The Backyard Garden

The sod getting cut out (and then bagged).

Since summer is upon us, I thought I would (try to) inspire you to grow a little of your own food this year.  There are so many options...a few herbs on a sunny window sill, a tomato plant in a pot, a "lasagna garden" (layers of organic material, no-digging or tilling required) or a full-blown garden plot.

Ours started a year ago this month.  I am lazy (efficient?) about maintenance.  I did not want to put in landscaping to be "just pretty" and take a lot of time.  But if I could eat it, too?  I'm in.  The problem was that putting in decorative lettuce instead of monkey grass would not work in our neighborhood, due to the deer that roam.

So, we called Nashville Foodscapes and they solved the problem.  Put in a blackberry arbor and some rosemary/lavendar to deter the deer.  It sounded simple enough.  (It was simple, just not easy because of the hard clay and limestone rock.)  The garden as a whole sounded like a 2 month project.  (Oops.  A year later, we're almost done finishing setting up the garden.)  We've learned a lot of lessons which I'll share over this month, as well as resources/people who have helped us.

But it truly is worth it.  While the "beauty" of the garden is still getting set up, the food itself is growing.  We know how it is grown and it is very convenient to have whatever herbs or vegetable I need just outside my backdoor.  So, I encourage you to start something.  Teach your kids how things grow.  And if you want to grow a large space, recruit a few neighbors to do a community garden.

Happy planting!

The soil has been delivered and spread, the arbors are in, and the 1st attempt at a retaining wall is set up.  This is 6 weeks after the sod was cut.