Backyard Garden

We started the year with some garden beds made out of cinder block on the slope by the driveway. The lettuce did great, bush beans were prolific, and we still have tomatoes in August. The beds are pretty easy to work from the downhill side, but are at just about foot level or a little below from the uphill side. This made it pretty inconvenient to work, especially when arthritis flares up. By the middle of summer we were pretty sure we weren't going to use it next year.

We started a garden in the backyard with some Roma tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn. We planted one blackberry cane by the west fence (more to come!) and a peach tree and a plum tree. We also put in a couple of blueberries (try growing that in West Texas) and will plant some more next spring. I've also covered most of the rest of the garden area with black plastic and will start breaking ground later this year.

The garden area is about 75 by 40 feet. There's a utility pole about in the middle of it, surrounded by a thicket of nandina. An ongoing project is clearing all that out - transplanting the smaller plants along the property line, and cutting down the rest. We had to fence in the garden because we caught the dogs stealing our tomatoes.

Things seem to grow really well in the ground here, but we decided to build some 2 ft high raised beds to save wear and tear on our backs and knees. The next few posts will describe how to build these beds.