With food shortages, rising prices, and job insecurity we were really itching to grow a garden this year.
There were lots of reasons why growing a garden– this year especially– was important to us. We’ve had a garden for most of our married life (nearly 15 years!) besides the past three years. When we bought this house just over three years ago, we knew we wanted a garden, but it was something that was going to require some major work.
The majority of our property is on a serious slope. We knew that eventually we wanted to terrace part of the property and put in raised beds, but it was going to be a huge undertaking that would require hiring a bulldozer operator for the excavation. We put off the investment of time and money while we focused on other financial goals.
We still grew a little here or there or in pots, but nothing as extensive as we had done in the past or hoped to do in the future.
But a few months ago we changed our thinking.
For more garden footage check out the video version of this post or keep reading below.
Funding the Garden Project
If you got an extra $5,400 out of the blue, what would you do with it? We asked ourselves the same question when we found out we would be getting an economic impact check of that amount (2 adults + 6 children).
Our first instinct was to just to treat it as normal income and put it toward our normal goals, especially since that’s about what we stood to lose with our Airbnb vacant over the next few months. In that regard this wasn’t “extra” money; this was covering our income loss due to the coronavirus. That was partly what this stimulus was intended to do.
At the same time, all of this corona craziness and eating from food storage (we didn’t go to the grocery store for 3 months after the shelter in place order in California kicked in) had us thinking about growing as much as we can.
We decided that after paying 10% tithing (as we do with all of the money we get), the rest would go toward the garden project.
Mike made a spreadsheet to estimate the garden costs. As we brainstormed we could plug in the numbers for different scenarios (different number of beds, different soil, various building materials, etc) and decide how best to use the funds.
We quickly saw that even with the huge stimulus, the full project (with an orchard and as many raised beds as we wanted) would have to be spread over multiple years, though we could get a really good start this year.
The Garden Plan
We had all of the terracing done at once, but we will only be using parts of two terraces this year. In total we have 5 terraces in addition to ground level, so there will be 6 levels of planting. Each terrace is between 60 and 100 feet long.
We will plant fruit trees on the top two terraces (beyond the fence on the top). We are suuuuper excited about them! We hope to plant them in January or February.
The next three terraces will have various raised beds. Our native “soil” (if you can call it that) is fine for oak trees and weeds (poison oak also thrives 😂), but not for cultivating. We have rock with some dirt (instead of dirt with some rock).
At the bottom (what I’m calling “ground” level) we will plant berries. We have planted blackberries and raspberries in several other spots on our property, but we would eventually like to have it all within the giant garden fence (which in itself was a huge project).
This year we put a total of ten 4’x8′ raised beds divided between two of the terraces. Eight of them are 12″ high and two of them (that are planted with sweet potatoes) are 20″ high. Originally we planned to make them all 20″ high, but finding the right lumber dimensions was tricky. Lumber for raised bed gardens has apparently been flying off the shelf like toilet paper! We may add more height in the future as we rotate crops.
We purchased a 12 cubic yard truckload of potting soil mix from a local landscape supplier. At $47 per cubic yard, plus $80 delivery, we spent $680 on dirt alone! Having it in raised beds means it will last for years. We will amend it as needed, but this year we are using it as is. It seems light and lovely, so we’ll see how it grows!
In the future I’ll share a full garden cost breakdown. We’re still working on fencing, which is a major cost for such a large area (roughly 10,000 square feet), so we don’t have all the numbers yet, but I will say that we have exceeded the amount we received for the stimulus!
We planted lots of different things and we’re hoping it all grows!
What We Planted
Before we got our stimulus check and decided to go for the big garden plan, we went ahead and planted what we could. We found a flat spot near a pond on our property, tilled up the grass that was there and planted it with squash (pumpkins, butternuts, zucchini, banana squash, and spaghetti squash) and melons (watermelons and cantaloupe). Since the terraced hillside took several weeks to get to the point where we could plant it, we were glad that this spot got a head start.
