Veggie Patch

In my effort to live a more sustainable life it seemed logical to have a backyard veggie garden. While we have always had small pots of this and that we have never had the opportunity to have something decent. I was so excited to get out into the backyard and design our veggie patch. More than being sustainable and eco-friendly, a veggie patch is about having fun and getting outdoors in the fresh air and sunshine. I want to share with you why you need a veggie patch, some basic planning tips, an easy guide on how to build your own and what to fill it with.

READ MORE > My Guide to Sustainable Living: How we can all make small changes to make a collective difference.

SKIP AHEAD > Simple instructions on how to build your own raised veggie patch
> What to fill your veggie patch with?

Why you need a Veggie Patch

Growing your own produce is very economical, especially if you choose to plant only things you will actually eat, and more so if you can use heirloom vegetables because with these, as opposed to the bulk produced seedlings you buy at hardware and gardening stores, you can use the seeds to keep your crop going forever! The heirloom produce more often looks better and tastes better too!

You can be assured that you will be eating organic, that is if you are smart and use no nasties like pesticides. The upside of the hardwork in keeping your patch organic is that the produce flavours wont be diluted making your food taste delicious. And if you are anything like our family you will be eating straight from the garden and only 50% of the food will actually make it to the kitchen. You can eat organic and not be paying over inflated prices at your local organic farmers market ($10 for a pineapple - seriously?!).

Amongst all of these benefits, probably at the top of the list, is that you are learning something new and for most people, learning is when you are happy. If you have kids, they will be learning too and I think it is important for them to see where food comes from, what it looks like growing and how to care for them.

READ MORE > 10 Simple things to make you Happy: You would be surprised how having a veggie patch can tick so many of these boxes!

Now you know why you should be building a veggie garden, what next, where do you actually start? Most people have a few pots here and there with some basic things in it but if you have the space the best thing to do is build a dedicated garden bed for your produce. I think that the best option is to have a no dig, raised veggie patch and it is actually pretty easy to set up.

Basic Planning for your Veggie Patch

You will need to do some basic planning before you can build your veggie patch in your garden. The first step is to decide on the positioning of your Veggie Patch. Most veggies like at least 6-8 hours of sun a day so watch your yard and see which spot gets a good amount of sunshine, remember that this might be the front, back or side. If you can, position where it is easy to get access to so that tending to it isn’t more of a chore than it needs to be, so that picking them is quick and easy and so that it is always front-of-mind. You can really make a feature of your veggie patch and have it as a centrepiece to your backyard. We have positioned ours so that it gets plenty of sunshine, with one end getting some shade for the more ‘precious’ plants. It is also right near our compost bin, which is also right near some big contributors to the compost bin – the chooks!

Before you get too far into your daydreaming it is important to determine the size of your Veggie Patch. You may be restricted by the size of your yard, so don’t forget to consider using your front yard too, or maybe go vertical to maximise space. You may decide to split your garden into several areas which is what we have done. We have our main veggie patch, along with a few big pots and smaller planted sections that are capitalising on sunny spots.

When thinking about the size, also consider the height you want your garden bed – if you have back issues you may want to build it higher so you don’t have to bend over. If you have kids who want to get involved then don’t make it so high that it is unreachable. You may also want to keep your pets out of it so consider how easy it is for your dog (or chicken!) to jump in.

Grab a cuppa and sit down and have a good think, ask yourself, what do you want to get out of your Veggie Patch. Is it a small patch to just teach the kids, is it just for decoration or are you trying to become self sufficient, will you share or swap with others, what do you want to grow … ?

After you have done a few drawings of where you want your veggie patch to be and mapped out what you might be growing in it you can start thinking about what materials to use, or not use as the case may be.

Wood is a very popular choice to build a veggie patch. While most people jump straight to the idea of treated wood because you don’t want to encourage termites, it actually isn’t any good for your soil and in turn your veggies. You can buy specially treated wood that is food safe if you have a termite problem or if your patch will be up against your house. If you buy new wood keep in mind that it will warp in the weather so ideally it needs to be left out in the elements for a few months to let it settle before you start constructing anything with it. If you are trying to be sustainable and use old recycled wood check where it is from. I originally wanted to use old railway sleepers but after some research I found that they could actually be full of plenty of nasty chemicals and are absolutely no good for your veggie patch. If you can reliably source these and know for certain that they are 100% safe than great, but I wouldn’t risk it.

You may decide to go with cement sleepers, besser (or cinder) blocks or the plastic ones that are available now, along with the new corrugated iron ones. A point to note is that these later ones are very flexible and can bend when you get the weight of the soil in them and they rust out fast too.

In keeping with my sustainable living I decided to make ours out of old corrugated tin with an up-cycled wood framework. All you need to do is find your local recycled goods business. You will often find them tucked away in the back corner of an industrial estate, these places are treasure troves and you will need to go in focussed on exactly what you want and don’t get distracted! These people pull apart old houses and keep all of the good stuff. That means, real tin roof pieces, real hard wood that is untreated and with 60 odd years of weathering already taken care of. Take your pick whether you want to go really rustic and get the rusting tin and nail pock marked wood or something a little cleaner and younger. Chat to the staff there as they can tell you all about where your goods come from, I love hearing the stories behind things. Our recycled wood is from an old farm house, including beautiful exposed cedar rafter beams and our tin was the roof of an old barn.

If you want to build a raised veggie patch like ours I have written all of the instructions you need in a simple how to post. Seriously, we aren’t very handy with the tools but this was very easy. I can even give you tips on how to avoid a trip to the Emergency Room half way through. For more photos and to see how to do it you can read more now.

READ MORE > How to Build A Raised Veggie Patch

Once you have your veggie patch plotted out and you are ready to start growing things you will need to decide what to plant. This can be lots of fun. I even went to my library and borrowed a heap of books on companion planting, and veggie patches and heirloom seeds. I chatted to local growers at the markets, I visited the Permaculture club, and of course I Googled.

READ MORE > What to plant in your Veggie Patch

We are really enjoying having our own produce right in our back yard. I love that my girls get up in the morning and the first thing they want to do is run outside and (after checking to see if the chooks are laying eggs yet) they check on how much things have grown and if any new seedlings have popped through the dirt. They grab their little watering cans and gently sprinkle the plants with water, they put on their gloves and push dirt around, yank on weeds and discover worms. They talk about what we will make with the veggies when they are ready, they ask questions about how they grow and they are proud of their efforts. It makes it all worth while.

I am by no means a green thumb and I am happy to confess that, so watch this space to see how I go. If I can do it, anyone can!

Do you have a veggie patch or maybe it is your project for Spring?

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