Le Jardin

Fava Bean  Plants

So we are taking part in a "community" garden project started by the Fabulous Beekman Boys.  There are 10,000 beginner and established gardeners all around the country planting the same 10 varieties of heirloom vegetables.  We purchased the seeds from Williams-Sonoma and every 2 weeks we get a newsletter letting us know what to do next and what our veggies should be doing now.  So far it has been quite fun.

Fabulous Beekman Boys!

Of course, not content with just 10 veggies, I also planted some additional cold weather seeds:  peas, fava beans (which I will enjoy with a nice glass of Chianti) lots of different lettuces and some arugula.  We use the Square Foot Garden method. 

This is our third year and each year it gets bigger and better.  We started with one box, last year we added another for just asparagus, this year we added 2 more new boxes.  We are now up to four 4x8 raised bed boxes. 

April

May

My Winter box, when these are done I'll use it for Fall veggies

It is a super easy system.  The idea is to build a raised bed, divide the space into sections of one square-foot each, and then plant vegetables in the amount of space they need. Advantages?  Organic! And... reduced workload, less watering, very minimal weeding, and easy access to your veggies for admiring and harvesting. 
 

A few square feet of lettuce & peas

They are fairly simple to put together, this year we bought the corners and just slid the untreated lumber into the slots.  You can cover for winter, though we didn't do it this year.  But, it only took me 30 minutes this March to clean the box out and have it planted.

Radishes!

So last night we had the first real harvest of the season!  A few spears of asparagus (it takes up to three years before you can fully harvest), radishes and lettuce.  Nothing tastes as good or as fresh as veggies just picked out of your own organic garden!