Even with a headstart, we are behind where we could be, but we’re still hoping for a good harvest in the coming months.
We have another bed that will have cool weather things like lettuce, but it got hot too fast for it.
In addition to the squash, melons, and random other plant starts that needed somewhere to go, we have blackberries and raspberries at several different spots on our property. Eventually we’ll migrate them over to the main garden, but for now they’re spread out. Hopefully the birds will save some for us.
In the terraced garden, we have three beds of various tomatoes (8 plants per raised bed). Before the garden fence was done, about a dozen of the tomato plants were completely devoured by deer. That was a hard blow!
Thankfully we planted loads of tomato seeds back when we first decided that we needed to plant all we could this year. They had been sitting on our back patio, stunted in their tiny pots, but we were grateful to have them to replace what the deer took. If we could only plant one thing, Mike would have it be tomatoes, as homegrown tomatoes are so much better than what you get at the store. He would have happily filled every bed with tomato plants, but I made him diversify a bit.
We planted some Armenian cucumbers and some other cucumbers we got from a friend, along with some watermelon and canteloupe. They haven’t really taken off, so we’ll see what happens.
We also did a bed with squash, so we can see how it compares with our other squash patch that got a head start. It has some yellow squash that we got from a friend, some zucchini, some butternut squash, and some spaghetti squash. We put lots of seed down and planned to thin them, but right now they’re all struggling, so we’ll see.
We have three raised beds of sweet potatoes. Each bed has 12 sweet potato plants. The deer took a few, but we were able to replace them with some leftovers Mike’s dad had. We are hoping for a good sweet potato harvest because that is a favorite vegetable around here!
We have one raised bed dedicated to a “three sisters” garden where we have corn, beans, and pumpkins planted. We planted the corn really close like this guy did and have a pumpkin at either end banana squash plants on the far side. The plan is to let them vine over the edge and let the beans (which we just planted) climb up the corn. The kids are really excited about having corn on the cob and we are all having fun watching the corn grow!
We’re really excited about having homegrown fresh produce! Especially after doing our quarantine food storage challenge we can really appreciate how great it will be to have fresh produce to go along with our food storage. Knowing that there will likely be another wave of this covid19 pandemic, it will be nice to have garden produce to go along with our food storage.
If you’re planning to grow your own food this year, whether it’s a container garden on your patio or a full homestead, there are loads of really valuable resources in the Gardening and Sustainable Living Bundle! I purchased the bundle a few weeks ago and I’m really enjoying it! If you are gardener or an aspiring gardener, you should definitely check it out!
Do you have a garden? I would love to hear what you’re growing. Please share down in the comments.
This is some of the most practical information I’ve seen since I started prepping. Thanks for the great content. It’s much appreciated.
One is purely flowers, while the other is a mix. I have cucumbers, tomato plants green beans, eggplants, and cucumbers. I’m also trying zucchini in another location, but it hasn’t been very successful. There is also an area of raspberries. Every year, I alter the plants I plant and this year I have made a greater effort to have a the cut flower garden and also helping to attract pollinators. I’m excited to hear about how your garden performs.
Great! Growing a garden has the potential to reduce the amount of money spent on groceries.
Hello from Canada! We’re in zone 5 so we are just starting to get hot temperatures here. This year we decided to build 4 4×8 raised garden beds and plant a little of everything. So far I have harvested spinach, arugula, radishes and green onions. We planted lots of different kinds of tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, winter squash, lettuce, corn, beans, peas, melons and different kinds of brassicas. I also have a large raspberry patch and 1 apple tree. Luckily we don’t get deer here as we are in town, but squirrels are a big problem! We have chicken wire fence around all the garden beds to try and keep them out! Since we have only a few garden beds we are going to try vertically growing large vining plants like melons and squash up metal fencing. We will see if it works 😊
I always joke that if plants grow legs and run away, it’ll be because they’re trying to get away from me. Between my natural talent for killing everyone, a serious lack of winter (we are entirely reliant on rainwater for all of our household needs, so the garden has to come second,) terrible soil, and wildlife, we have very little luck with gardening. Deer aren’t the problem here, kangaroos are. It’s almost impossible to build a fence that will keep the kangaroos out. But if it’s not kangaroos, it’s rabbits, or birds. And, well, I don’t mind sharing as much as I should. When I see the birds eat our plants I think, “But I can just go to the grocery store, they need it more.”
