There is no better way to get back to nature than to create a backyard garden. What’s better than connecting to nature through food!!!
Gardening is good for you in so many ways, fresh air and exercise, the enjoyable kind of exercise, not the boring kind a gym offers. There is a kind of peacefulness in the garden and it spreads and grows in you. The solitude is very healthy and is the best way to control stress.
Gardens are creative in so many ways because you get to design and choose many things in your garden. What food you will grow, what you will grow it in, clay pots, wooden planters, or whatever you come up with, also the layout of your garden is all up to you, so let your imagination run wild. I could go on and on. I get very excited about all that. Let’s get started!
Step one is choosing the best spot for your garden. You want a spot that gets a lot of sun, a spot that it sunny most of the day.
Here is how to decide. Go out in your yard at 10 am and walk around and notice which spots get the morning sun. Then go out again at 2 pm and look around and see if the same spot that was in the sun at 10am is still in the sun. Ok, one more trip out to the yard at 4pm to see which spot gets the sun at 10, 2, and 4. That will be a great spot for your garden.
It is a very, very good idea to have a fence around your garden. You will soon notice that everything and everyone is drawn to your little paradise and a fence will protect it and keep the critters out.
Now, I have put up a lot of fencing on my homestead through the years and believe me when I say it can be a lot of hard work. All my experience is going to help you now, because I’m going to tell you the best and easiest fencing to choose that will last and last.
You can find this fencing and posts at some of the big farm supply stores, and here it is; 50 inch hog panels, they come in 16 foot sections, are sturdy and easy to put up, they look really, really nice, they will last a long time, and some veggies like to grow up them, like cucumbers and beans.
I know a few people might not have room for a garden that size but don’t worry because the panels can be cut in half with a simple hack saw, so two panels will make an eight by eight foot garden.
They are rigid metal so no pulling and stretching like on wire fencing. I use 4×4 posts for the corners and metal T posts in the center of my 16 foot panels. For the gate I simply cut a 32 inch piece off the end of one panel with my hack saw and used U nails to nail it to the corner post, Boom, simple gate.
I plan on having a couple ducks in my garden, a compost bin and lots, and lots of healthy food. Stay tuned on Becky Sunshine’s garden adventures.
Much love and Happy Homesteading
-Becky Sunshine