We’re on a quarter-acre lot here.  When we bought the house 5 years ago, there was a great old raised bed in the back yard.   It worked the first few years for a few tomato plants, bush beans, and basil…but the 3 giant spruce trees on the south side of our property were – obviously – throwing a fair amount of shade on the spot.  I think when I found mossy patches under the bean plants I realized it was time to move (and my tomato harvest was dwindling quickly).

So….my dear husband suggested we cut down (aaagh!)  the huge blue spruce in the front corner of our yard to make a new garden space.  Oh, my inner tree hugger was gnashing her teeth, but I soon realized I could justify it by pointing out to everyone that the tree had “needle cast” and would soon need to come down anyway (right? right?).  It was the perfect spot — my raspberry, blackberry and blueberry bushes already loved that sunny southern facing situation.

Even though our house is practically in the shadow of the Grove Park Inn, and we’re surrounded by some mighty fine old homes, we ARE in Asheville, after all, so I didn’t think it would be too disturbing to plop our vegetable garden in our front yard.  Plus, our awesome next-door neighbors were also planning some raised beds in their front yard too, so we’d be partners in crime if anyone were to object.

Next…..February 2010, the blue spruce came down, stump was ground, and I ordered some pre-cut raised beds online from Natural Yards.   I had a local mulch yard deliver a compost mix to fill the beds, and shortly after, we were planting seeds and starts.

Onion sets and romaine starts