Building a Backyard Garden

How’d I spend my weekend? I showed a couple houses, dropped my blackberry in my coffee (archived: 2013), negotiated an offer on one of my listings and built a raised-bed garden in my backyard. I’ve talked green for years, encouraging walkability when clients are making purchase decisions, riding my bike around Charlottesville and Crozet whenever possible … my progression continues.

More and more people (and my clients) are building gardens, more buyers in the Charlottesville area are wanting garden spots/areas when they’re looking for homes. I’m participating in the journey.

The garden:

– $82 of lumber from Nature Neutral (archived: 2025)

– 8 scoops of dirt at AM Fog in Afton (archived: 2025)

– $75 design and planting schedule from C’Ville Foodscapes (archived: 2021)

– My neighbor’s time, trailer, tiller and building knowledge.

– A bit of an education and supplies from Fifth Season Gardening Co. on Preston Avenue (in the former Vespa dealership).

– About 10 hours of work.

Why?

– We want to grow some of our own food – watch Food.Inc. and try not to come to some of the same conclusions we have.

– We want to teach our children about where their food comes from, give them knowledge and skill they won’t learn anywhere else.

– We wanted it in our backyard; our neighborhood has an organic community garden, but it’s about 300 yards from our house. We want to integrate the garden into our lives.

– I’m tired of feeling incompetent and impotent; I want to empower myself and my children.

– I grew up with a huge garden and I remember how great the food tasted, weeding, pulling carrots out of the ground and beans off the plant and eating them right there. I want that now that I’m sort of grown up.

As a client said yesterday, we’re blessed to be able to dedicate a weekend to undertaking such a project. Many people can’t and are 100% dependent on corporate food. What we’re doing is a lot of work, from the outset to the ongoing maintenance.