Where to place it ...

My DH and I are still in the preliminary planning stages of getting our SFG going. Thing is, we live on mostly wooded 3 acres and there really isn't alot of places where the sun shines, except the very front of our house and our roof!

We were planning on clearing some of the land for an orchard, and my DH has suggested we clear along the fence line for the garden. Thing is, that will put the garden several hundred feet away and pretty much "out of line of sight".

I'd rather take down our very shaky deck (which scares me sometimes!) and make a much smaller one and put our SFG right there in front of the house! Lots of sun there, just no "space" at the moment. I haven't really "proposed" that to him yet though. He seems to think we can "climb under the deck and brace it" during the winter when there's a minimum number of bugs. blech. I'd rather just take it down all together~!

The only thing it's used for right now is the bbq grill and we're also in the process of building a picnic pavillion/outdoor kitchen area just off to the right of the front of the house for me to do my canning, dehydrating, etc., as well as bbq'ing. So the bbq will be moving over there in 4 or 5 months anyway.

What do you guys think? I know SFG is supposed to be close to the house, besides, I WANT it close to the house, I love keeping an eye on plants I try to grow (although it hasn't always been a success in the past with our absences due to the job) but that doesn't negate my wants! LOL

Plus the water spiget is right there next to the house too! I'd hate to have to string 300' of house just to water the garden!

I think maybe you can both be happy. once the deck is braced (I am with you - blech - but I am not doing the work...) why not put some tabletops on the deck? If the deck is big, it should work. I think you are much better off having it close. Kitchen gardens are not supposed to be on the back forty. They are supposed to be near the kitchen! LOL.

Here is a vote for removing an unsafe deck. Reuse the wood to make your boxes. My son looks forward to every time our termite ridden fence losses a section, because we make an other small box or two. I think he just likes to swing a hammer. Happy gardening.

Patty in Yorktown

LOL I dunno Chopper, that deck bows down so bad in the middle and has been like that for so long, I don't think "bracing" is going to work! We have discussed putting a new deck on, just haven't gotten into the details of what "size" deck. IMO (since it's a mobile home) adding a nice covered "Porch" would be awesome. Something we can screen so we can sit on deck chairs when the skeeters are bad and still enjoy the outdoors!

Plus we are using cinder blocks to build our gardens with. DH says if we're going to do it, do it right and build it to last! I'm not going to argue with that because he want's 2 blocks high which is perfect for sitting on!

I dunno, I can just picture a nice screened in porch with a plethora of beds leading off of it full of veggies and flowers and herbs and anything else I can get to grow in them!

We've got blueberry's and grape vines that are in "pots" and I don't think the soil mix we used to plant them is what they need because they simply haven't grown much at all in the past couple years. I'd like to make cinderblock boxes specifically for them and fill them with appropriate soil and (for the grapes) build an arbor for them to grow up and over somewhere along one of the pathways.

Remember, I've had a couple years to think about this! LOL And still have another 6 months to really get the details worked out!