LAZY Gardening - Gardening with nature
I grew up in the north, Faro Yukon. My dad was a gardener, learning it from his parents in Newfoundland. Summer was short, we grew mostly potato and cabbage, or at least that's what I remember!
6 yrs ago in fall I decided to go after the life I wanted, after all, I'm in charge of me! I uprooted my family from our 7 year old custom built 'dream home' in the 'city' with its postage-stamp-sized yard where I was growing my veggies in rubbermaid totes. Within 2 months of starting our search we moved into a 35yo home that needed lots of lipstick, with a weedy sloped acre surrounded by trees and backed by 200 acres of forest. My friends & family thought I had truly lost my mind.
The transformation began! Turns out the house was a nightmare purchase, which I've since ripped apart and put much of it back together. I'll share some of those stories, it's quite incredible!
When spring rolled around I couldn't wait to tackle the yard. I was dismayed to discover it was mostly clay filled with rocks. Digging a hole for just one plant was challenging. What did I get myself into? A painstaking process with lots of hired labor!
Right, so I call it lazy gardening! Doing the initial work is not lazy, that's serious labor! I hired fantastic labor from Facebook groups, yes seriously, and had people do the digging etc while I worked my business. I know how to use my time & money wisely!
Maintenance is where I take a proactive approach to the common repetitive tasks. Pest control, Thinning, Weeding, Irrigating, Soil supplementation / fertilizing, prepping soil in spring, tearing the garden down in fall, planting annuals (hello self-seeding!). I'll share details on those processes in my blog & link them here once written. Here's a link to the Garden section of my blog
My garden:
🐝 is significantly focused on food for birds, bees and humans. My goal is to produce significantly more than we can possibly eat so that it can be donated.
💪🏽is heavily companion planted for lazy pest control
🌸 has flowers and veg interplanted in a flowing landscape way
🥦has no rows of vegetables, except corn. My garden is a polyculture. Rosemary, rhubarb and strawberries flourish under / around the apple and plum tree, for example
🌱 uses crop rotation to minimize pests and maximize soil nutrition
💦 has gutter creeks running through the start of my food forest
🥬 has an inground greenhouse for year-round growing and harvesting (yes, even in Canada)
💧 Has a 3 level retaining wall pond with food hydroponics
💪🏽Focuses heavily on reusing items in my environment
🐔 has a chicken garden with both food for the chickens & helpful pest repellent herbs
💦 Is watered by 1/4" drip irrigation despite having no in-ground sprinkler system
🧱 Uses unique plantings and structures as privacy screens
😄 Has a super fun climbers & hammock arbor
🌿 has a 'pool' garden with massive climbing arches and a 10' tall bean wall.
The most common questions I get are: 'did you have this vision when you started' & 'What did you do each year to end up like this'. I totally DID NOT have this vision when I started. Each year another piece of it came into play. I knew I wanted certain things although I didn't have this clear picture of what that would look like, I'm often pleasantly surprised when I step out on my back deck and look down! So I'm including details here for those looking to tackle their own property.
Find all my gardening articles here. Top favs are:
In my FB Group I share Garden Lessons - Find them all here in Guide 4. A few Top favs:
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Carrots - How and where to plant
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Squash - When to harvest your squash
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Early Fall Hard Pruning Squash and Tomato
