Monday, April 19, 2010
Horne Farm's has expanded. Meredith and I wanted to put in an additional raised garden since last year. So we did it. I figured this would be a great time to show you our process on how we did it.

First of course I start with a plan. I used this great free program Google SketchUp 7.1 which made drawing up the design a cinch. As you can see in the illustration above I decided to go with a box joint instead of a butt joint just to give it a little bit of character. By drawing the garden on SketchUp, I knew exactly how much material I am going to need and how I want to put the garden together.

Then comes my favorite parts. Construction of the bed. If you know me I am a woodworking fanatic and anytime I can us my tools, I am a happy man! So here if what it looks like after construction. I first build all the wood framing before dropping it into the ground. Then I put down a weed barrier to keep out any unwanted plants and grass. The final step of construction is to put in the watering system.




The fill that I us is a mixture between compost and potting soil. The potting soil that I like to use is Jungle Growth Flower & Vegetable. We get our compost, "Miracle Dirt", from Jeff Gin, a cotton gin located just outside our neighborhood. We had a lot of success with this mixture last year.



Here is how we water our garden. I am currently watering twice a day to keep the soil moist but not wet. Last year I used sprinkler heads that were flush with the ground but had problems with leaves getting on top of the sprinkler and preventing proper watering. So this year I installed telescoping heads that can raise up to 3 feet.


With a combination of seeds and plants, this is what our garden look like this year. So get ready for some good eaten.

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