Spiraling Into Control

It was a good idea at the time, my spiral garden. 

I just didn’t want to do the same old boring raised planter boxes. I like the idea of raised beds, and yes, it’s pathetic that I had to hire someone to build this raised spiral bed. 

I did it myself the first time, and it didn’t quite work out. Mostly because of the evil gophers that turned my beautiful curved plot into Swiss cheese—the plants were disappearing fast right before my eyes—I felt like I was playing a game of whack-a-mole with none of the rewards. 

This time I made the spiral bed higher, lined it with gopher wire, and hired people to make it look way better than I ever could.

For some unexplainable reason I have developed tennis elbow, so lifting, pulling, or digging is very agonizing to say the least. BTW the last time I played tennis was 1988. 

So, why plant in raised beds? 

Because walking through your veggie garden compacts your soil, which is bad for your veggie roots. And planting in raised beds is easier on your back, because you don’t have to bend down so far. Raised beds also supposedly yield more produce and extend the planting season.

For me one of the most important reasons for raised beds, is the height of the beds can be a deterrent in keeping my dogs out of the veggie garden.

All good, right? 

The stones that top my veggie beds are flat, so I can sit on their edges. This gives me the opportunity to sit while I work in the garden, and it makes a nice garden bench. 

The stones are dry stacked, so they are not held together by mortar. They other night I sat down in my garden with an iced tea to relax, something I rarely do. I sat down on my new raised bed wall. 

I ended up splayed out on the ground, lying in a puddle of iced-tea-induced mud. 

I opened my eyes to see the two wet noses of Moondoggie and Willie looking down at me from atop my raised beds...Doh! 

I also designed my spiral garden to incorporate some of the 30 large pots I had lying around the yard.

I must have gone through a terra cotta pot-collecting phase. I had the bright idea that I would use the pots as part of the raised bed wall. The pots exclude gophers, plus, I can use them to hold herbs and maybe perennials. 

The jury is still out on this experiment.

Stay tuned.

 

Comments

[Patricia Tryon]

If I get to be a juror, my vote is a definite thumbs up! :)

[Jacqueline]

Herbs!