Changing it up in the test garden

The test garden is divided into 6 sections that constantly change into new garden vignettes. Our sunniest spot is, at this point, perpetually devoted to edibles. My predecessor, Ryan Casey, did a fabulous job setting up the section for the One Block Diet 3 summers ago.

See how he tied string between posts to keep a guideline of the edge as he dug? That’s a great way to get straight rows.

Those straight rows have been there for a while now.

The keyhole garden from last September was in the same section — I simply connected the last two rows for a bit of variation.

Well, this setup has gotten a little old. The patch went un-planted this winter (not even cover cropped!) and has been looking sad:

Don’t judge me.Alas, the sun started shining, the wheels started spinning, and we decided it was time to switch it up. The main concern was keeping plenty of bed space for edibles. But was there a way to keep lots of beds and preserve that great organic soil while STILL giving the space some fresh life?

To the drawing board I went:

And here we have the brand new quadrant:

You’ll notice that there are a few changes from the design plan. That happens. We decided not to build the extra patio, and we also chose not have the path dissect the rows. The plan is to plant the tallest crops in the back and the shortest ones in the front.

I’m calling it the “edible wave,” as the curvy rows remind me of waves (sort of — it mostly just sounds good). Curves can often make a space more interesting and a little less predictable. And like always, we’ll keep you in the loop as it actually grows into a garden.