Monthly Archives: November 2010

How Does Your Garden Grow: The Dirt on Topper, Topsoil & Garden Soil

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With the lawn pulled out, the raised beds built, and the neighborly native border planted, it was time to fill our future vegetable garden with soil.  Having never purchased soil before, I was ill prepared for dealing with the number of choices available to me.  A handful of recent studies have questioned whether too many choices can be taxing for a consumer’s brain, and while the jury is still out on “choice overload,” I’ll tell you this much: My brain was taxed.  (Of course, choice can be a very good thing—for example, it means that this vegan gardener won’t have to worry about there being animal products or by-products in her veggie beds.  More on that, later.)

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How Does Your Garden Grow: Won’t You Be My Neighbor(ly, Native Border)?

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Last week I learned that vegetaburgalers are not just a myth or a paranoid hallucination, but a cold, hard truth of front yard (and in some cases, even backyard) gardening. Seeing as how I haven’t actually grown (or even planted) any vegetables yet, I learned this thought provoking fact from the stories readers posted in the comments thread.

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How Does Your Garden Grow: Are Vegetaburglers a Serious Concern?

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Ever since I started telling people about my plan to put a kitchen garden in our front yard, I’ve been fielding a lot of questions.  Usually the conversation goes a little bit like this:

Concerned relative, friend, or neighbor: What are you going to plant in those boxes?

Me: Vegetables.

CRFoN: Right here, out in front?

Me: Yes.

CRFoN: Why not in back?

Me: Because we need an enclosed space for the dog(s).

CRFoN: You’re not worried about your vegetable garden being exposed?

Me: Not really, no.

CRFoN: But…don’t you think people will steal your vegetables?

Me: Um…

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How Does Your Garden Grow?

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Last year, my man and I bought our first home, a 1930s Spanish Revival bungalow that needed as much TLC as it had charm (and boy, was it ever charming). We spent the better part of 2010 renovating, and now, finally (praise be!), we are moving on to the yard.

Yard space was a huge requirement when we were house hunting—I’d trade inside space for outside space any old day—and I knew I wanted to achieve two things: Puppy Paradise in the back, and Garden of Eden (or at least, you know, a kitchen garden) in the front.  Of course, this was going to take some doing. Especially since I’ve never so much as owned a potted basil plant, and don’t know the first thing about gardening.

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