This year has been a remarkably fabulous year for my vegetable garden even with the extreme drought situation, late frost, and general apocalyptic charm. I credit it to my secret soil additives and great mulch which are real water holders during a drought. This post details the basic design for this year’s garden so you might plan it for your own garden in the future.
For the last several years I have been following a basic planting design based on the above chicken-scratched drawing which has served as my evil master plan. To me the design looks like a sunrise and the different colors of plantings represent sun rays. A creative solution that anyone can create around a patio garden.
After I amended the soil in spring, I strung rope in straight lines to mark where the plants should go. Once planted, I mulched the garden, and watered in well. Letters A – E in the design are simply perennial plants like hosta and heuchera which grow in the shadiest part of the garden beds. As the garden “rays” continue around you can see where I have laid out the vegetables.
Below is the list of Plants I used to make this design. Note 1, 1a, 1b, and 1c fit in the giant #1 area in the design as rows:
Sunburst Design Front Lawn Vegetable Garden
1. 30 Swiss Chard Plants – Bright Lights
1a. 12 Broccoli Plants – Premium Crop Broccoli
1b. 30 Bull’s Blood Beets (note – not Bonnie Plants – grown from seed)
1c. 12 Red, White, & Yellow Onion Sets
2. 24 Hybrid Cabbage
3. 6 Yummy Snacking Peppers
4. 24 Pineapple Sage
5. 12 Brussels Sprouts Plants
6. 7. 8. 10. and 12. Ornamental tropical plants, not vegetables
9. and 11. Cabbage Plants – Mega Cabbage (OS Cross)
Starred Garden Border – 36 Yellow Marigolds
And so – I prepared for the apocalypse by growing vegetables in my front lawn suburban garden. Crazy? Maybe. I donate about 100 pounds of vegetables every year to local food pantries and focus on helping community, apocalypse or not. I hope you do too.
Happy Growing!
Special Note – Because the FTC requires it, I am letting you know that Jobes Organic Fertilizer, Bonnie Plants, Organic Mechanics Soil, Midwest Trading, and Natural Industries supplied the plants, mulch, soil, and soil additives I used in this garden. I have used their products because I WOULD even if they had not given the products to me and they have produced great success. I donate a large portion of the vegetables I grow in my soil-improved garden to the local food pantry when harvested. All opinions are my own!
