In our ‘old’ vege patch by the cabin, we are growing some spontaneous potatoes, beans, rhubarb among other things. I say ‘spontaneous’ because we did not actually plant them, but they came up on their own accord, and we’ll just go along with them! And hopefully eat them as well, unless some wandering, menacing goats get to them first…

Our new vegedible patch, right near the house, is going to be a lot of fun this summer. It has been a while since we all gandered about in the garden, planting and plucking in the summer evenings. Not being enormous, it will be used for veges that we pick often; food that is picked in larger quantities for storing will grow below the hill and in the garden near the cabin.

Monte and Georgia began the process by arranging strawbales in a “C” shape. This means we can walk into the garden, and pick and pluck from raised beds.

Next, we had some topsoil delivered, which Monte and Matthew carted into the beds with their wheelbarrows. The Kubota and the Tonka proved most helpful in the process!

Now that the beds are complete and filled with topsoil, we need to build a net structure to avert the birds and other pets, like goats, from our edible garden. We will most likely use flexible pipe to create an arch and then cover that with bird netting. We had a similar structure in the garden by the cabin, and it worked well.

There are several good reasons to build the vege garden in this way. Firstly, we get to use up some leftover bales. The bales will help the beds retain nutrients and moisture. Moreover, we can use the bales as a platform to grow more things, I am imagining growing herbs and strawberries here. As the bales begin to disintegrate, we will build a wall around them, possibly from stone, or maybe wood, which will expand the beds and make the structure more permanent. Undoubtedly, that the bale walls act like excellent roads for Tonka trucks is the best feature.

This is a lovely spot for a vege garden. It is right near our carport, which means we can walk out the door and into the garden, or pick veges before going inside after arriving home. It is facing East, so it gets the beautiful morning sun, as well as full sun with its uninterrupted North frontage. But tottering about in the little patch, overlooking the greenery and the superb view will most likely be one of my favourite things.

I can’t wait to tell you more about our progress!