In the current state of affairs I know many of you are deciding to dive in and start growing a food garden and others are extending their existing one to grow more. I applaud you.
I am no different. I have been looking at my vegetable garden space and thinking about how I can grow more food in it’s footprint. I have ideas, some of which I will be experimenting with.
However, I also have an area just beyond the vegetable garden in this kind of triangle shape that I have been thinking about filling in with flowers and flowering bushes and berries, etc. It is an odd area that needs to be filled and connected to the rest of the yard to round out the way the yard looks as a whole.
I have been thinking about that space. The vegetable garden butts up next to the chicken yard. My chicken yard has a cover over it so the ladies and gents can get out of the weather but still be outside. I thought a little extension might be nice for them to be totally outside if they choose and give them a bit more space to roam. So several years ago I fenced in an area that is the width of their yard by 15 feet deep. So I added an additional 15 feet beyond the edge of the garden and chicken yard.
So that corner between the chicken yard and the garden has been bugging me for some time. It is a cutout in the .that needs something. Hence the garden extension comes to mind. If I just extend the vege garden to the end of that chicken yard extension, I could get a bit more food growing.
Now mind you, my current vegetable garden is not small. It is not huge either but it can grow more than enough food for me. However, I don’t usually just feed me. I like to share. My kids always get canned (or fresh) goodies from the garden and truly appreciate it. And I have not been that rigorous about putting up a ton of my produce so I have not been meticulous about what I grow and how much I can pack into my growing space.
A whole new mindset has come into play in my head. I want to not only put up most of my home grown goodies, I want to produce more and be able to share it, not only with my family, but anyone out there that might need a little extra.
The little corner jetty is the width of the garden which is 35 feet and if I square it off it would be an additional 15 x 35 foot section added to my 50 x 35 foot existing garden area. I would make 4 4×13 foot beds to match the ones I already have as well as put some narrow beds along the fence line on the edge.
This is the footprint of the existing garden with all of the beds marked.
And this is what it would look like after.
The long bed at the end of the existing layout is filled with asparagus. Although I can split it in the middle and potentially lose a few, I am not quite ready to lose or move more to open up the sides for paths. Although if I did so, it would make the garden more uniform. Maybe some day.
I think I like this design.
And for comparison purposes, the smaller beds are 3 x 8, the larger ones are 3 x 13 and 3 x 12. The new beds would be 4 x 13 and 4 x 12. The 2 narrow beds on the edge of the new area would probably be designated to the asparagus I will need to move and any new ones I might like to add.
Actually this is a fairly simple project. I would just need to cement in 1 4×4 post for the new corner. I may need to replace the corner post on the chicken yard extension but that’s easy. Then remove the fence between the new and the old, put up the fence on the new and build beds. Fill with soil and there you have it.
I believe this use of this space far outweighs my previous plan and makes the whole garden area more cohesive. I like it.
I don’t know about any of you, but sometimes I have ideas and plans and I even purchase things for those plans but for some reason those plans never materialize. Then one day things just click that it’s supposed to be done a different way and then it happens quite rapidly. The plants I purchased for that corner area will just get bumped out a bit and will have a much better home and make the whole area much more pleasing to the eye and I believe more functional.
I love when my plans change shape before they get started and the truth is revealed on how it is supposed to be.
I’m excited!
Are you growing a garden this year or extending your existing garden?