Easter and Raised Bed Planning

[preserved_by_bronzing]

Happy Easter to all who celebrate!

Lent was Lent-y this year, and Holy Week was a walk to the cross via a surgery and just the usual ton of work that goes into making the Triduum (the Great Three Days of the Easter mysteries/liturgies) happen for our community.* Once again, we remembered together what it is be knit together in this particular kind of community, what it is to die, why that's important, and finally what it is to rise together to new life in and with Christ, through whom all things were made.

So here we are on the other side, a successful surgery also giving new life and the garden waking rapidly up after a much-needed Holy Week snowstorm. The coming liturgical season of Eastertide is all about the noticing and fostering of new life and figuring out how to live it, so it feels appropriate that my mind can finally return to the garden. The bulbs that T (my wife) planted two years ago are coming in, the rhubarb is poking up through the remaining snow, and it's time to bring some lilac branches in to get a foretaste of the world's greening up.

Since I have today off, I'm experimenting with bread baking (white sandwich bread) and laying out the future raised beds.

Here's the current situation and plan, along the south side of the garage:



The plan is to put in four new 2x5 beds in here, with two feet between the beds.

The blue scribbles on the right are where the blueberries will be going.  More on that when we get there!  They're still in the fridge for now, waiting.

---

* I'm an Episcopal priest by vocation and trade

Comments

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Once again, we remembered together what it is be knit together in this particular kind of community, what it is to die, why that's important, and finally what it is to rise together to new life in and with Christ, through whom all things were made.<<

You have a much more thoughtful perspective on this than average. Most people aren't comfortable talking about death. They forget that Jesus is basically the God of Hard Things.

>>The bulbs that T (my wife) planted two years ago are coming in, the rhubarb is poking up through the remaining snow, and it's time to bring some lilac branches in to get a foretaste of the world's greening up.<<

Yay! My lilacs haven't woken up yet. The bulbs are going nuts though. Some of the fancier daffodils are blooming now. I have tulips in white, yellow, red, and every shade of pink-peach-salmon. :D Grape hyacinths are still going strong, along with some of the later crocus.

>> Since I have today off, I'm experimenting with bread baking (white sandwich bread) <<

Go you! Baking is satisfying.

>> and laying out the future raised beds. <<

So exciting!

>> Here's the current situation and plan, along the south side of the garage: <<

With that massive wall and a southern exposure, you may get a full zone warmer in that microclimate instead of the more common half-zone. More still if you cover whatever you plant there. But in high summer it'll turn into an oven, and raised beds dry out faster than the ground does. Expect to need extra watering.

>>The plan is to put in four new 2x5 beds in here, with two feet between the beds.<<

Think about how much space you need to maneuver between beds. If you want a wheeled conveyance in there, two feet might be prudent -- measure what you have that you want to fit between them. Otherwise it may be more than you need.

Another possibility would be making the back solid raised bed with little rectangles jutting forward, basically a linear keyhole bed. The main point with raised beds is that you need to be able to reach all the parts, so hold your arm over your sitemap. If you can access the front and both sides of a bed, it can be about two arms wide, whereas a back bed only reachable from the front should be no more than one arm deep. If someone has shorter or longer arms, the width of bed can be adjusted accordingly.

https://farmtheworld.org/2020/04/22/keyhole-gardens-for-small-spaces/

https://permaculturefoodforest.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/52.jpg?w=386&h=1024

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/de/b2/32/deb232d56218ad49da12499a0d5ff7dd.jpg


>> The blue scribbles on the right are where the blueberries will be going. More on that when we get there! They're still in the fridge for now, waiting.<<

Yeah, that should be a good place for them. *ponder* They like to grow with evergreens, and there are lots of dwarf evergreens available for landscaping in small places.

Re: Thoughts

[preserved_by_bronzing]

Jesus is basically the God of Hard Things

Pretty much. Life and Death don't exist separately, either physically or metaphorically.

The bulbs are going nuts though. Some of the fancier daffodils are blooming now. I have tulips in white, yellow, red, and every shade of pink-peach-salmon. :D Grape hyacinths are still going strong, along with some of the later crocus.

I cannot wait to see blooms. They will be here so soon! Your spread of bulbs sound wonderful (and I love crocus, those beautiful early friends).

But in high summer it'll turn into an oven, and raised beds dry out faster than the ground does. Expect to need extra watering.

This will be a challenge for sure. I'm researching installing drip irrigation in the beds (we have in-ground irrigation that is ready to go for this, so I can tie into that), and I recently started learning about which different mulches to use for different purposes. Straw apparently is cooling, in addition to helping retain water, versus compost which helps keep things warm. So I'm considering all of that too. Any advice there is most welcome!

Think about how much space you need to maneuver between beds. If you want a wheeled conveyance in there, two feet might be prudent -- measure what you have that you want to fit between them. Otherwise it may be more than you need.

I think it'll work well! I definitely want enough space that you can step back if you lose your balance without tripping into the bed behind you. And, at 24", we can put additional tomato or potato pots/bags between them if we decide that makes sense. This is definitely an experiment year: see what's working, adjust for next year.

We created an Ultimate Huge Veg Garden Plan and then scaled down :D