Spring is Here!
- triscuriositycabin
- Mar 27
- 6 min read
Spring is here! And to commemorate it, we have begun work in our backyard garden!
I am very fortunate to have the beautiful home that I do. I have very few complaints about the interior and have been lucky in the way that we have been able to maintain our electrical and plumbing. That said…
My yard needs work. Not in the “put an extra bush over there to hide an unsightly electrical panel” or “I really should think about pruning back those roses” kind of way, no no, my yard is evidence that green-spaces are shrinking on this planet.
Let me be clear, I have a good sized yard. We were able to buy the house in the crazy post-pandemic market at the price we did because of the fact that the yard is a barren wasteland. I am grateful for the opportunities that this has given me. But, well, I like trees…and life…and green. So my goal is simple. Transform this space into something beautiful:
Sometimes the simplest goals are the most challenging.
Since I am a history and craft obsessed sort of person I thought it would be tremendously interesting to pull from historical gardening plans to create a backyard environment designed to draw pollinators, refresh the soil, and perhaps even feed the members of the household. We begin therefore with step one…
Adding a Victory Garden!
During World War Two, families in the United States were encouraged to plant gardens at home to supplement food production. This was used to stretch rations and feed hungry families in a time where food staples were needed for the troops. These days, the price of food what it is, it seems like a good place to begin my backyard journey.
The first order of business was finding a space to put the garden patch. The side of the yard next to an old shed seems to be our ideal location. There are some electrical wires that run overhead making it impossible to plant any trees here, the shed will be converted down the road into a greenhouse, and the wide flat space gets full sun over a portion of the ground and partial shade for the rest- ideal for growing a variety of crops!
Once we decided where to put the garden, we needed to decide how big the garden would be. For our family, that seems to be a space measuring 12’x19’. There are various ways to calculate this and I am certainly not an expert. I used gardening guides and recommended planting layouts to calculate how many of each type of produce I was hoping to plant to arrive at this number. As we go through our first year, I will keep you all updated on how accurate my calculations are!
We have further broken down the garden layout by season. The first patch of ground will be 5’x12’ and contain everything that is going into the ground in April. The rest of the garden will come along later with May and early July’s plantings. This method works for us so that we can stagger the breakdown of our yard, but it’s just as effective to do the whole thing all at once! It depends on what works for you and yours.
Using stakes, we marked out the space for our April patch, connecting them with rope for now to show where the border should be.
We were “aided” in this endeavor by two of my adorable fur babies, Siofra, our Australian Kelpie, and Tegan, our Pittie Mix, who were extremely effective at getting in the way (or in Tegan’s case, sitting on our rope border till it collapsed!). But we will forgive them because it's impossible to stay annoyed at these faces!
But in the end the plot was mapped and we began the work of breaking ground. What grass does grow in our yard is Bermuda grass which is tough as nails and equally difficult to dig out. Flipping the soil and exposing the roots should help somewhat with this, but I am afraid this first year is going to require a lot of weeding.
Now that the plot is tilled, we will wait a week or so before flipping it again. The soil will need to be broken up and turned a few more times before anything can be planted as this ground is tough and hasn’t been tilled, maybe ever? During one of these tillings, we will work in our compost* so it has time to enrich the soil. Our first year of planting is going to be a bit sketchy. Since the soil is poor, there is a very good chance this harvest will not yield all that we are hoping for.
Because of that, we have chosen to focus this year on plants that will feed nutrients back into the soil, even if the plant itself is sickly or does not yield anything edible. Next month we will break down what is being planted where, and how many, and why. As well as adding in a fence to keep out little critters (and curious pups!). So stay tuned for more!
Now before I go, I would like to introduce you to a few more friends that we have recently acquired. Meet the figs, Figley and Figbert, and the olives, Ollie and Vivi!
(yes, I name my trees. Since moving in we have also planted a sugar maple named Milton, a trio of hollies named Porthos, Athos, and Aramis, and have saved the rose bush who managed to survive the previous owner's administration of the yard, affectionately called Betty Nylon by a friend of mine. I’ll be sure to include pictures of them in later blogs when they wake up from their winter naps!)
As you can see, the figs are very small. Currently they are wintering and only Figley has started to show signs of alertness, growing a tiny little leaf. It is hard to imagine that in a few years they will be big enough to give us delicious figs to eat! Our figs are LSU purple figs we purchased from FastGrowingTrees.com** and are going to have to be kept indoors in the winter as they are tricky to grow outside in our area.*** We don't expect them to grow to a full height, but they will certainly be a nice addition to the yard in the spring and summer!
The olives are somewhat bigger (though still tiny!) and we have hopes that in three years or so we will be able to get fruit from them too. They are Arbequina olive trees and like the figs will have to be brought inside each winter.
I have selected Ollie to be a bit of a spokesperson here on the blog. We are going to track their growth each month for the first year to see how well they do! Instead of a doorframe I am going to use the side of the shed as a measure while we see how big this little one gets!
So here they are in March 2025!
See you next month for more garden adventures!
*We have invested in a compost bin and have been stocking up over the winter. If you can compost, do! Make sure that everything that you add to the bin is compostable and be careful with weed clippings and other seeded matter or you might end up with a compost full of invasive plants that take over your garden!
**I am not sponsored by FastGrowingTrees.com. In the case of our figs (and olives), they are hard to come by in our area so we are experimenting with online ordering, and this company has been a good choice so far. Most of our plants are purchased from local nurseries and I heartily recommend it! Identifying a quality nursery near you will be extremely helpful as they can not only provide healthy and happy plants, the staff will be able to help you identify fertilizers, soil additives, and other growth assists as well as directing you to plants best suited for your specific location. Whenever possible, shop local!
***A quick note on grow zones. Depending on the environment where you live, you will find yourself in one of several delineated “grow zones.” Knowing which zone you live in can help you to select plants that will thrive in your exact region and identify which plants are tricky. In our case we have the fortune of living right on the edge of two zones, making it possible for us to grow plants that would typically need a slightly warmer environment with a little bit of extra work.
Fur babies!!! Lots of weeding this year but it will get easier with time.
Puppies!!!! The victory garden is such cool idea! I love how you named all your trees. And Ollie is quite the handsome fellow.