garden news-a new grandkids garden

GARDEN NEWS-A NEW GRANDKIDS GARDEN

this is ms b and mr hudson busy planting things in the community garden kids garden
they enjoy coming to the garden and working and exploring and playing

at home they have a 5 ft x7 ft garden
its made of non treated wood that is not redwood or cedar
which means it rots eventually
which it does
which it did

so we looked at redoing the wood garden bed but the cost of redwood here is expensive
so
having put in several raised garden beds in schools using concrete blocks
we decided to use this method
they are not expensive
they last forever
if not mortared together they are easily disassembled

so 
concrete blocks it is 
this garden is 4 ft x 8 ft

the secret is to get the first row level then the second row is easy to add on 
in each block i drove in a 2 ft rbar to help help the blocks in place
i didnt want to do mortar to hold them together
each hole in the concrete blocks are 6 inches x about 4 inches and are filled with garden soil
this helps hold the blocks in place also
this garden will have 36 of these potential veggie planting holes

one problem with their gardens location was it got too much shade especially in the winter
so i moved it over a few feet into a sunny location
their veggies will do better getting more sunlight

another problem was the surrounding shrubs and trees aggressively grew under the garden bed up into the garden and formed a mass of roots in the garden
so
i put down a layer of black plastic and a layer of commercial landscape cloth then covered that with concrete wire to keep out the caddyshack gophers

then on top of that i put down the first layer of bricks

all of the soil that was in the garden was placed in a pile 
in the bottom of the bed a layer of thick cardboard was placed along with several folded newspapers 
on top of that i added all of the rotted boards since they were non toxic
these will rot more and help hold water in the garden bed and will provide carbon for the soil overtime

there is a gardening method called hugelkultur thats uses buried wood

i took all of the compost and composting materials from the above black composter which was 2/3 full
it was added on top of the cardboard and boards and newspapers
then
i added a layer of garden soil
on top of that was added a bucket of our unfinished compost from the garden
it was full of worms also
then
all of the worm compost from the spinning composter which was 10 gallons was added on top of that
then
i watered it in well
then
i added back all of the original garden soil
then 
a good organic fertiizer was added

each hole in the cement blocks around the edge is filled half with garden soil and half with potting soil 

a drip system will be installed to keep a consistent layer of moisture
plus ms b and mr hudson regularly water the garden


here is what the finished concrete block hugelkultur organic raised grandkids veggie garden looks like

without the drip system and without the veggies
i will post a picture when its all completed and planted with veggies and herbs and flowers

proposed plantings
some they definitely like now
some we hope they learn to like
some we will use if they dont like them

sweet peas the favorite
kale
swiss chard
lettuce

strawberries
radishes
carrots
onions
garlic
cilantro
herbs like rosemary and lavender and thyme and oregano
wildflowers
native milkweed

then in the spring we will do things like tomatoes and baby cukes and green beans etal

the hope is
to encourage a love for organic gardening
to encourage them to eat a good variety of veggies

this garden should last a long time 

the organicgreen doctor