Home Cooked Vegetable Garden
We've decided to build a kitchen vegetable garden beyond the herb garden we've had for years. It will be a smallish raised bed in the sunniest part of our yard. We've always grown tomatoes, but this year I have plans to grow blueberries, strawberries, lettuce, peppers, and probably anything else that looks good at the nursery. I'm pretty neglectful of houseplants, so it will be a challenge to see if we can keep the plants alive, let alone coax them to produce vegetables. But I'm inspired by Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades: The Complete Guide to Organic Gardening and hopeful that we can keep the burly city raccoons from pilfering the plot. I'd love advice on other books or to hear success stories about your kitchen gardens in planters and raised beds. I'll post pictures and updates as it progresses. First obstacle, our raised bed is on back-order until May 1st.
--flauersmartini
Kevin on April 20, 2009 at 05:41 PM
Perhaps you should start with annuals like beans, peas, lettuces, okra... sheesh the list is endless. If you already know that you have trouble keeping multi-year plants alive, it makes no sense to start with the tough stuff. Hey, radishes take 30 days from date of planting to harvest! Start with that, m'lady. It will give you confidence.
HopeSew on April 20, 2009 at 09:17 PM
Oh man, if you have raccoons, you'll need a cage around your garden to keep them out. They make a mess of things otherwise. I suppose a good guard dog would also do well if you already have a canine friend in the family.
Watchers Point on April 21, 2009 at 08:08 AM
...and if you're going to be growing berries, you'd better not forget to net them, otherwise all your efforts will go to the birds, literally. Raccoons are very determined creatures so make sure your enclosure is pretty strong.
Flauers Martini on April 21, 2009 at 12:38 PM
Thanks for the tips. I think it's definitely a good idea to stick with easier annuals first. We have a dog, but he's inside at night when the masked intruders tend to come out. We'll invest in some nets and a cage.
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