DR1VEN's Garden to date(2015-Current)

[DR1VEN]

Hi all,

A few pics here to show what I've done so far in my hobby so far...

As an intro I started learning thru YouTube and general gardening websites for becoming more self-reliant in the concrete jungle known as Orange County, California-USA.(92708-Zone 9a)

I started with a single 4'X4' raised two tier bed.(amazon purchase for about $100. ..lol

We found out in 2015 also that we were going to have our first child.

I really want her to grow with a special bond with me and having a connection to nature so in that time I have greatly expanded even though we will move out of here eventually for a state with a friendlier environment for raising children.(Personal opinion from living here all my life...The weather is unbeatable though ) She is 8 moths old now at the date of this post and love being involved watching me in the process of maintain and growing the garden.

Going from this meager start I have expanded into containers, 3 additional hand built raised beds, and in ground planting down my side yard.

I now have at this second 18 different varieties with 138 individual plants.

I will be attempting enrollment into the Master Gardner program here in August 2016 to continue learning my new passion and passing that knowledge to others.

I will post more as I continue so hoping this will be my primary thread for tracking my progress and failures.

I know there are many ways to garden. These are my choices so far. I'd love any suggestions/tips but please don't be offended if you don't see the advice taken in future photos and I thank you in advance.

Oh, and BTW...I live in a rental with no sprinklers and they wont help at all on maintaining it so please excuse the grass as I'm not going to invest the thousands needed to make it right.

Well, on with the show.... I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.



this is the bed for about $100...Set right the grass with weed barrier.

[DR1VEN]

Here is my mix used to start the bed.(Basically Mel's Mix)



And here's a few shots of the process....1/3 for each ingredient.....







Done!!! A lot of work! That took my out-of-shape behind about 2 hours...lol



Here's the final product close up...

[DR1VEN]

So....That's done so how to get it in place the easiest as I'm exhausted at this point?...

Rake it right in!

This is why I'll always use the tarps for mixing now...Lifting up the far from the planter tarp transferred it closer and piled it right up. I raked it right over the top and was a snap to fill.










I watered a bit and topped it off after the next day with what you see left over after the settling...




I marked out the typical grid used in SQFT gardening, planted seeds for all my plants, and covered with the mesh seen here as I was feeding a lot of wild birds back then so didn't want them playing havoc with any sprouts...

[AnnaIkona]

I'm happy to hear about your baby! Children love diggin' in dirt, so I'm sure your baby will love spending time in the yard.
Keep posting some pics of the process!

[DR1VEN]

Thank you! Yes, we are extremely grateful.
I have no idea how my genes created this beautiful little girl...I'll post more pics including her later...I Just had 10 paragraphs written and 10 more photos ready to post and I did a preview and this page crashed! ...lol...got to love it.

Off to bed for now...I'll keep updating in bits from here on out later.

More to come,

~DR1VEN~

[Mr green]

Looks very nice, cant wait to see it overgrown with vegtebles, I bet you cant either.

[DR1VEN]

Thanks Mr. Green ...It's actually overloaded and has been an excellent producer for 2 seasons now..(Read intro in first post above at top)

I promise to get the timeline up to date with more pics ASAP.

[DR1VEN]

So....

All built, mixed, settled and planted....One last thing.

A home made trellis from PVC and Trellis netting...approximate cost was $10 including 2 4' rod iron re-bar for an anchor.

All planted...

[DR1VEN]

This was my layout. My first true attempt at companion planting.



Carrots, chives, Lettuce on the lower tier..

Peas, Radish, and Nasturtium on the top tier...

[applestar]

Looking great!

-- so, for the trellis, you drove the two re-bars into the ground and then stood the open ends of the two upright pipes over them? Is that enough to keep the trellis from falling over?

I'm noticing the bamboo (?) screening along the fence in the photo with trellis -- Rainbowgardener mentioned she was looking at them as a possible option for her garden I think. How do you like it?

[DR1VEN]

My Chives were just not having it...failed before they began. I switched them out for some green onions and a tomato.

First harvest...I was happy. I just grew my own food for the first time.

Things are looking up.





More later....
~DR1VEN~

[DR1VEN]

Looking great!

-- so, for the trellis, you drove the two re-bars into the ground and then stood the open ends of the two upright pipes over them? Is that enough to keep the trellis from falling over?

I'm noticing the bamboo (?) screening along the fence in the photo with trellis -- Rainbowgardener mentioned she was looking at them as a possible option for her garden I think. How do you like it?

Ya, the trellis has been amazing...With the Mels mix it was more like setting them in as I didn't need to drive them down at all. The rods extended above the soil about a foot. I slid the open end of the PVC and barely into the soil. We get VERY high winds here.(Santa Ana Winds) This has held up no problem. I use them for peas, cucumbers and now melons(no blooms yet on the melons, We'll see. )

The backyard is right against the main street and the 2 stories across. I needed some sort of privacy. I got the bamboo reed on Amazon. I spent about $150 for the entire backyard.(about 110'...multiple rolls) It has held up really well. going on 3 years now. The hard part was securing it. I used a hammer drill and some concrete anchors with the screw heads not all the way in every so often. I wound steel wire from screw to screw....With the high winds here there have been some pulled screws and such over time but small repairs have kept it strong...Very happy with it. I highly recommend them for ascetics too.

[Mr green]

Thanks, I missed that part! . Its looking really good, and that trellis is looking nice and sturdy. I love growing radish, they are so quick to grow!