My own kitchen garden journey

When I was about 11 years old, my mom handed me the “keys” to the backyard garden.  It was probably about 15ft x 15ft in-ground plot bordered by railroad ties and up against the southwest side of the house. It was out of view, on the other side of the fence that lined the back patio. We borrowed my grandpa’s rototiller every spring and my dad would create a blank slate for me to grow and learn. I had no real training other than reading the back of seed packets. My mom would also take me to the garden center to purchase tomato seedlings and such. For the most part I had great success.  At that age, I was oblivious to pests and diseases so ignorance was bliss. However, I did enjoy finding tomato horn worms and putting them in a jar to watch them grow fatter and fatter. As a child, I learned that zucchini need to be picked every day or else they will grow the size of a baseball bat over night, corn should  be grown in blocks, not single rows, so they can properly pollinate. I think the squirrels were even disappointed in those ears. Okra is gigantic and while I never ate any of the pods, it was really fun to grow. I did everything, the weeding, the watering, mulching and fertilizing.  

At some point in highschool, someone told me I should study horticulture in college. Boy did my eyes light up when I learned that someone can go to school and study all about plants and graduate with a degree in “gardening”.  There was no doubt in my mind what I was going to pursue at Kansas State University. I didn’t even apply to any other university. 

Since then, I’ve also earned a Master of Science in Entomology, another degree that is amazing. You mean I can go to school and study nothing but bugs and I’ll get a diploma for that!? Heck yeah - says the girl who had dozens of rolly pollies in her pocket during a family photoshoot at 5 years old. 

I have since discovered the beauty and convenience of raised garden beds. It’s the only way I will garden these days. There is nothing wrong with in-ground gardens but I prefer the raised beds way more. 

This year, I decided to overhaul my sad little boxes that I built with leftover fence boards when we moved into our current house. They were super cheap to construct but they didn’t last very long.  Maybe it was covid-19 influencing my decisions but I decided to treat yo-self and design a large, beautiful, kitchen garden of my dreams. Not only that, I was going to do the whole process myself because I am a big DIYer. Lesson learned, I will never do it myself again!  One conversation with my husband went like this, “Honey, if I die before I finish this garden, you have to promise me that you’ll finish it.”  His response, “yeah, I’ll just bury you in it.”  I didn’t like that response so i’ve done my best to stay alive and shovel one more shovel load of rock and soil and hope for the best. 

Here is a series of progression photos with captions to take you along for the journey so far. 

I designed it on graph paper first, then I went to the yard and market it out with paint.

Breaking ground was a little scary. I knew once I started digging, there was no going back. I knew there were some utilities running through the site so I called dig safe to mark out their location.

I deconstructed the old garden box. The kids loved pretending it was an island and used the old boards as bridges. I saved the soil that was in the box to use in my new boxes.

Fresh slate - fairly level as it is.

I laid down landscape fabric. What should have been a ten minute task turned into a multiday ordeal. The fabric staples wouldn’t go in because the ground is so rocky.

Here is the compacted crushed limestone.

Lumber delivery. Here I used rough cedar. Funny thing about cats and kids - they always have to check out what’s new and then play with it.

I started with the simplest box first. I’d built cedar beds before but nothing with the trim like this.

The first of four corner beds.

Here all the boxes are in place and the decorative pea gravel is placed around the boxes