I always find it so interesting to see how others have set up their gardens and the reasons behind it. So, when I saw @offgrid-online’s post about wanting to see your garden layout, I just couldn’t resist. @jackdub is doing a really great job of not only showcasing great content, but he also puts on some wonderful contests that we have been wanting to join for awhile. This weeks is aGarden Layout Contest where he asked to see the layout, what you planted where and why in your garden. While it’s still the very beginning of the season for us, we still have quite a bit going on and wanted to share it with you all.
We just moved onto our homestead last spring, so we first had to set up our intended garden space. There are quite a few deer around and as much as we love them, we didn’t want them in the garden. So, we first started my gathering fallen timber from around the property and used them to build a perimeter fence. We wanted to make sure that we had plenty of room to add in additional fruit trees without having to extend, so we settled on a 100ft x 100ft size. We do have some plans for something a bit more permanent in the future, but for now this netting works perfectly. It keeps the deer out and allows us to remove it when needed as well.
Then we used some smaller log pieces to build a gate for the garden.
And we used an old bolt and some metal conduit to fabricate some hinges for the gate.
Then it was time to focus on building the health of our soil. We did so through composting, ground cover, and adding woodchips we’ve made here on the homestead. While we aren’t exactly no till here, we are building up to it with the goal being to have a no till food forest.
Garden Layout
This is our current layout. We started each plant from seed again this year, and are happy to say that many were ones we saved from our last years harvest. That’s the goal, keep everything in house.
There are many reasons to why we planted things where they are. We like to practice completely natural gardening strategies and will never use pesticides of any sorts... even the natural ones. We are learning about companion planting and utilizing that when possible. So, I’ll start to the right side of the layout above and explain what is planted where and why.
Greens- This area gets great afternoon shade from the neighboring pine trees, which is great for those plants that like things a bit cooler. Our sun here (being at 6,000ft elevation) is very intense and I’ve found that it will burn those delicate leaves without that much needed shade. I also plant sunflowers throughout to offer additional shade as well.
Brussel Sprouts and Broccoli- Same idea here as above, we start these a little earlier than any other crop and want to provide shade. We do a spring and fall crop of these to optimize harvest.
Culinary and Medicinal Herbs- this row is full of so many beautiful things including oregano, thyme, rosemary, dill, tarragon, parsley and cilantro. Then in the second half I have chamomile, lavender, calendula, echinacea, yarrow, nettle, mullen, bergamot, peppermint and many others. Quite a few of those herbs grow wild and I am working on transplanting them for ease of harvest but we also forage for these wild herbs as well.
Young Asparagus and Squash- We planted some one year old asparagus crowns this year and because we wanted to utilize the area while we wait for the asparagus to mature we added Zucchini, Yellow Squash, Spaghetti squash and Pumpkin in between the crowns. We like to keep all the squash together so that it can easily be covered in case of mid summer freeze.
Strawberries- We just planted this row and are so excited to be adding berries to the mix.
Tomatoes, Basil, Peppers and Cucumbers- I always like to plant basil with my tomatoes because I was always told it makes the tomatoes sweeter. Plus having all the taller plants in one row insures we can cover in case of frost as well. I also like to use marigolds throughout the garden to help with pest control and really plant them pretty thick through this row because I find these plants are the ones that need the most protection.
Poppcorn and Sweet Corn- We actually have 3 1/2 rows of sweet corn and 1/2 of a row of popcorn. These are 100% seeds that we saved from our harvest last year. Corn is actually one of the things we were told we would never be able to grow here and I’m happy to say it flourishes. We have full southern exposure on our garden area all day and that combined with the lovely nightly rain storms really seems to be the perfect formula for beautiful corn.
Raspberries- We started these plants last year that transplanted from a neighbor. So far, they are doing well but we think they need a bit of shade and are working on a solution for this.
Cherry Trees- These beauties just got planted last week and not only will provide shade for the berries in the future but will also be a wonderful wind block around the perimeter as well. Not to mention the nectar that they will provide the bees and the fruit that our children will most likely devour.
Apple Trees and Blueberries- We planted our apple trees last year which will provide so many things. We plan on not only enjoying the apples but using them to make apple cider vinegar among other things. We planted them along the back northern wall for additional wind break and also so they didn’t completely block the sun for the other plants. The blueberries were planted just last week and we are so excited for them. We plan on of course enjoying the fruit but also using them in the honey mead we plan on making in the future.
That’s the garden! We know we have a long way to go but are so happy with how far we have come and what the future holds.
Thank you for reading,
Happy Homesteading!
All photos and content are our own. Please do not use any part of this post without our expressed permission. Thank you.
