This post contains affiliate links.
We have a section of our yard that gets amazing sunlight but wasn’t being used for anything. I’ve been wanting to start a garden for a while so this past spring, I pulled the plug! I was planning on building a raised bed but once I figured up the lumber prices, I decided it was a lot less expensive to purchase a galvanized garden bed. This is the one I purchased and it was so easy to assemble. I plan on getting two-three more!
The one thing I completely underestimated was just how much dirt I would need! I ended up getting sixteen bags (5 bags of Black Kow compost, 5 bags of garden soil, and 6 bags of top soil).
I planned to add green bean plants but quickly found out that I was a little behind. I went to multiple stores and ended up only finding three plants at Lowes and they were on their last leg. I actually got them for 60% percent off. I planted them and bell pepper plants on one side of the garden. I added four rows of Blue Lake green bean seeds on the other and a bag of onion bulbs.
You can tell the difference in the below photo. The plants on the bottom left are the ones from Lowes. The seeds are on the bottom right and they came up nice and strong. The bell pepper plants are at the top left and the onions are top right.
The seeds grew quickly and produced beans within a few weeks. Unfortunately the squirrels were just as interested in my garden and started to eat the veggies and dig holes in the dirt.
I got three 10′ pieces of Conduit and deer fencing to rig up a make-shift cage. I used zipties to secure it all so that I could easily cut them when it was time to harvest and not destroy the fencing.
This is what I used:
Once everything was nice and protected, the garden flourished! So far, I have gotten four huge bell peppers, a few large bowls of green beans (still more to harvest), and plenty of chive shoots.
Along with the raised bed, I planted a few other things in pots. Currently, I am growing cherry tomatoes, rosemary, lavender, oregano, mint, basil, and cilantro. I also have two blueberry bushes but they haven’t produced fruit yet. I tried growing strawberries but the dang squirrels eat them before they ripen. I need to build some kind of cage to protect them, too. I also have a lime tree that is covered with limes; just in time for summer margaritas!
We live in a normal neighborhood with an (annoyingly strict) HOA. You do not need a big piece of property to start a garden. As a matter of fact, since mine has done so well, I’m thinking of adding a few more raised beds and turning the whole side yard into a garden. But I kind of want to pull up the grass and add pea gravel with a stone walkway, an arched trellis for grapes, more fruit trees, and the list goes on and on. I’ll be sure to share whatever I do so stay tuned!
Please let me know if this inspires you to start your own garden. I did not have any clue what I was doing when I started, but I am really happy that I tried. I do have to say that I’ve been able ti get my super picky eater to try some new veggies because she “helped grow them” so that’s a plus!
