Building the Vegetable Garden

I built my vegetable garden in March 2009. It was a lot of work, and as gardens go, I would call this one "bomb proof". I used cinder blocks because I wanted something that wouldn't rot, and my previous wood-frame veggie patch was constantly being invaded by grass. One advantage of the cinder blocks has been their resistance to rot and weeds, they don't leach wood preservative into the soil, and you can plant stuff in the holes. As mentioned in a previous post, we planted strawberries in the cinder block holes all the way around the garden.

The whole bed is 5.5' x 20' (110 sqft), which is probably just a bit too wide as I can just barely reach the center. I divide this big bed into 4 'plots' for different crops. For example, right now:

Plot 1: Green Beans
Plot 2: Tomatoes
Plot 3: Cucumbers
Plot 4: Peppers

If Dr. B would let me, I'd pull out all the grass in the backyard and put in 4 or 5 more beds just like this one. If I could expand to 400 sqft, I think I could grow enough produce for 2-3 meals every week, and be able to grow enough peppers and tomatoes to make salsa, hot sauce, and spaghetti sauce. Plus, that would be that much less lawn I'd have to mow. Stupid grass.

Laid out first level of cinder blocks.

Leveld out first level of cinder blocks.

Added 2nd level of blocks and filled it with soil.

Ran underground water line to soaker hose.

Planted!