Veggie Garden

The tomato bed in the foreground and the smaller beds behind it along with a few random sunflowers that sprouted in the middle of the yard. I must have dropped seeds and didn't have the heart to cut them down.  :) Several of the beds are equipped with plastic netting to protect the plants from the free ranging chickens that like to eat what is planted there. 

My little garden <3

Cucumbers and corn with watermelon growing out into the yard

Cantaloupe, corn, sunflowers, tomatoes, and watermelon.
All thriving in a 6 foot bed. 

I love growing my own vegetables. The taste of veggies straight out of the garden and the pride of knowing that I grew it from a tiny little seed is something that I find really fulfilling. I plant my garden beds differently than most people do, however. It is partially due to the fact that I have several above ground garden beds, rather than a single in ground set-up. I prefer the above ground beds for several reason. It is much easier to water and fertilize efficiently, to begin with. It is easier to concentrate my effort on distinct areas, instead of a large area, part of which is just going to be for path ways in between rows. I also love not having to turn the soil.... ever! Yep, no tilling required. The beds have 4 foot paths in between so the beds are never walked on and compacted. Most plants that  are grown for food don't require sunlight to ever penetrate the soil. Weeds, on the other hand, thrive in freshly exposed and turned soil. No tilling means less weeds. It also means no soil erosion, because all of the soil is kept in by sides. Because I only have a specific area to plant in, I plant my garden differently. I don't plant only one type of plant per bed. I let them compliment each other. The plants that grow in long vines but have small fruits, such as cantaloupe, cucumber, and zucchini are planted with plants that grow up, such as corn, sunflowers, or spare tomatoes. The ground covering plants keep the soil cool and prevent much loss of moisture while the taller plants can still get sun. Beans and peas can travel up corn and sunflower stalks rather than having to put in poles or trellises. The plants that grow long vines and have large fruits, such as watermelons and pumpkins, are planted on the other edge of the garden at the very side of the beds so that they can extend into the yard and not take up valuable bed space.The taller plants, such as sunflowers are planted along the outer edge, as well, so they they don't block sun from smaller plants. The only beds that I have planted with a single species are the bell and hot peppers,which are neither tall or vining and so need the room for themselves, and the tomatoes which bush out enough to block light from everything else. In the other beds, I have around four different plant types, all in a six foot square. And guess what? It is working beautifully! In the cucumber bed I have corn planted every foot, and watermelon vining from in between them out into the grass. In the eggplant bed, I have pie pumpkins vining out into the yard, and it too, is lined on one side by sunflowers. The cantaloupe bed, has not only sunflowers and watermelon lining one side, but  is also supporting several corn stalks and four tomato plants that I thinned out of the tomato bed. I have read about the three sisters sway of gardening, which the Native Americans used, and altered it a bit. The three sisters method calls for corn stalks, peas or beans planted at the base to vine up, and a type of squash planted close by to shade the ground. It worked for them, without chemical fertilizer and irrigation systems. I am proud to attest to the fact that it still works. I have never had such a beautiful garden!