Raised Bed and Rain Gardens

Caya working on the raised garden

We've had a busy past couple of weeks.  The nice weather has meant a lot of walks to the park, riding bikes on the sidewalk, and of course, working on the gardens.

Completed raised vegetable bed.  We are going to wait a couple of weeks before planting to be safe from a frost.

Our little Easter bunny!

Caya was given a tomato growing kit for her birthday - bad move on my part trying to plant the seeds inside!  But we did notice them sprouting today (about a week after planting).  I told Caya that the tomato plants had sprouted, she ran into the kitchen all excited, looked in the pot, and said, "But where are the tomatoes?"  Well, I guess gardening is a good lesson on delayed gratification.  We did talk about how the seeds she planted had now sprouted.  My goal is to try and take pictures as they grow so she can go back and view the different stages of growth (that is, if they don't die while we are gone on vacation this next week!).

Tomato sprouts

Front "Rain Garden"

 When we first moved to this house there were just rose bushes planted in front and the bed extended only about 18" from the house.  A couple summers ago I expanded this garden (with some help from Ian of course) and pulled some of the roses.  We did keep several rose bushes, the ones that seemed to do well without constant irrigation or fertilizer.  Since then I have been adding plants that are native to southern WI,  in an attempt to create a rain garden.  Most of the plants were bought from the UW-Arboretum Native Plant sale (this year's sale is on May 12) or at Jung Garden Center in Fitchburg.  Unfortunately the Home Depot near our house does not sell regionally native plants.  Purpose - native plants, which these are perennials, develop a much deeper root-system than annuals or exotic plants, which improves soil conditions and infiltration rates.  Our downspout (brown in the picture), has been extended and diverts the water about 10 ft away from the house into the rain garden.  My training is not in landscape architecture, so I don't if know exactly how much stormwater we are capturing and preventing from becoming runoff, but I do have training in restoration ecology and have tried to follow restoration principles for this project.  In addition to trying to reduce runoff, the native plants provide food and habitat for birds and insects.  We have noticed a HUGE increase in the amount, and variety of birds, bees, butterflies, and other insects in the garden.  A problem I've noticed, and need to address this summer, is that there are a few plants that get way too tall for a front flower bed.  These plants are native to prairies, where 6'-8' plants are the norm, but it doesn't make for great landscaping.  Ian is alway joking about the "weeds" we have bought and planted, so we need to work on trying to balance the esthetic and native aspects.

Last summer Ian and I dug up the sod and built another rain garden in the backyard.  I'm curious as to what survived over the winter and what space will need to be filled.


We found this guide helpful for planning our rain gardens - Rain Gardens - A manual for home-owners

I think Caya will be old enough this summer to start doing some simple biodiversity surveys with me.  This can be as simple as throwing a hula-hoop randomly in the garden and counting how many insects we find in the circle and then comparing it to another area, like the lawn or sidewalk.  Also, she may be able to start a field journal where she can draw pictures of the types of plants and animals she sees.

A couple of interesting articles I came across this week related to sustainable agriculture/getting kids outside:

Girls who play in dirt
The Folly of Big Agriculture - Why Nature Always Wins