Well the weeks have been slipping by without a peep from the Portland Edible Gardens Blog! And as you can imagine, we have been busy busy bees!!
It has been a mild and dreamy Spring with many opportunities to embark on new garden builds and to get a lot of early spring plantings in the ground.
Since so much has happened in the last six weeks, I thought I would do an unconventional blog post and just share some photos and anecdotes from our Spring activities!
Enjoy!...
This client had a very large lot that was entirely sod with full sun exposure. An edible gardening dream! We roto-tilled the grass several times and finished by covering the whole space with a rich layer of compost. Next we will form 4 long beds and mulch in between with wood chips to create permanent paths. The Long strip at the far right of the final frame will be planted with 4 dwarf and semi-dwarf fruit trees: Two apples, a pear, and a plum. This is just the beginning for this soon to be edible garden!
These clients had a side yard with a few permanent elements (like that massive boulder!). We ended up building two garden beds working within the open spaces and capitalizing on the limited sunlight that was available. We finished these beds with some long attractive benches. The Spring greens that we have planted so far are incredibly happy in their new home! Broccoli, Kale, Bok Choi, Spinach, Lettuce and Sugar Snap Peas climbing the trellis!
This was a fun project in the Sellwood neighborhood building a couple of garden beds in a very sunny and very public space alongside a driveway. I finished this project just as the rain began to fall. This garden is planned mostly for tomatoes, and Peppers. It will be on display, and these clients couldn't be happier about having their vegetable garden front and center.
This was an interesting project on a lot with very limited sunlight. We sited the raised garden bed in the one place that gets the very best sun exposure (as you can probably tell!). We also installed a surrounding in-ground perennial garden with a diverse collection of more shade tolerant plants.
Well, There's a taste of what we have been up to lately. hopefully your own gardens are seeing a lot of action as well!! Stay tuned to the PEG Blog for more updates, and I promise to offer some actual garden tips and insights next time.
- Ian Wilson
Owner and Founder, Portland Edible Gardens, LLC