I have now built eight raised beds for my garden. The first three I did about five years ago for my kids, so they could have their own space to garden within my garden. Their interest has waxed and waned, but it is always fun this time of year for them to start planning what they are going to grow, and they love planting it–weeding and watering, not so much. But harvesting and eating bring back the fun!

I added five more raised beds to my front yard in the area between the sidewalk and the street. It gets full sun and is on a slight slant, so I thought raised beds would be the perfect solution. I made sure to leave room for my lawn mower to fit among them.

If I can build a raised bed, you can do it! Here’s how to build a simple one:

“Ingredients”

• 4 pieces of untreated cedar, sized to your liking
• Drill
• 4 silver l brackets
• 8 screws for brackets
• Compost or organic potting soil

Figure out how big you want them, then head to Home Depot and buy UNTREATED CEDAR boards. Have them cut it to your precise measurements, and then buy some l brackets and screws. The employees are usually very helpful. Again, buy untreated cedar, so chemicals will not leech into your soil and contaminate your plantings.

Next, pre-drill your holes and assemble. I like to put the brackets on the outside of the raised bed.

Then fill with organic compost or organic potting soil and whatever you wish to grow.

Happy Building!

No, you are not seeing things! Tulips, which are everywhere right now, will continue to grow even after you cut them and make an arrangement in your vase. Don’t you just love Mother Nature!?

I remember when we bought our first house and my husband wanted to spend our limited budget on a new roof. I wanted to paint, put in hardwood floors, and buy new, fun furniture. But of course, with a leaky roof, the furniture and walls and floors would soon be wrecked.

Well, the same goes for your garden. Without proper drainage and good soil, your plants will wither and die off.

Through the years I have had great success ensuring proper drainage by amending my soil.  I’m always putting my grass clippings on my garden, and I also mulch with cocoa hulls. I watch for areas that may have been dug up by the squirrels, bunnies, or my beloved dog, Harry, and I re-plant and re-level with the best top soil. I also add a 1- to 2-inch layer each spring with the finest compost from Bruce Company. I also add coffee grounds to my garden daily all year-round. I’m really lucky to have inherited rich soil here in Wisconsin. But I have also worked with clients who had clay from new construction and renovations. In those cases I double- and even triple-dug each hole for each plant and bush to ensure they would not drown in the heavy clay soil.

I love harvesting from my yard and cooking up something nutritious and delicious to feed my family.  I especially love making soup.  I love how it warms my house and takes away the stinky dog smell, replacing it with an aroma that promises a savory, succulent meal.  We’ve recently had sickness in our house, so I just made a big pot of soup to help boost our immune systems.

Here is one of my favorite recipes that I frequently make:

Carrot Soup

Sautée in butter:

• grated fresh ginger, approximately 1 inch
• 1 sweet potato, chopped
• loads of carrots, chopped
• several leeks, cut.  

Add dashes of  nutmeg, salt and pepper.  When the veggies are tender, combine in a large pot with chicken stock and simmer on low for as long as you can.  Then purée with a soup wand.  

Serve with heavy cream.  For a vegan way you could use veggie stock and skip the cream and use olive oil instead of butter.  I love serving this with a big salad and some warm bread and butter.  

I hope your family and friends love this as much as mine do!

Let me save you the $$$  I’ve wasted making this mistake. Yes, I figured I was the invincible gardener, thinking “outside the box” and “creatively” planting Annabelle hydrangeas in the hottest of full-sun areas and dinner-plate dahlias in the shadiest of spots.  My years of gardening have taught me to be more realistic and less optimistic and to read the label on the plant.

If it says full sun, you must plant it in a sunny spot, a spot that gets 4 to 6 hours a day of sun. There are a few plants out there that are more versatile, e.g. elephant ears. Oh, what a great idea for another blog. I can think of several versatile plants–oops, tangent–look for more on that one later.

For now, remember: when it says shade, it really wants shade; and when the label says full sun, it really does need that sunshine to grow and thrive.  The trickier label is partial shade or partial sun, but in that case, maybe not your sunniest or your shadiest spot.

I guarantee, if you give the plant what it requires, it will not disappoint!

I learned many new things in my classes, such as the best times for pruning: late winter and early, early spring. And I gained confidence when I found that some of my practices and beliefs were spot-on, like the fact that chemicals are approved and put on the market for people weighing 150 pounds (so no chemical should be taken lightly, but rather should be used only as a last resort).  After practicing organic gardening for years, I was glad to have my gut instinct confirmed.

Another plus to becoming a Master Gardener was finding a productive way to give back to my community. I wanted to create a school garden at my kids’ school, and I could not have done this project without the help and support of my amazing teacher, Lisa Johnson. It also helped to spend some of my service hours working at another school garden, seeing all that could be accomplished in our climate zone.

The 2013 MG session is about to start, so here is the form. It looks like applications are due this week and classes start at the end of this month. Go for it!

2013 Brochure

I am going to try to make it to my favorite speakers: Ed Lyon’s talks Natural Beauty  and The Sinister Garden: Wicked, Wicked Plants and Mark Dwyers’ talk  Trendy Annuals.  Both Ed and Mark are unbelievably talented and do an amazing,  generous job sharing their talents with the gardening world.

I also hope to catch Lisa Johnson, Phil Pellitteri and Mike Maddox, as I had the privilege of hearing them talk during my Master Gardening education and learned so much from them.

http://www.wigardenexpo.com/