Garden, Irrigation and Fence design/build
Overview
During the 2020 pandemic I created a "Victory Garden" or perhaps it would be called a "Democracy Garden" at this point. I used the food to feed my parents and neighbors during the difficult year many folks in the area faced. I designed, built and tended this garden.
Technical features of the garden include: Irrigation system on a timer (BT control from phone), Solar lighting for evening events ease of use. Modular panels which can be used to add height to raised beds. Movable trellis's for rotating planting locations.
At night
Solar powered lights make the garden a nice place to spend time in the warm evening months.
I used procreate to design the layout of the garden, irrigation system, and fence.
A quick sketch of the fence to make sure I purchased the correct materials and the right amount of them
Calculations on the fence post locations and where to put the two gates.
Where to plant?
With 10 beds I spent time understanding the space, sun and water needs of different veggies. I used my garden layout to plan the seed layout since seeds can require anything from a few inches to a few feet of space to adequately grow. Using the layout and raised bed dimensions to plot my seeds seemed like a fun and colorful way to end my day.
Let the seedlings begin. . .
After all that planning,
it was important to get seedlings started indoors. Seedlings can be quite fragile and many require time to mature before being in the chilly spring climate. If I wait until its warm enough to plant seeds outside then I will not have a harvest until the middle or end of summer for some veggies, so the secret is start seeds early and indoors.
To do this, I used a single SPIDER FARMER SF-1000 LED Grow Light, silver reflective material to maximize the light, and a timer because as mentioned regarding the water... I also did not want to have to think about the light.
I created a few flats of seedlings.
Irrigation system arrives
Here's my wonky setup to get seeds started.
Planted a few peas to try them indoors as well.
And then it was time to build it
Construction
Building the raised beds was straightforward, although heavy when I got to the two longer beds. Each bed was a simple construction of a 20" long 4"x4" in each corner and two 10"x2"xN' boards with deck screws on each side. 8 of the 10 beds measured 4 feet by 8 feet while the other two were unique to create a dynamic layout and make planting certain types of veggies easier. I used untreated wood so it would be safe and chemical free.
The fence build was far more complex, and required more planning and thought process on my behalf. I measure the fence location and double checked the post hole locations before digging to ensure accuracy in my craftsmanship.
I built jigs to help me install the fence panels on my own, and to ensure that they remained at a consistent height across the posts and varying landscape underneath.
I installed mesh wire underneath the garden floor that run up into the fence to ensure that wildlife remained on the outside of the feast.
To finalize the build, I added natural bark mulch, a rock border, and rock entry ways as well as lighting.