It’s winter here, so that limits what we can grow too. I planted quite a few beans and peas. The beans died in the frost, but the peas are doing well. The onions and lettuce I planted, not so much. It’s just as well seeds are cheap.
I wish I had room to plant watermelon! Each year we plant a garden – it’s only 128 sf total so we have to really pick and choose what goes in it – and no matter what variety of vegetables we plant we have the best luck with tomatoes and okra. This year we had an nice crop of green beans and onions too which we’ve been enjoying. We also planted green peppers and we’re trying to figure out how to propagate asparagus – that one has been tricky. We are incredibly fortunate to have a friend who owns a horse stable nearby and allows us to get a truckload of composted manure each spring. In the 15 years we’ve lived here the garden soil has been wonderfully amended from that, but it has taken a lot of patience for that to happen. Lettuce, spinach and broccoli grow better here as a fall crop, so we’ll be getting that started in a month or two.
We’ve been looking into planting an avocado tree in another section of the yard, but living near the Texas Gulf Coast we haven’t really had much luck in finding a source. We have a tangelo tree that I just love, and my son is campaigning for us to find a place to tuck in a couple blueberry and blackberry bushes. My mother had a pecan tree (that had the best pecans!) that had grown up as a volunteer right in the fence line between her house and her next door neighbor’s. Because they both are now widows and the branches of the tree began to encroach on their roofs, she had the tree removed earlier this year. I still have about 10# of shelled pecans in my freezer that will last me quite a while, but if we want fresh pecans to harvest in the future we really need to start planning ahead about possibly replacing it. Between my neighbor and my sister-in-law, each fall we have access to all the lemons we could ever possibly need. I freeze the juice in ice cube trays to have lemon juice to use throughout the year and the zest as well.
My father-in-law was a crop researcher for a very well-respected agriculture and mechanics college, and he once told me that each silk on an ear of corn is attached to a kernel. If that silk doesn’t get pollinated then that kernel will not develop, so once the silk begins to flourish you should tap the ears to help spread the pollen around. You might need to study up to see if that pollination method is still a good practice.
Thanks for your comment Karen! 🙂 I don’t think I’ve ever had okra in my life! I want to plant an avocado tree and some asparagus too! That’s great that you have access to lemons and have pecans to last a while! I’ve heard the same thing about corn, so I will definitely have the kids go out and do some pollinating! 🙂
I have always dreamt about having my own garden, but I never had enough space for it. I really want to have many flowers and trees in my garden. I hope, my dream will come true someday.
This year we’ve planted strawberries, blueberries, 4 tomato plants, pole beans, snap peas, beets, garlic, spinach, zucchini, and yellow squash. We also have various herbs, 4 hazelnut trees, and a kiwi vine. We are working on terracing a sloped part of our yard but nothing to the extend of your project. I am excited to move our veggies there next year when it’s done! It’s the sunniest part of our yard which in the pacific north west is important to take advantage of. We also fight deer and hope the garden being closer to the house will be a deterrent.
Wow hazelnuts and kiwi! That’s exciting! It sounds like you have lots of great things planted! Fighting deer is hard!!
Are deer not a big problem? They even eat the flowers out of our outdoor pots! They are pretty to look at though so we don’t mind. When we are sitting on the patio they’ll walk right by us maybe ten feet away. If you don’t move they don’t seem to be able to discern you are there. When we did garden, pretty much gave up due to a lack of sunshine, we are in the woods, the deer would ravage our crop. They seem to know the day before something is ripe enough to harvest and would always eat it the night before.
