the veggie garden
May 2, 2012 Here is what we’ve done so far…
1] Chris built the raised planter box.
2] I removed all of the weeds from below.
3] We covered the base with weed barrier because our backyard is full of weeds that turn into small trees. No joke. There is nothing stopping them. I know a lot of the weeds are dandelions, which are edible, however, a lot are not. We actually have quite invasive weeds in our backyard that are actually monitored by the city! Also, our backyard is not truly a yard. It’s covered in rocks and is where cars park since we have no garage. We have alley access to our back”yard” which is very typical in Ft. Collins. Garages are not visible from the streets here.
4] We bought a ton of topsoil and luckily hit a good sale at ACE Hardware.
5] One of the secret ingredients mixed into our soil [from the other day] is Cocogro coconut fiber!! It’s used instead of peat moss and has loads of benefits. ie: requires less watering, great drainage, helps retain nutrients, anti fungal properties, etc.
6] The third ingredient we used is called Agrichar. It was actually developed by a biochemist here in town, and the only store where you can find this is in Ft. Collins. We talked to the bio chemist and got to look at loads of studies he has done using this product. We were blown away.
A few cool things about this product:
- superior water retention
- builds a living soil structure
- better nutrient retention
- reduces green house gases
- no need to till the soil
- little to no need for using fertilizer
For more detailed information check the Bath Garden Site. I cannot even begin to explain how it works! We are excited to see what happens. Up front, this whole system cost about $40-50 more than a more standard mix of ingredients [soil, compost, peet moss, etc]. However, if all goes as planned it will save us money, as there should be no need to add anything else to the soil from year to year.
7] Instead of buying a wheelbarrow [ummm they are like $50-100!] we used an empty plastic storage tub. Totally worked for soaking the coconut fiber blocks that you have to soak in water before mixing with the soil.
8] We used 60% topsoil, 30% coconut fiber, and 10% Agrichar.
9] We layered soil, then coconut fiber, mixed them together, and repeated two more times.
10] Here is what the coconut fiber looks like after it soaks up 10 gallons of water. It smelled amazing!
11] mix, mix, mix
12] This is what the soil + coconut fiber looks like after being mixed.
13] The Agrichar is simply sprinkled on top and then doused with water.
14] We’re trying to follow the square foot gardening method. To mark the feet off I used bamboo skewers + twine.
15] I stuck in a skewer every foot, then double knotted the twine on each end.
16] We have 32 square feet waiting to grow a lot of veggie goodness. I hope!
17] Per a readers suggestion, we’re covering the weeds with a tarp to kill them. They should die from lack of sun + moisture in a few weeks. We’re probably going to mulch around the veggie box to further help keep the nasty weeds away. We also spread out the extra top soil bags for coverage as well.
18] I perused a companion planting guide and so far with what we’re growing, shouldn’t have any neighborly problems. I used extra wide popsicle/craft sticks to mark which veggie goes where.
19] Tomorrow I plant and hope that it’s not too late into spring! Typically it isn’t out here, but this year has been very unseasonable. We’ll see how it goes!
Here’s what will be grown so far:
- kale
- carrots
- chard
- broccoli
- sugar snap peas
- spinach
20] I really know nothing about gardening!
21] Goodnight!
Ashley
life, etc. 
Reader Comments (27)
Ashley--> Thanks, Alex! Woohoo Colorado!
Ashley--> I bought organic, non-GMO seeds. I think one of the packs is not organic, but still from the same company and non-GMO. Seeds are much cheaper than I expected.
Ashley--> You are too sweet!
Ashley--> Yes, we are using that method! I held off on the "warm season" veggies but can't wait to get them started.
Ashley--> Thanks so much for the tip! I skipped the carrot planting. I'm more concerned with planting TONS of greens because we eat so many. I eat carrots daily, but they're much cheaper overall. I may try planting them in a deeper container or planning a little better next year. :) I'm super excited to plant pickling cucumbers to make my homemade pickles!
Ashley--> I can't wait either.
Ashley--> Thanks, Beth! I have been warned about the zucchini and am on the fence if I'm going to plant any or not. :)
HaHa Ashley! You and Chris already did the hard part. That's an incredible raised bed - you can't go wrong with your setup. I love the technical aspects too. Not that you need any tips, but they say the most common mistake for new gardeners is over watering. I've been guilty of that sin more than once. A good soak every 2 or 3 days right now will force the roots to dig deep in search of h20 in between waterings. When summer heat hits (90s), I water daily. We live in Colorado too, and our leafy greens have been doing great outside with our early spring weather. I've been harvesting individual branches of kale the last few mornings which my wife loads into her smoothies. Fresh as it gets. And so fun and rewarding! Thanks for the Cocogro suggestion. Looks like great stuff. Btw...did you start seeds indoors in rooting cubes? Or are you dropping your seeds directly into the raised bed? Just curious, as I am fairly new to gardening as well.
Ashley--> Thanks for the encouragement, Mark! I'll be sure to go easy on the watering. Good to know you're in CO and have had luck. That's so fun about harvesting the kale leaves! Since we got a late start, we started the seeds directly outside. I think they'll be fine since it's been so warm this spring.
Ashley--> Thanks so much!
Good luck with your veggies!
Ashley--> Oh believe me, I know! We finally bought a house last year and had a little more time to plan the garden. I know we could have started in large pots, etc. but it just never happened. I wanted to build a raised box and it's a bit of an up front investment that we were finally able to make. We're so excited to see what happens!
Ashley--> Thank you for saying hello!! I'm so glad you're excited about the garden. I will keep it well documented. If things grow, that is.
Ashley--> I'm glad it looks that way!! :)
Can't wait to see what pops up!
Ashley--> Good luck with your potted garden too! I'll definitely be keeping people posted!
Ashley--> Kristen, that's so good to know! Thanks for the tips. We'll see what happens!
Regarding Agrichar: Be very cautious when the marketing material includes staements like: "The process is very efficient, generating more energy than it consumes..." This statement is beyond misleading. It is wrong in every sense and should send up a red flag when evaluating other statements on the web site.