Today ... Or Soon to be Before

So this year I have been inspired by the urban farm movement to convert more of my garden space to edibles. I am not an experienced gardner. I only started gardening in earnest 2 years ago when we bought our house. My efforts began in the front yard, eliminating the big boxes of hedge plants and replacing them with natives and climate/space appropriate choices.

I worked section by section. The first bed was near the garage. I planted it in the spring and it had no edibles. I replaced foundation plants and introduced underplantings to a maple near our driveway the following fall. I managed to plant for 'bloom-interest' year round but only managed to add one edible: huckleberries.

I thought about planting a vegetable garden last summer -- but with three kids under 5 at the time, I felt overwhelmed. Instead I planted some columnar apples, an espaliered pear, a collection of blueberry bushes, daisies and Echinacea. The plants were pretty much left to survive by their own devices. The trees and the Echinacea never bloomed. (I wasn't surprized by the trees.)

But this year I have been reading: Farm City by Novella Carpenter, The New Low-Maintenance Garden by Valerie Easton, Fresh Food From Small Spaces by RJ Rupenthan -- and even the Square Foot Garden by Mel Bartholomew. And I am thinking edibles. I am thinking structures and watering systems. I am thinking if I plan it well enough now, maybe it will be less work later. And I am thinking maybe my kids will be delighted by watching more stuff grow that they can eat.

So I am feeling ambitious. And I am planning on revamping my backyard to make it delicious (still leaving a large chunk of grass so the kiddos can play.) I want to put in a 12' long x 3' wide x 1.5-2' high (there is a slight slope) raised bed below my deck here for vegetables and cool crops since it gets partial sun at best. (There is a sick crabapple at the back, a scruffy nandina at the front, and a whole lot of weeds in between right now.)

On the deck itself I am going to try some "Topsy-Turvy" containers to make the most of available sun on the South facing deck. Between the deck and the house I am thinking razzberries or blackberries (to replace the dying clematis on sticks).

Around the corner on the East side of the house you can see one of my columnar apples. I plan to try some melon and beans nearby. (I will probably take out some grass to enlarge this bed -- and maybe try to line it with wine bottles to warm the earth.)

My main edible garden is across the grass from my house (pictured at the top.)  It is about 5' wide -- and 25' on the East Side of my yard and 12' on the North. Here are the blueberries, espaliered pear, one of the columnar apples, flower remnants, and lots and lots of weeds. Especially, chickweed (thanks Seattle Tilth hotline for telling me what it was and what to do about it!)  Below is a detail of the bed.  I really like the red wood of the blueberries. And I heard Valerie Easton when she said, "simplify." So this year I am pulling the flowers, adding a few new blueberries, and a lot of new strawberries as groundcover, figuring out a watering system -- and hoping for the best.

For the amount of time I have on my hands, I am being overly ambitious. But maybe, if I start early and persist we will have an abundance of things to eat growing in our yard. And if we are really lucky, maybe the bunnies and moles will let us have some too.