. Having this garden saves us an ENORMOUS amount of money in produce. It also ensures that we are eating the freshest, most healthy produce we possibly can. The girls get to be involved in growing the food they eat, which is extremely important for us. They take pride in the work they do in the garden, which I hope will translate into a beautiful work ethic later in life. This year they (mostly my oldest) had some real opinions about what needed to be planted and what we could skip. So, we really bulked up on kale and cucumbers, and my beloved rainbow chard became an item I'll buy in small amounts at Farmer's Market, just for me (which is fine, because I ended up eating A LOT of chard last year). That's what gardening is all about, trial and error, success and failure, all at once.
Everything went very smoothly and looks great!! This project was low cost and will have enormous financial and health benefits. I up-cycled pallets that were destined for a fire pile, waited until I found a sale on soil and called in my mature compost, included in my monthly haul away service! I also "splurged" and have paid for seedlings, so I'll have a MUCH better chance keeping them alive and actually getting them to fruit! In the long run, I believe this actually saves me money, far less is wasted than when I tried to plant from seed. My thumb just isn't that green yet, which just goes to prove that anyone can do this...anywhere.
See? The city can't keep us from fresh, home grown veggies, nor from simple solutions. Happy urban gardening! And be on the lookout. One of our very next posts will reveal our beautiful baby garden.
Simple City Sam
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