With Spring upon us, we've been talking a lot about our garden to come. And as silly as it may be, to me, having a garden isnt just about the delicious rewards that come from it, but it's also a source pleasure to my eyes. It's important to me that our garden looks beautiful. Afterall, it becomes an outdoor home for us for most of the year. You could also say that the child in me is still hoping to create my very own Secret Garden. After visiting the heirloom gardens last year at Old Salem, I found just how beautiful an edible garden can be, and we've been referring to it time and time again while we plan our new family garden. It was there that we saw a totally unique diagonal planting pattern from the late 1700's that is believed to have been chosen for drainage, sun exposure and aesthetics.They used a variety of mixed techniques - raised beds, mounds, square inch gardening and even early vertical gardening. Orchards were planted along the fence line in the entrances of the homes and gardens. Medicinal herbs and cooking spices were planted in rock retained beds near the homes.Oh, we mustn't forget the sunflowers! They have sky high cheery sunflowers dancing row after row, which is much needed for any good old fashion game of hide and go seek!
In the past we've always had boxed raised beds for our vegetable gardens, but now that we will have so much more land to work with and more mouths to feed, we will be combining many gardening styles on our farm just as they did in the early days in Old Salem. Edible landscaping is an idea that THE BACKYARD HOMESTEAD covers. I love the idea of having rosemary bushes and pineapple sage as close as the patio steps. They take the idea even further and suggest even an edible arbor or berry bushes as a hedge. Vertical gardening is also becoming really popular for those who are limited on space, but it's also very functional for keeping your vined veggies off the ground and away from many ground dwelling pests. Vertical gardens can be incorporated into any raised bed garden, by using a trellis, arbor, stakes/poles or wire fencing. I'm really drawn to the living wall gardens on buidlings - don't they make the greatest backdrops for photos? This vertical garden idea really caught my eye - it would be perfect for strawberries, among many other things.
