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Tag: Garden

  • 4 Simple Ways To Keep Your Garden Rodent Free

    4 simple ways to keeping a rodent free garden.

    grow your own food cheap and easy diy raised garden bed

    Something I get asked about often is how do we manage rodent control. I know different states and cities have different rules so I have compiled a list of ideas to consider.

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    #1 Fencing

    We added a Simple DIY privacy fence around our raised bed garden to keep out the local rabbit and squirrel population. When we bought our house the smaller backyard fence already had slats installed, which also helps keep the rodents from squeezing through or climbing over the fence and getting to our fruit trees.

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    #2 Traps

    A few years ago we had a family of rats that decided to make there home in our garage and attic. Family suggested we put a marshmallow on top of the rat trap. To my surprise it worked almost instantly. Occasionally we catch a rabbit or squirrel, and a few birds. We also invested in a one door animal trap. Check your city and states rules about catch & release, as well as catch & kill rules.

    # 3 Pellet Gun

    If you live in a more rural part of town and the laws permit you can also use a pellet gun to get rid of the rodents in your yard.

    # 4 Cats

    Another great option is getting barn or outside cats. Consider getting them when they are kittens so they understand not to attack your chickens and other small birds. Also you may want to keep in mind they can turn your raised beds into a litter box. Plus we learned that cats invite other cats from the neighborhood over, and thats a whole lot of extra feed.

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    What methods do you use to keep rodents out of your garden?

  • Cheap & Easy DIY Raised Bed Garden

    Cheap & Easy DIY Raised Bed Garden

    Considering a raised bed garden? Below we share why we decided building a raised garden bed was the best option for growing vegetables.

    Benefits Of A Raised Bed Garden

    There are many benefits to raised bed gardening. Some of the benefits include lifting your plants off the ground for easier access, keeping people from walking on your garden which packs down the soil, and making it harder for critters to reach your plants. You also have more growing options since you will now have great soil to begin with.

    Step 1: Choose A Location

    The most important part of choosing a location is making sure they will get adequate amounts of sunlight. I chose to put my raised bed on the southern facing side of my house for the best sun exposure. Make sure the location of your raised beds are level and smooth. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but you want to make sure your water goes throughout the bed evenly and doesn’t pool up anywhere. We rented a roto til to help break up the ground where our raised garden beds would be placed.

    Step 2: Preparing the soil.

    Preparing the soil for gardening can be tricky and if you live in an area with poor soil quality like we do, it’s not likely you’ll yield a harvest anytime soon. It is important to make sure your soil has all the nutrients your plants will need to survive. I used a pre packaged raised garden bed mix, since it is ready to go and makes life easy. This is the brand I recommend, Kellogg 3-cu ft Organic Raised Bed and Potting Mix.

    Step 3: Raised bed

    We decided to build our raised beds 8 ft. x 4 ft. with a 12 inch depth, which gives us plenty of growing room. It is recommended to build your raised bed a minimum of 6 inches deep, but the deeper the better. You want to make sure to fill your beds up with soil, until there is approximately 2 inches of wood left at the top. Don’t pack your soil tightly. Raised garden beds help keep the soil soft since there is no foot traffic, allowing roots to easily grow deep.

    Step 4: Supplies

    Below is a list of materials you need to create a cheap & easy DIY raised garden bed. If you already have some of these items on hand then you can cut down on the price of each bed and create more raised beds in your garden. One raised garden bed cost approximately $150 with soil.

    3 Top Choice 2 x 12 x 8 Douglas Fir Lumbar $11.63 each

    24 “L” shape Galvanized Corner Brace $2.98 each

    1 box of 1 1/2 in Course Drywall Screws $6.97 or whatever screws you already have on hand.

    10 Raised Bed & Potting Mix Bags, 3-cu ft. $9.98 each

    Step 5: Assembly

    First you’ll want to cut one of your 2 x 12 x 8’s in half. You should now have two 2 x 12 x 4’s and two 2 x 12 x 8’s. Make a rectangle with your boards and assemble the brackets on the inside. You can move your raised bed to desired location and begin filling with soil.

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