Transforming a yard

During the spring, something started to change.

Each week, a new raised garden bed appeared in front of a house on Andrews Street.

Sometimes those beds were moved, but finally they remained in one place.

As summer weather changed, so did what was happening inside of those garden beds.

Soon, sprouts could be seen poking through the ground. An observer may not have known what each plant was at the time, but the planters, Rich and Laurie Kriegh could tell.

“We had both talked about raised beds,” Rich said. “This is just want we came up with.”

Four of the hand-built cedar raised garden beds are in the front yard, while one is beside the house and one is in the back.

Rich said the garden beds were placed where their current sprinkling system could reach them, however, he chuckled and said they hardly even used their sprinkling system this year.

Once the garden bed locations were selected, they purchased some dirt from a local nursery and mixed it with some compost and set to work planting their vegetables, including lettuce, kale, onions, peas, beans, spinach, zucchini, white and red radishes, cucumbers, tomatoes, jalapeño peppers and green bell peppers.

After planting the garden, Rich realized he could have a problem on his hands.

The Krieghs have two dogs and some of the items they planted could make the dogs sick.

At first, Rich thought about building a fence around the raised beds, but then he decided that would not be very aesthetically appealing.

It was back to the drawing board.

Rich looked around his place and saw something that caught his eye -- some bamboo pieces that he was not using and did not have a plan for.

He started building a fence around the beds out of the bamboo. He then decided to bring the bamboo together at the top, which created a pyramid look.

He thought that would be enough, but then his granddaughter came by and started grabbing the plants. He said she kept picking all of his hanging tomatoes before they even had a chance to turn red.

He set to work making some sort of a barrier. This led to about five or six pieces of bamboo at the base of the fence, which he weaved in and out of the bamboo fence. Rich said this also kept the dogs out of it.

Rich quickly learned having a vegetable garden is something that requires time.

“I knew gardening is a lot of work,” Rich said. “It’s good for a retired person.”

However, Rich is not retired, only semi-retired.

Just when things seemed to be going good for the garden, Rich noticed some grubs and beetles attacking some of the vegetables.

He searched on the internet for ways to get rid of bugs without having to use anything toxic.

He soon discovered a solution for his problem. All he needed was some cyan peppers, wild mint and water. He brought it all to a boil and let it set overnight. Then, he put the solution into a spray bottle and started spraying his vegetables with it. The bugs were gone; and Rich didn’t need to use chemicals on his garden.

“It’s all organic and it works,” Rich said.

As the vegetables grew, so did Rich and Laurie’s use of them. Laurie is always taking a few leaves off of each plant and mixing them into a smoothie or using them in a salad.

Rich also discovered that sometimes a plant can have a different use than what he had planned it for. For example, Rich’s radishes did not do well this year; and went right to seed. Instead of taking them out of the ground, Rich searched the internet to see if the radishes’ seed pods have a good use. He found out the pods are actually edible until they turn yellow. He said the pods have a real good flavor.

When Rich’s bell peppers were not doing so well, Rich once again searched the internet on ways to try to get them growing and discovered that a good pruning could send them into growth. Rich cut the peppers in half; and wasn’t sure about his decision, but then they started to grow and produce peppers.

“About everything I have learned I have watched on YouTube,” Rich said.

As for weeds, Rich has not had much of a problem with them this year, however, Rich may have a varying opinion as to what a weed is.

“If I’ve got dandelions, I’ll eat them,” Rich said.

He also eats Lambs Quarters and Curly Dock in the spring.

The Krieghs interest in growing just doesn’t stop at the vegetable gardens. They also planted five fruit trees this year in the hopes that in a few years they will have some cherries and apples. Rich said with the cost of produce continually on the rise, they are just trying to grow things that will provide them with food.

“Oh. For my first year it was OK,” he said.

Next year, Rich is hoping to be more successful and apply all that he had learned this year to next year’s growing season.