Thursday, April 23, 2015

My Favorite Hobby

Hello and welcome to our JET Team blog! Today sees the first of an occasional series, in which members tell us about what they love to do best - when not designing and making jewellery, of course! To start us off, Erin of ErinAustin is here to tell us a little about what she gets up to in her spare time...

"Hi, I'm Erin, and my favorite hobby is gardening. I had such a great time in the garden last year that I created a raised bed for a fall garden, increase our vegetable growing area. Now seems like the perfect time of year to share it with you, as I recently finished a second one to expand my spring garden!



To construct the bed I started with overlapping layers of chicken wire and several layers of cardboard boxes to act as a barrier to weeds and gophers. I then spent a couple of hours building the box from recycled untreated fencing materials - it's 9.5' x 3.5' x 11" and it took me a couple of hours to make.



Then, I laid down about six inches of hay in the bottom of the box, and topped it off with a 1:1:1 mixture of perlite, peat moss, and compost. To help ward off pests, I surrounded the bed in the traditional way, with nasturtiums, chives, and marigolds. Occasionally I also sprinkle "Sluggo", a pet friendly snail and slug bait, around the base of the bed and between the plants.



My most successful plants last fall were Kale and Beets, and so far everything is doing well this spring - I love the changing seasons and spending time in the garden!

Erin
Erin of ErinAustin

17 comments :

Val Swanson said...

I used to do the raised bed gardening in my backyard but the deer ate all of my crops. Now I do container gardening on my deck! It's the only way I get to eat my vegetables!

Tracy said...

I'd love to try something like this someday! I love fresh veggies and growing them myself would be even better!

Keystring said...

Great idea! I would love to try this!

Mollie Ann said...

Aaaah, home grown veggies are the bestest! And I have new gardening gloves just waiting to dig into some good, rich soil!

jemsbyjb said...

This is so cool. Love fresh veggies from the garden.

jemsbyjb said...

This is so cool. Love fresh veggies from the garden.

Michele said...

Love gardening also, my daughter and I love all the vegs we get and when it gets too much we dehydrate, our area is small but we do get a lot out of it, it's very enjoyable!!! Love the garden bed you made!!!

Unknown said...

My raised beds are currently buried in snow. . . :(

SendingLoveGallery said...

Inspiring! thanks for sharing how you made your raised beds, Erin! I love how you used recycled materials :)

Beadsme said...

Very inspiring but no where to put one in my back garden.

Dee Dubbah Yew said...

Wonderful! We created a dozen large raised beds and grew glorious veggies and herbs at the farm. We did NOT do the wire and weed barrier step and so regretted it. Fun!!

Unknown said...

You make it all look so easy, Erin - perhaps I should have a go too!

Erika Price said...

We've had to put a 6ft high fence around our vegetable garden to keep the deer out, but it's SO worth it! I find gardening hard work but very rewarding, and you get to eat the fruits of your efforts too!

Gemstones on My Mind said...

Wow, there's nothing like tomatoes from your own garden! And you can even pick them green and have fried green tomatoes, yum!

Gambatte said...

I love your raised beds! Wish we had an area in our tiny yard to do some gardening. I used to be quite the gardener and miss all the home-grown veggies! Nice article!

WanderingJewel said...

I love the idea of raised beds, maybe I could keep the dog out if it that way.

Unknown said...

Love this idea, but I'm sure my dog would find a way to get into it! He loves to eat raw veggies, especially tomatoes. Thanks for the instructions.