Before I continue...Yes, Jim is in dress slacks. We had just come home from purchasing the cedar and he was so anxious to get it done before it rained he didn't stop to change. I don't recommend this however. And we normally don't look like this.

So ladies and gentleman, don't try this at home!

Notice the peppers on the right of the tomatoes. We grew a lot of our plants from seed this year. We built a small 8X8 greenhouse frame and saved all our empty cans from our canned goods to use as potting containers. We used a bottle opener to cut holes in the bottom side of the cans for drainage. They worked pretty well. The peppers were grown from seed.

If you look closely, you may be able to see our asparagus! We dug a trench two foot wide and two foot deep. We planted bare root stocks we order from a catalog. We planted them at the bottom of the well drained, composed trench. As they grew, we added more soil until the trench was level. We bought all male plants. They do not go to seed. They produce stalks from the base of the plant. We will not be picking any for two to three years to give it a good start. We may even add more plants as we go, expanding the bed.

In this photo you are looking north west. In the foreground you can see our grape vines that we have planted between cedar poles with wire fencing stretched across for support. We decided to grow the grapes up rather than on an arbor for ease in harvesting. And it makes a nice privacy screen.

Here is a look at a slope at the front of the property. It was bulldozed when they were prepping the land for the house. We have a problem with erosion. The rains send the soil into the drainage ditch at the front of the property.

We have planted cherry bushes. We ordered them from a catalog. They were bare root. We have staked them because they are so small we were afraid we might not see them when mowing. They will eventually grow 7 to 10 ft tall and 10 ft wide.

They will make a great privacy hedge at the front of the property. We are also hoping that they will help stop some of the erosion. Another reason we planted them there is the neighbor children used it like a ramp for their 4 wheelers and dune buggies. We are hoping that the birds leave us some once they start producing.

We believe in landscaping with fruit and vegetable producing plants to serve multiple purposes.

Stay tuned for the next chapter in the gardening saga at Raven's Wood!