garden planning: raised beds, cold frames and espaliered apple trees for a sunny south-facing corner of the backyard

Here is the northwest corner of our backyard as it looked last fall (it currently looks exactly the same except buried in snow...)
It has been our junk corner since we moved into the house, but that is about to change.  It is the sunniest spot in the backyard and it is time to make better use of it!  It's a perfect veggie growing spot. 

One of our goals for this gardening season is to clean out the junk (over the course of the summer) and then build raised beds this fall which will be ready for planting next year.  I wish we could get it ready for planting this year but I'm trying to be realistic here - it just wouldn't happen.

Last year we put in a couple little raised beds in a different spot in the yard, but it wasn't enough space for what I'd like to grow.

Anyway, the fence on the right hand side of this picture faces south, and the grade slopes down toward the back.  It was previously used as a parking pad so there is concrete and hard-packed soil in this area.  Rather than trying to dig and improve the soil, I plan on taking the easy route and building raised beds on top.  I also have 3 windows in my living room that are 1.6 m tall and destined to be replaced soon, so the raised beds will be designed so that the windows will eventually fit on top of the raised beds to make cold frames to extend the growing season.  The beds will be approximately 2 ft deep to make it easy to reach to the back.  Ultimately, this is what I want them to look like:
Whaddya think?

Comments

[Victoria]

I think - Good for you! Sounds like a great plan. We're always talking about expanding our veg garden area, which is very small, but the price has stopped us so far. This year we'll be growing our tomatoes in buckets, so that will free up some space for other veggies at least.

[The Ms. S.]

I think raised beds on the concrete is an excellent idea for this sunny spot. Why rip it all up when you can work with it.