Building our Garden: Part II

A couple weeks back Renee and I started building a garden in our backyard. We plotted out the dimensions with stakes, cut up the sod, and tilled in two truckloads of good soil to compensate for the dense clay that naturally exists in our yard. Renee had applied for a permit and we were stuck waiting for city hall to grant it to us.

A week later the permit was issued and we began really getting things done. First on the list of things to do was to dig some post holes. Since we didn’t want to spend an entire weekend digging holes, we once again rented some heavy duty equipment to help get the job done.

George digging holes with the hydraulic auger.

Once the 11 post holes were dug to a two foot depth, we cleaned out the bottoms of the holes with a manual post digger and added gravel so the poles would all be a uniform height.

Renee cleaning out the bottom of the holes with a manual post digger.

Gravel time!

With the holes prepared, we triple checked our measurements and put the posts into place to make sure they would align. Once we were sure everything was lined up as planned, we went ahead and added cement.

We were all about convenience for this project and used the mix in the hole style of concete.

We added some forms towards the top of the concreted portion to save money on concrete and have a uniformly circular post.

Renee bracing the post so it stays level.

By the end of the day, we had all posts in the ground and braced. We let them cure overnight so that we wouldn’t have to worry about any of them moving on us when we were working on the next steps of attaching the fencing.

Letting the posts cure in the cement.

The next day we dug trenches between all of the posts so that our fencing could be buried underground. Our hope is that a foot of buried fence will deter rabbits and groundhogs from tunneling into the garden. With the trenches dug, we stapled up some black fencing.

Fenced in.

After the fence was up, we added some additional wooden borders to make the fencing a little sturdier. My mother happened to be visiting for the weekend so she helped us build a gate and then Renee tilled the soil for a third time.

Renee planting a currant bush.

Finally, we were ready to plant. Renee and mapped out the garden based on sun exposure and we decided that this year we are going to try and grow the following plants:

• Red currants
• Blueberries
• Raspberries
• Peppers
• Tomatoes
• Pole beans
• Cucumbers
• Lettuce
• Carrots
• Onions
• Garlic
• Beets
• Chives
• Lavender
• Herbs
• Some decorative plants for the outside

We are not expecting everything to grow in this year, but hopefully things will get established and next summer we’ll have a big harvest!

The garden!