Hobbitshire: Our Family's Cottage Garden

In fall of 2009, we decided we were finally going to add a vegetable garden in our backyard.  This is easier said than done, my friend.  If you just want to have some tomatoes growing in an upside down pot, that's one thing.  But I had a vision of Beatrix Potter's potager garden with neat little rows of lettuces--all kinds-- and carrot tops peeking over the earth.  I wanted boxes of herbs mounted to the sides of my picket fence, which would surround the massive garden.  I was going to take walks in my garden and look out over the Lake District.....wait, I live in Lakeland, Florida.  I have a privacy fence which backs up to a middle school.  My dream was going to have to be altered slightly to fit into reality. 

So first, we had to decide how much of the backyard was going to become "garden".  We sketched out an idea.  We wanted a rectangular space, with 8 beds (4 on each side) with a walkway down the middle.  Each bed would be 4x4.  There would also need to be walking space on the outsides of the beds for gathering the vegetables.  So my husband and I staked out our area and killed the grass.  Then he took out the blow torch and burned the area, being sure to keep water hoses nearby!  Guys love that stuff.  The little blonde boy in the photo is a neighborhood kid, who heard we were using a blow torch.

Then, we rented a commercial-grade tiller and spent the entire day grinding all the dead grass out of the ground and raking it up with blistered hands.  It was time to set the posts.  Using a post-hole digger, my husband Dave (with a terrible head cold at the time and sometimes in the pouring rain), dug the holes, filled them in with some gravel and set 14 posts around the space. 

We used hog wire (larger holes than chicken wire) and wrapped it around the outside of the posts to enclose the garden.  After pricing out picket segments at Lowe's, it was going to cost almost $500 in fencing.  We opted for the posts and wire, knowing I could "cute it up" once it was done.  We staked off the 4x4 planting beds and a walkway, and started laying out Black Kow manure by the bagfuls.  I wanted to start with a good organic base.  I always giggle when I use Black Kow because they offer hats and shirts with their logo on them if you send in proofs of purchase.  One day, I'm going to do this!

For fall, I planted:

4 different tomato varieties (Talledega, Bonnie Original, Yellow Pear, and Bonnie Grape)

Broccoli

Collard Greens

Carrots

Radishes

Spinach

Mesclun Salad Greens (a variety of gourmet lettuces)

Scallions

A border along the fence of Sugar Snap Peas

To start the process of making this garden pretty, and not just utilitarian, my amazing husband created a garden gate and I painted a sign to go on it.  My boys are big fans of Lord of the Rings, so we gave the garden a fitting name....Fairy-tale hinges and a latch make it extra nice. 

Here's some of the bounty for Fall....

For the broccoli and the collard greens,

I purchased starter plants from the local high school Ag department during one of their fundraisers.  This is always an alternative if you don't want to start from seeds.  These two vegetables were strong producers!  Thanks, Lake Gibson High School!  The spinach I planted never came up, but I was pretty pleased that 7 of my 8 beds produced vegetables for our family all through fall and winter.  I even have a large chest freezer full of collard greens because there are only so many nights you can make greens for dinner, and only so many times you can go delivering them to the neighbors! 

I learned a lot of lessons during this first season. Like thinning the radishes! And the fact that grape and cherry tomatoes produce better than full-sized tomatoes, due to disease and pesky critters that like to eat them. We did, however, have fried green tomatoes many nights and they were delicious!

The Spring 2010 is in its beginning stages. Everything has been planted and mulched with fresh hay from the feed store. Soon, things are going to start popping! Stick around and enjoy the show!