Making the most from what you have -2

So when I finally decided this was where I wanted the garden, I decided raised boxes were the way to go. I had been a fan of Square Foot Gardening for quite a few years and wanted to give it a try.

So now began the search for either pre-made boxes or wood to make my own, but I didn't have enough money to buy them made for me, or buy new redwood to make them myself, I had to think of another option. As many of you might guess I am a garage sale junkie so I hit several garage sales looking for other peoples junk. I happened to be at one during 2013 close to my house where the seller had an old king size waterbed frame, headboard and pedestal, you know 2X8 planks made into a big box to hold a big water balloon. Well after perusing his treasures, I asked about the waterbed, he said "I am just gonna throw it in the dumpster, why you want it?"  I said "Sure, I am looking to build some raised garden beds." So I made the deal to come back later with my truck and dismantle the behemoth.

After getting the thing in pieces I brought it home and started to work. I took the first pieces and made 2  (2 1/2' by 6') boxes, 8" tall. I didn't want to get to aggressive for my first year back on the farm so to speak. 30 square feet does not sound like much, but it was a place to start. So far boxes cost me $0 except gas, and I used screws I got for free at a garage sale liquidation so no cost there either.

Next was deciding what to plant, a co-worker had given my boss about 25 packs of certified organic seeds, and she gave them to me to go through. It was obvious I would be planting tomatoes, everyone plants tomatoes. I picked some items I wanted to grow, 4 kinds of tomatoes, 3 Bell Peppers, White Sweet Corn, Lettuce, 3 kinds of Basil, Rosemary, Spearmint, and Lavender. Cucumbers and Pumpkins were started, but something liked them a lot and they never made it past the first leaf stage. Started these in Feb. in a small peat moss sprouting greenhouse under some grow lights.

In the mean time I needed to separate the rest of the dirt patch I called a garden from the dirt patch known as the back yard. I had an idea I wanted to build a 4' fence so I started looking at those pre-made picket fences Home Depot and Lowe's sell, about $25 each and I needed probably 4. Well again $100 seemed like too much to handle at the time, so other alternatives had to be looked at.

Making the most from what you find...

Well this is year two of the Upcycled Farms - Reno Division grow.  It had been almost 10 years since I was able to put together a small patch of dirt to work and grow stuff, and when we moved in to this rental house the first thing I looked for was a spot to throw some seeds down.

The back yard was basically a blank slate with nothing but dirt, a couple of rose bushes, a lilac bush, and a huge tree. The house does have a decent size elevated deck to do some entertaining on though. Oh the possibilities.

The first thing was to determine which area was best suited for growing, as it turned out, the 10 ft section between the back fence and that big tree was the most promising but it was sloped about 30 degrees, covered in shade from the tree and the ground was terrible dirt with red clay about 4 inches down, with lotso rocks.