Week five of the One Room Challenge has been a fun one! We finally finished planting fall veggies, and we’re well underway on the transformation of our side yard from turf into a lush garden. If you’re just joining us, welcome! Here are my previous posts from week one and week four if you’d like to catch up on the project.
Adding Soil Mix to the Raised Bed
Once the raised bed was built and leveled, the next step was adding soil and organic matter. For the majority of the soil mix, I used a top soil purchased from a local garden center. For additional organic matter, I gathered fallen leaves from our yard and added them in between each layer of top soil. I ended up doing five layers of leaves and five layers of top soil.
I purchased a soil testing kit from the University of Georgia Extension Office so that I can understand what amendments are needed before the spring season.
Planting Fall Veggies
FINALLY it was time for planting veggie seedlings! I bought some broccoli and cabbage starts, which can handle colder temperatures, from a local garden center weeks ago with every intention of planting them immediately, but of course, every project takes a bit longer than you expect 🙂
By this week, the cabbage starts were looking a bit worse for wear, but the broccoli starts were still going strong. I planted the broccoli starts 12 inches apart, and they look so adorable in the garden bed. Makes me proud that maybe *just maybe* we’ll end up with some homegrown broccoli this year. And if not, I’m all the more excited for spring because of this fall attempt!
Also, while tidying up a bit after planting, I came across a tiny snake! While snakes aren’t my favorite, they are great for pest management and an important part of our ecosystem. I’m absolutely not a snake expert, but I believe this little guy is a brown snake, which are non-venomous. Either way, I decided to call it a day after coming across him, and I hope he enjoys the garden as much as I do – just maybe at different times of day.
Preparing the Pathways
The next big item on the to-do list is installing the garden paths. The plan is to create a three foot wide path around all four sides of the raised bed. Ultimately, the path will run from the driveway, around the raised bed area, and to the concrete paver at the side door entry.
For supplies, I have landscape fabric on hand leftover from a previous project, as well as a spade and tamper. I need to purchase stone pack, edging, and pea gravel. I haven’t finalized my color selection for the pea gravel, but at this point, I just need to commit. Done is better than perfect.
For the installation, I’ll need to dig out several inches for the entire path. Then, I’ll need to edge the length of the path. Lastly, I’ll add a layer of stone pack, put landscape fabric over the top of that, and finally add pea gravel. Whew – I’m tired just thinking about all of that digging… But at least it will be a good workout for upper body and core strength, right?! Gotta tell myself that to get through it. Tune in next week to see if I make it
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