New Garden Location

Okay - it's getting about time to make my big decision of where to put the new veggie garden. As I've posted in the past, we moved about a month ago. My plants are sprouting, and before too long I'll need to break some sod.

My lot is large - 1.25 acres total, but there are a bunch of trees. It's a hill, with the property's rear the highest point and sloping down to the road toward the west. The hill's not straight down; there are some curves and contours along the way. It's not steep like climbing a mountain or anything - I'd guess it's about a 25-30 degree angle, on average.

The previous owners had tried to garden in one fairly flat spot at the top (rear) and had even put in a nice sized, sturdy metal arched trellis which would be wonderful for vining crops. My property has two drilled wells, and one is at the rear corner near the trellis. This well is not hooked up to the house's water system because the previous owner says it "weren't no 'count." :) I'm guessing it wasn't enough for house use, but might work for occasional garden watering. Of course, I'd need to get a pump. It's a very strange place to put a well, at the top of a hill, 200 feet away from the house, don't you think? The problem with this spot, though, is there are too many trees and I don't think the garden will get enough sun. I can cut back/cut down some trees, but the woods directly to the east aren't on our property.

The other alternative is a large open field on the other side of the yard. Its slope is lower than most of the yard - ~15-20 degrees, I think, and it gets full sun. There are a few tree stumps which are still sprouting, so I'd have to tangle with roots. And the previous owners got carried away with putting down gravel to pave a road back to the barn, so it's scattered and will have to be picked out. And it's very far away from both of the wells - the other well is at the opposite corner of the house. With wells available, I'd rather not pay to use city water for irrigation! There is also a cistern, not too far from this potential garden spot, but I have no idea how to get the cistern water out and onto the ground.

So....flat, possibly shaded spot near a well, or sloping sunny spot far from the spigot? Hm...

Have you thought about container gardening, at least maybe for this year? Sounds like an all summer project to me. I'd go for the sun. When I lived in northern Minnesota, we use to run a hose from the lake up to the house for watering. It was quite a ways. I don't know anything about the mechanics of doing that, but someone will.

As someone that terraced veggie gardens into a hillside, I say GO FOR THE SUNNY FLAT SPOT!! LOL

It's not so bad to put a perennial bed on a hill because once it's planted, your are kind of done except for clean up or more planting. With veggies, you are going to be doing it over and over and over. Are you tired of climbing that hill yet? ;)

Since I have you cornered...have you given any thought to attending the Ohio Round Up (get together)?

Ummm...I'd love to go but I'm not sure I can. It's gonna be a busy weekend with the kids' activities we've already got planned. Friday I have to chaperone a lock-in, then Sat. afternoon there's a cub scout thing. If something falls through then I'll try to be there!

Depending on the depth of the gravel, I would just dump soil and compost on top; adding from year to year. Most veggie roots can wiggle around a bit of gravel-good for drainage. We try to get veggies in area with partial sun, not very rewarding.