Deer are a huge problem here, that’s why Mike put a 7 foot fence all around the garden. That should keep them out! We get lots of them coming through our property, though not as many as before we had dogs. Not all of our blackberries and raspberries are fenced, so I’m hoping that between the deer and birds that we will still get some berries!
We have volunteer tomato plants and cantaloupe thanks to composting, and then some tomatoes a friend gave us as little plants. Another friend gave us cucumber and zucchini seeds and we planted those. So we haven’t put any money into the garden and our pet rabbit is fertilizing for us. 🙂 We also have a bucket of snow peas from seeds I bought 7 years ago.
I love volunteers!! That’s awesome that you haven’t spent anything!!
We have about 1000 sq ft garden this year, plus some fruit trees and berry bushes on the property (but fruit is tough to grow in the middle Midwest without a lot of chemicals!) We have luffa (Christmas presents) cucumbers (4 varieties, including Armenian–we lived in Armenia as Peace Corps Volunteers!) zucchini, pole beans and bush beans, New Zealand spinach (supposed to do ok in heat, but looking a little rough right now), canteloupe, garlic, okra, cotton (we grow a couple heirloom plants for pollinators), peppers hot and sweet, not looking great right now honestly, 50 tomato plants (20 canners, the rest cherry and slicer varieties), sweet potatoes, horseradish, and brussel sprouts (also looking rough right now). I always hope the garden will save us money, and I’m sure it does, I freeze and can a lot and will do more this year, but it is an immense amount of work and there is a fair amount of upfront cost no matter how you do it! I love it though and am considering getting my masters in Agriculture Education because I think it’s such an important skill. OUr kids work pretty willingly out in it so long as I don’t make them go out in the heat. We do family ‘weed for 30’ a few times a week.
That sounds like an amazing garden Lindsey! It definitely is a lot of work, but it’s worth it! I like the “weed for 30” idea. That would not seem so daunting for the kids to have a time limit like that!
I understand that water is a precious commodity in California. How will you water your terraces? Also, will you test the potting soil you purchased for lead before you eat what you planted? Thanks!
Hi Alexa. Right now we are hand watering our raised beds once a week. Eventually we will set up a drip system, but not this year. We haven’t looked into lead in the soil.
So far this season, I have harvested lettuce, spinach, arugula, kale, radishes, sugar snap peas, strawberries, and raspberries. Oh and this morning I picked my first cabbage! I’m also growing tomatoes, peppers, tomatillos, carrots, zucchini, and hopefully cucumbers and cantaloupe, but those seeds haven’t come up yet. I replanted a week or so ago. I’m afraid birds have been eating seeds from my garden boxes.
Sounds like you have a wonderful garden Stephanie!! I hope your cucumbers and cateloupe make it!
I have 2 raised beds. One is entirely flowers and the other is a mixture. I have tomato plants, cucumbers, green beans and eggplants. I’m attempting zucchini in another spot but so far it hasn’t done that well. I also have a bed of raspberries. Each year I tweak what I grow and this year have put more effort in having a cut flower garden as well as helping pollinators. I can’t wait to hear how your garden does.
Ooo a cut flower garden sounds gorgeous! I bet the bees agree!
Hi, we only have a few cherry tomato plants left and some herbs. In south Florida we plant most veggies in October. We’re by the beach with almost no yard, so it’s all container gardening for us.
Have you watched “The Biggest Little Farm”? Seeing your garden reminded me of that movie.
I really enjoy your blog.
Best of Luck!
We haven’t see that Kathy! We’ll have to check it out! Thanks for the suggestion!
No garden here (yet, mostly due to still renting in the city) but I love seeing what other people are up to and daydreaming about the future! Sounds like you’ve got a lot of variety — definitely a good way to put that stimulus cheque to use!
Thanks Tara! Hopefully you’ll get a chance to garden in the not too distant future! 🙂