What is better than garden cucumbers? Absolutely nothing. I knew when I moved to the city, that one thing I would miss is my fresh garden veggies. Growing up my dad always had a massive garden and I absolutely loved being able to walk out to the back yard and pick a fresh snack. My favourite, being cucumbers.
Last year, my dad graciously offered to build me a small 8' x 3' raised garden in the back yard, so I could have my fresh cucumbers. I absolutely loved it. I was able to put 3 plants, evenly spaced and I most likely ended up with 50+ cucumbers. It was fantastic. I also snuck in a few rows of carrots, but those didn't turn out as well as the cucs.
This was just a test for me. To see if I could actually maintain my own vegetable garden... and I exceeded all expectation. So now that I knew I could garden my only question was 'where could I put more'....
Fast forward to this year, when I figured out our dog run is the perfect size for my garden oasis. With the help of Ryan and my parents, we made my dreams come true.
Let's start with the before:
As we do not have a dog, this space was completely useless to us. It was used for wood storage, and that's about it. The space is 32' x 6', and it gets great afternoon sunlight, so I saw the potential immediately.
Phase 1: Clean-up
Remove all of the mess
Pressure wash/clean fence
Phase 2: The Planters
This is the part that my super-dad helped with. He built 3 8'x2' planters, and came over to install them. We also got a few yards of soil delivered, and filled them up.
Phase 3: Stain fence
This step is very straight forward. We bought a gallon of Stain, and I went to town on the fence. The stain we used was SICO exterior wood stain in the colour walnut brown.
Phase 4: The Stone
We had 2 yards of 3/4" crushed granite delivered. Before laying down the stone, I laid down a layer of landscaping fabric over the area. Ryan and I worked as a team, and before we knew it, we were done! The stone was very very dusty, so when we were satisfied with the placement, we watered the stone down to wash it off.
Phase 5: The decorating
This step will likely never be complete, because I constantly go back and forth with my decor ideas, but I figured I could post this as is. I popped into Superstore for some groceries on Sunday and walked out with 2 chairs, a table, some pillows and NO groceries. To be fair, I didn't have a cart and I didn't feel like performing a balancing act. The best part, all patio furniture was spend $15, and get 5000 PC Optimum points back (so basically $5 off of $15), I was very excited.... and we went back in the evening to get our groceries.
So this is where I will leave you today. The next step will be to plant my gardens, and I will definitely keep you updated on that.
Till next time,
Kate
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