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doubledug

doubledug's Backyard Vegetable garden

Garden Type: Backyard | Sun: Full Sun | Soil: Combination | Established: 2007 | Organic

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I started this backyard garden in late spring of 2007 on the right side of my backyard which is currently inhabited by three raised beds. When I first started, I had two long 2×4′s dividing it from the rest of the yard. In order to get into the bed to work, I had to step gingerly. The 2007 summer was brutal and didn’t supply much rain, so the ground was so dry, it actually shifted, and did so much that it ruptured my water main coming to my house. That is another story, but anyway, for the sake of my first season, the first half I watered and the rest I fell off and got lazy.

All things considered, the carrots I planted were decent size. As I recall, I did cucumbers on the ground with watermelon and that was a disaster. I ended up yanking the watermelon plants out because that out because it was a mess. I pulled the cucumbers a bit later after harvesting a few.

Since ’07 was such a rough go, in 2008 I re-seeded the back yard with grass and regrew the lawn.

In 2009, I decided to take a more organized approach. I created three raised bed boxes, which are about 50 inches square. I gardened the whole season and continued into the fall and winter. In Fall 2009, I planted broccoli in an open box and lettuce and carrots into a cold frame, which I designed to fit over my raised bed boxes. During winter in early 2010, we got an unbelievable amount of snow which basically crushed my broccoli, but the cold frame worked. I over-wintered carrots from the cold frame and in my flower bed, over-wintered some onions.

For spring 2010, I prepped the established beds by digging them out below the raised topsoil and unearthing about 2 feet of clay below the surface.

In Fall 2011, I created 2 additional raised beds, and in early 2012, I removed all pots from my patio to completely change my gardening layout.

2012 will be another interesting year, but I think the layout I have is getting close to final.

An outdoor organic garden located in Sterling, United States, doubledug's Backyard Vegetable garden currently contains 41 plants.

This is a Backyard garden that is known to be in USDA Hardiness Zone 6b. It has mainly Combination soil and receives Full Sun light.A reading of pH 7.0 was last taken on this garden, meaning that the soil is currently neutral soil.
vegetablesquare-foot-gardenraised-bedsverticalback-yard

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Comments

  • hotwired

    hotwired wrote:

    I really like your “double-dug” concept for raised beds. Very creative approach. I have similar soil in an area that I want to start a new raised bed for a few hundred wild strawberry plants, and that is a perfect solution. It never occurred to me to dig down as well to solve the drainage issues. Thanks

    Posted on 18 Jun 10 (almost 3 years ago)

  • flowerweaver

    flowerweaver wrote:

    Looks like you have used your space well!

    Posted on 11 Aug 10 (almost 3 years ago)

  • kris04

    kris04 wrote:

    You weren’t kidding when you said it was a small backyard! I don’t know what I’d do with such a limited space except maybe have a few trellis (which might have helped your melon and cucumber delimma). My grandmother grows tomatoes in huge tubs to cut down on weeding, space and work. They seem to do alright for her and is close to the “double dug” concept you have employed. Great idea.

    Posted on 10 Feb 11 (over 2 years ago)

  • SassyGardenGirl

    SassyGardenGirl wrote:

    I love what you did with your yard! I’m in the middle of re-designing my similarly-small, fenced urban backyard, and I’m taking notes on what you did.

    Posted on 28 Mar 13 (about 1 month ago)

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doubledug

doubledug

Sterling

United States

Info about Backyard gardens

Backyard garden photos

Gardens near Sterling, United States

Gardens in USDA Hardiness Zone 6b

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vegetablesquare-foot-gardenraised-bedsverticalback-yard

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