Let me introduce you to my garden

I visit my garden daily, hunting pests, trimming foliage, and just simply admiring the beauty of my creation. The total garden space is approximately 24 feet in length and 11 feet in width, stretching out across the far right corner of my backyard. Before the garden was established this area was home to a rotting wooden deck with a lava rock surround. My well-meaning husband would kill the “weeds” popping up through the rock routinely with weed and grass killers. So, the idea of trying to establish an in-ground garden. Not to mention, the ground is riddled with the roots of shade trees.

As you can see, it was an easy decision to opt for a raised bed garden design. Currently, there are two 4ft. X 4ft. square raised beds and one 8ft. x 8ft. raised bed with a keyhole design, that gives a total of 64 square feet of growing space! Eventually, the goal is to wrap it around the right perimeter of the backyard fence. Below is a picture from 2022 when we expanded the garden!

Tucked away on the far right of my garden is a medium-sized storage structure, a 50-gallon rain barrel, and a watering hose. I do have a passion for sustainability, so the rain barrel made perfect sense. Moving along the back of the fence and to the left, you will come across a metal outdoor dining table that has been repurposed into a potting table, and dotted along the back fence posts are hanging baskets of various flowers that are spent from last season. They really could use a refresh for the summer! While I’m not a strict sustainability person and have so much more to learn, I do try to incorporate the principles wherever they fit into my lifestyle.

Finally, when you make it over to the far left of the garden you will find the small but mighty greenhouse. It’s a portable 4-tiered mini greenhouse that is 2.5ft x 1.6ft x 2ft. I know what you might be thinking, a greenhouse in Florida? Honestly, I thought there was no need to have one in Florida because of the wonderfully warm year-round gardening weather almost every blog posts about gardening in zone 9,  but trust me it’s worth adding to your garden to get a jump start on the season.

Well now that we have been formally introduced, you can stick around a while and learn from my mistakes. No seriously, I have a passion for all things gardening and would love to help answer any questions you may have or learn from your feedback and recommendations. Let’s get started!