Our Yard - Facts, Figures & Pictures

Before we jump right into how we created and organized our garden, it will be useful for you to know a bit about it and see it as we got it when we purchased the house. Here are some quick facts:

Location: Saanichton, near Victoria British Columbia


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Elevation: About 53 meters (174 feet)
Zone: 8a (Learn more about Hardiness Zones)
Average Annual Rainfall: 818mm (32.2 inches)
Average Annual Snowfall: 35cm (13.8 inches)
Lot Size: 100 x 151 feet
Existing Soil: Hardpacked Clay

When we moved in, there was no existing garden space, other than a few perennial flower beds in the front of the house. All other space was lawn. Here are a few images:

















Hopefully this gives you an idea of what we had to work with. Unfortunately we didn't take many photos of the yard before we started the garden - we were too eager to get started!

In the next post, we'll show you our first attempt at growing our own veggies...

Welcome to Our Vegetable Garden!

Last summer, after spending 5 years living in a small condo, we finally purchased a home. For many years we had been hoping for, thinking about and planning our own vegetable garden, and we now had the space to make it happen!

This blog will begin with where we started last fall - working through what space we had, how we turned it into growing areas, our successes and failures growing our own food, and more! By the time we catch up to the present day, we'll have nearly been through an entire growing season, and will be moving into winter.

We hope you get as much out of reading this blog as we do writing it! Please feel free to comment, offer advice, and ask questions... Gardening is as much about community as it is about growing things, so please chime in! Thanks for reading!