All right, so I finally got some pictures I promised of how my garden is coming along, and even got them uploaded. I debated whether to repost pictures from last year, or just link to the posts. I decided I’d like to see the before and after pictures together, so I’m reposting the pictures. This could turn out to be a very pic-heavy post. For anyone who is interested, there are more pictures on these two posts: My Garden and Ambitious Plans. It’ll probably also be a long post, but I want to document everything I’m doing. Hope some people manage to get through it. 
One of the first things I did this year was to take out the azalea that was in the corner by the house. It was in a very shady spot, surrounded on all four sides by concrete, and it just didn’t do very well. I threw some wildflower seeds into the little patch where it was, and a few are sprouting, so they might grow. One big problem with that plot is that it is already as high as it can be, because there is a drain for rain there and it’s only about an inch over the soil now. So unless I dig the dirt there out, I can’t put new, nicer soil down. And I’m not sure it’s worth it anyway for this particular spot. I might try potatoes and mound the soil away from the drain, or winter spinach. I got some bleeding hearts to go in the side bed, and planted herbs all around it. I left the rhubarb in. The herbs are chives, English thyme, regular thyme, lemon basil, and parsley. None of those have sprouted yet. I think it’s because the dog runs in that bed. We’re going to Calgary in mid-May and my mom may end up keeping our dog there (long story). I may end up having to replant the herbs the day we leave or something in order to actually get many to grow. (Luckily I have extra seeds).
Before:
Azalea that never bloomed
Befores of the side garden. These are actually more like partway through pictures. Previously, the weeds were so thick and tall, they obscured everything around them and were up past my knees. I didn’t think to take pictures until after I’d cleared the worst of the weeds. (This is true for all of the before pictures.)
After:
The barbecue that we moved so we can take out one of the two concrete slabs that make up our patio. The two planters have peas and potatoes. The potato one doesn’t normally sit under the barbecue like that, but I had moved it because it was supposed to rain.
The rhubarb and two bleeding heart plants in the herb garden. We’d like to pull up the stepping stones, put weed barrier underneath, then put them back down and fill in between them with gravel. Alternatively, I might put some sort of evergreen groundcover in between them, though that would be more maintenance.
In the back corner by the shed is a part of the yard that never gets sun. I decided rather than fight it trying to find something that would grow, it would make a good spot for my compost bins. I got two compost bins off of Craig’s List for $25. One is filled to the top with sod, the other I’m using for food and kitchen waste. I’m not sure if I’m going to keep that big pile of sod that didn’t fit in the bin or not. I may cover it with a tarp and leave it to compost until next year. There’s a lot of dirt because we dug quite deep, wanting to replace the clay that most of the yard was with good soil.
Here’s a before of the corner across from the shed:
Again, the weeds were so tall and thick that we didn’t even know there was a rose bush in there until I’d pulled them out. The rose has been transplanted, and I also pulled out the little willow tree and freecycled it. This year I dug a bed out about 4 feet, and raised it up, and here’s the result:
From left to right: carrots, beets, onion, romaine lettuce, and mixed mescluns. The last plot I will probably do either chard or spinach, or maybe even divide it in half and do a row of each. Depends if Kyre has extra seeds. This bed gets a lot of morning sun, but not much afternoon sun. I wasn’t sure where to put the onions until I read they are great for deterring pests from carrots, beets, and lettuce. Perfect! There is a big plot of potatoes to the right of here too, but it didn’t end up in the picture. I’ve put up a fence around this whole thing for now. Otherwise the dog would destroy it. The potatoes were planted for two days before the fence went up and she managed to dig them up three times. I’m really hoping they’re okay. I just bought some chicken wire and used some sticks we already had to put it up. It’s not pretty, but it’s only for three and a half weeks, and the chicken wire can be reused for a chicken coop afterwards. If she really wanted to, she could get under it, or even probably knock it down. I’m hoping she doesn’t try because if she gets past it, I would probably have to start the whole thing from scratch again. The only problem with the fence is that there is no gate, so to get in I have to unwire the edge every single time. A bit of a pain, but I shouldn’t have to get in there too much before we leave in May since I can water from outside it, so I’ve decided it’s less trouble than figuring out a real gate of some sort. You can see where the potatoes are in the corner in this picture.
Down the side of the fence I’ve dug out a bed that will be for corn, beans, and squash. I’ll probably throw in a few sunflowers as well. It won’t have to be planted until June so it’s not quite ready yet and needs a lot more dirt still.
Before:
Now:
Originally I dug it out three feet wide, but I changed my mind and decided I wanted it four feet instead. For the extra foot I put down newspaper and covered it with dirt instead of actually digging it out. Next year the grass and newspaper will have composted and can be tilled in. For this year, I’m planning on staggering the corn, etc by putting one close to the fence, the next closer to the other edge. Those ones will be planted right on the edge of where the bed is actually dug, so their roots have room to go down, but aboveground there should be enough room for the squash to spread out. Here’s a picture partway through expanding this bed so you can see what I mean:
The last bed is still a work in progress. I plan on having butterfly and bee flowers and a hummingbird feeder against the window, and then putting veggies around the rest of it. Hopefully the extra slab of concrete will come out this weekend. I’ve got peppers, watermelon, cucumber, broccoli, cauliflower and raspberries to go in that bed. Once the concrete is out, I’ll need to go to the beach and get more driftwood, as I have none left after edging the other beds. Then fill it with dirt (I’m hoping I have enough to do that!). I will have to dig up the roses and hydrangea that are there in order to raise the bed. Hopefully they all survive being transplanted this time of the year. I plan to dig huge holes around them and hopefully I won’t have to disturb the roots too much to raise them up. The dog will be a problem for that bed too, but I have no more chicken wire, so I think I’ll start everything inside, and plant them out the day we leave. A good friend has said she doesn’t mind checking the garden while we’re gone, so I think that will be the best option. Once the slab is out this weekend I’ll post more pictures of that part of the yard. I think this post has gotten long enough though. 
Related posts:
Wow you have a big yard! Have you ever thought about vermiculture? I want to try it when we have more room. Nice garden.
I’ve heard of it, but haven’t really done much research into it. We were thinking of maybe trying it out next year. Our yard is actually one of the smallest yards here unfortunately. Some of the other yards are more than twice as big! But I’m trying to make the best of the space we have, even though it’s on a slope and very poor soil this year.