My father’s day present came arrived a week late, but it was well worth it.  My son-in-law, Paul constructed a raised vegetable garden for my backyard in Madison.  I know some of you are wondering why I need another vegetable garden beyond the huge one we have at the farm.  But there is something to be said for having a vegetable garden close at hand, especially when I plan to devote most of it to strawberries.  I will save one end of the structure for a couple tomato plants and maybe even a row of lettuce.  Sure nice to have fresh lettuce handy when you want it.

Now for the details.  My new raised garden is eight feet long, 14 inches high and 39 inches deep.  I bought several sacks of small rocks to line the bottom of the garden and covered these with a couple pails of sand to make for good drainage.  My dad would be shaking his head in disbelieve  if he were living and learned that I had purchased both rocks and sand—the home farm had 160 acres of them.  Then we filled the rest of the structure with topsoil.

Temporarily, I planted some bush beans, a couple hills of zucchini and a single tomato plant—to see if I can grow something yet this summer.  This fall I will set out strawberry plants.

This is another of my several garden experiments that I’ve tried over the years.  I’ll let you know how it turns out.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: For those of you without much space to grow vegetables, a raised garden might be the answer.  Make sure the spot you select gets several hours of sun each day.

CHECK THIS OUT:  My one day workshop: “Writing  From Your Life,” October 13, 9-4. The Clearing, Door County. For more information go to. http://theclearing.org/current/index.shtml

UPCOMING EVENTS:

June 25, Green Bay, Presentation at WACEC Conference, University of Wisconsin-Extension.

June 28, UW-River Falls. Presentation at North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture conference.

July 10, 7:00 p.m., Eagle River Public Library, Garden Wisdom.

August 5-11, The Clearing.  Writing Workshop: Writing From Your Life.