When we purchased the Villa, one corner of the orchard had an old greenhouse and three overgrown tin vegetable garden beds. The plastic panels that encased the greenhouse were disintegrating with age and the area itself were littered with old timber, chicken wire, and lots of rocks.
One of the first things we did was try and fix the greenhouse. We replaced the plastic panels with thick plastic that we cut and draped over the frame.
After a few false starts where what we used to weigh the plastic down did not work (came out after a storm to find plastic waving about), we used timber batons to screw the plastic in place. It has become part gardening shed, and also where we place our seedlings, though since we have fixed another little shed that was on the property that is now where we store most of our gardening tools and we hope to use the greenhouse more to grow summer vegetables in the cooler seasons.
We then turned our attention to dismantling the old tin vegetable garden beds and clearing the area. Wanting to create a type of potager garden with paths that surrounded the greenhouse the task of clearing the old and the ground took several weekends.
Once the area was cleared Macrocarpa timber sleepers were ordered from an old sawmill in Kerikeri which when delivered were placed around the furthest side of the house. We spent several hours carting them to the back with the help of one wheelbarrow.
Below is an image of when we were initially laying out where we wanted each bed. We had also built garden edging from the old timber we found on the property and also moved an old arbor to the entrance of the vegetable garden.
A friend who helped us with our gardens in Australia would always say to use what you have, and it is a piece of advice we continue to follow.
After working out the placement of each bed, my husband started to build them.
Below is a progress shot of the build.
Below is an image of garden beds nearly finished and a newly planted hedge.
After completing the beds we placed pebbles around them to create paths and installed netting over them to protect the beds from rabbits, cats, and possums.
Below is a picture of when finished and planted our first lot of summer vegetables. You can see a bench in the corner that my husband built out of Macrocarpa offcuts.
We have since had three summers of vegetables with varying success growing. The last two years have been very wet which means some plants have failed but each year we learn a bit more and I am hoping this year will be our best yet. though as I type this it is nearly mid-October and it is still very cold and wet, especially for Spring so wish us luck.
Here is what the garden looks like now. The garden in the corner was cleared out and planted making a nice view from our kitchen window. The hedge has grown quite a lot in a few years.
And on a sunny day from the corner bench.
I hope you have enjoyed reading about our vegetable garden and until next time take care x