Tangwystl Cottage - from waste to space

ravenruis (58)in #homesteading • 6 years ago

poem by Mabel Watts
image source

Creating garden beds from wasted space is very, very satisfying!
This area is next to the berry beds I posted about previously, and this wooden wall has a westerly aspect - although exposed greatly to the sou'wester than blows. a lot here. The iron fence in the background is to the north.
What I decided to do was close off one end of this new garden space with some stacked tyres to grow potatoes in, which you can see here. The wire grid is there acting as a sieve for the lumpy soil I brought in from elsewhere in the garden. Works really well, too.

I think I will move the tyres next season, though, so I don't have to walk around them to get to the gardens behind.

I cleared the space of weeds, and put up an edging of more pallets, then back-filled the space with soil. Such an improvement already! :D

I decided to put in a mixed bed, all companion plant-approved too. I had some seedlings ready to go so popped them in. I'd collected some wire coathangers and used them as a sort of trellising, as I was planting cucumbers which I'd hope would make use of the structure to climb up; but first they needed to be protected from late frosts, and birds, so I popped some soda bottles over the seedlings.

The cucumbers never really took off, sadly, but I live in hope for next season!
In front you can see bean seedlings - I popped in 3 different dwarf varieties; and pansies (which were rescue seedlings from a shop) in the front.

This side view better shows what the space looked like. The bottles to the left are covering zucchini seedlings.

I also planted Sunflower seeds (saved from last year's flowers) along the back, carrot seeds along the middle, nasturtium seedlings (which I later regretted as they took over!), and possibly a few other bits that I've forgotten.

I pegged some netting over the garden, to stop both the cat and any birds destroying my hard work.

You can also see that the seedlings have grown - and so have pesky weeds!
I really do need to put something on the paths between beds to suppress the weeds along them.

Once the plants could fend for themselves I took away the netting; plus the sunflower seedlings were beginning to shoot up and they needed a lot of growing space. I was so happy that so many of the saved seeds had sprouted, and not just here but elsewhere around the property too.
for yates comp.JPG

You can see on the right just how well the potatoes enjoyed their tyre homes (until the drought hit, that is. They tried hard, bless them.).

A view of the space filling up nicely. I forgot to take pics of the garden once the sunflowers had grown up, but most were over 2 metres. I had to tie their stalks up to the wall. I did have issues with some of the other plants once the drought came along, sadly the beans suffered a lot although they did still produce pods. If only the weeds had suffered too ...

In the pot at the back is a Blueberry bush. To the left is the corner of the mixed-berry bed I posted about earlier.

I haven't planned out what I'll plant in this space this coming season; have to check crop rotation. Hopefully I will at least remember to take photos during all stages. :D