HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW?

I thought I would post some pics of my vegetable garden progress, since I have been going on and on about it for ages.

So here is a look at what we had to begin with. A patch of grass by the fence. You can dig garden beds into the ground or build a raised bed. I decided on a combination of both. I ended up digging about 25cm into the ground. That was more hard work than it may seem and involved many wheelbarrow trips, but I did it over a number of months whenever the inspiration struck, so it wasn't a chore.

I saw on Better Homes & Gardens that if you build a raised bed directly on top of lawn, you can lay down newspaper which stops the grass coming through, or kills it, or something along those lines. Although I dug up the grass, I still didn't want it growing through from under my brick border so I used the newspaper trick.

This was a tedious little exercise. At first I tried to lay out the soaked newspaper inside the bed, but it kept falling in on itself.

Anyway, you can see the border that I built with some old bricks which I found around the side of the house. Originally I was planning on using railway sleepers but Bunnings don't cut them to size as the wood is too damp. Anyway I ended up saving over $100 by using these bricks, which I painted a nice shade of yellow to brighten them up.

Here is my second and more successful attempt at the newspaper thing. After giving the newspaper sheets a good soaking on the lawn I laid two sheets of newspaper so that the top sheet draped over the top of the border and therefore couldn't collapse inside. After filling the bed with soil I just tucked the newspaper down and covered it with dirt.

I can't remember the exact proportions, but I think it was about 5 parts organic soil to 1 part manure and 1 part compost. Times about three, because it took endless bags to fill this bed. This part was fun though.

As you can see this is one of my more glamorous hobbies!

Here's the finished fairy garden. I bought the wire borders from Bunnings for ten bucks each - a necessity as my dog Hannah had taken the garden 'bed' a little too literally and I'd caught her laying in the middle a couple of times, sunning herself. I made the little vegetable labels myself (which I posted in a blog a few weeks ago). The pavers in the middle were under two dollars each from Bunnings, and are of course in place for ease of gardening and access. The fairies along the fence were a freebie from work - they're actually glow-in-the-dark fairies, so they keep an eye on things when the sun goes down.

After sewing my seeds I scattered some plant food, along with some snail defender at the sign of the first shoots.

And here is the latest photo, taken this morning. As you can see the shoots are coming up nicely, especially after a fantastic dose of rain all yesterday. Growing at the moment we have carrots, parsley, shallots, lettuce, basil, oregano, coriander, dill, onions and marigolds (which ward off certain bugs). I will be planting peas and beans along the wire by the fence. It looks as though I planted a few too many carrots and lettuces and when they all come up at once I'll have enough to feed the entire street. Next time, half rows planted at intervals will be a better idea - but it's all about learning.

We were a little bit worried that I had picked a bad spot for a garden as it's close to the house, which, at this time of year, obscures the sunlight completely by 2pm. If I had planned it better I would have picked a spot that receives more sunlight. In spite of that, the seedlings are soldiering on nicely I think I can say at this stage that the vegetable garden project has been a success!