Putting Your Garden On The Map

You know it is a good idea to keep a garden plan around especially if you are like me and not the most organized so you can remember what you did in the first place.  Also it can help you NOT to have a planting disaster where you plant something else over something else you have already planted.  Seeds are precious and so is your time so taking the time to get a little organized is well worth it.

I have been using paper plans but tonight I decided to design a plan in Publisher so that as we make changes and update we have a live form but we can refer back to what we have done in the past.   Tonight I am sharing the Side Yard Section #1 which will include the back of yard for the most part.  Soon I will share our plans for the other Side of the Back Yard which includes the Greenhouse and the Chicken Coop that will be called Section #2 and we also have a garage side Section #4 and front yard Section #5.  We will not be completely planting in the front yard but we have some blueberry bushes out front and we will grow some goodies for the bees in our island out front too.

You see everyone wants the most out of their garden and we want the most out of our small suburban space.  So you might wonder why leave the pool and the deck in yes we have both well we live in a very hot area it makes sense to have both here.  We plant many of our buckets around the pool and use both decks for sun-loving plants.  We also  use the deck for a harvesting/cleaning/organizing area.  We keep the strawberry planter on the deck too and the pool is just a great place to jump in and cool off when we are all done.

So note all diagrams are working around the pool and deck to help you understand what you are looking at the potato tower and the arugula bed are on the back side of the pool.

For four nights in a row I have gone out to the garden and gathered up Romaine, Bucariole, Mesclun, and Red Sails lettuce along with spinach and tonight I harvested radishes and peppers for salad too.  What is better than going right out in your back yard and collecting healthy pesticide free goodness to eat.   You won’t hear me say we grow anything organically because Yes we don’t use chemicals but it is almost impossible to completely control, the dirt, the air, and the water the three most important requirements to get plants to grow.  We do by as many heirloom seeds as we can but actually some varieties of hybrid peppers do better in our coastal soil and climate.    Anyway it is so gratifying to grown so much food in such a small space and we feel better about what we are feeding us and our children.

Also by looking at this plan I can see maturity dates and can quickly harvest plants and then re-seed for the next crop.  We also use crimson clover in the fall to help nourish the soil for the Spring so that the gardens will be ready.

I hope this plan inspires you as we have gotten more involved with gardening we have also gotten more involved in companion planting as well.  We often look to make sure items we grow together get a long so to speak.  I always plant marigolds near my tomatoes and soon we will be putting the cleome’s out as they are a great bug repellant.

Have a great evening!

Fondly,

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