Planning A New Garden
I am really excited about the coming planting season. After seeing great success planting in my 4x4x2 raised bed boxes, we decided to move to phase 2: full backyard planting.
We live on just under 5 acres of land – 4 of those acres are completely wooded. So the acre our house and front yard/back yard inhabit is really the only easy planting space. Currently the fenced in portion of our back yard is occupied by a thick carpet of (free) wood mulch from trees that have fallen in the area, 6 very tall hardwood trees and our chickens. Not a speck of grass to speak of and a ton of weeds in the warmer months. It’s pretty much chicken heaven. Since the backyard is our south facing space, it is really ideal for gardening – except for the trees that cast too much shade. A few weeks ago we took the plunge and had them cut down. Now it’s time for the heavy lifting – cutting into smaller pieces and removing the felled trees.
I made the mistake of watching Fixer Upper’s episode “Chip and Jo’s Family Garden Project” https://www.hgtv.com/shows/fixer-upper/fixer-upper--chip-and-jo-s-family-garden-project-pictures and now I’m obsessed. While our space isn’t as deep as Chip and Jo’s, we’ve got a very long piece of land to turn into a garden. I have no doubt this will be a year-long project with many phases and roll-outs based on budget ability but I’m excited to get started!
On a side note, but related, I think I have found an amazing resource for planning gardens. The Old Famer’s Almanac Garden Planner https://gardenplanner.almanac.com/ It’s not free but the options available to lay out your garden are really impressive. I’m looking forward to giving it a try this season!
Left side
Middle
Right side - w/ current hen house