deferred to next year - the reclamation of 'England'

Exclusive! Here are some embarrassing pictures of a neglected corner of my backyard that I rarely let anyone see!

England is a corner of my backyard that was named by my oldest daughter.  When she was almost 2 and was still an only child, we took a family trip to England (it was cheaper and relatively easier to travel back then!)  After the trip, she would play "going to England" and go and hide in this distinct, separate area of the backyard.  We have called it "England" ever since.  Unfortunately, things here don't actually grow as if they were in England!  Wouldn't that be nice?

Besides the not-so-green greenhouse, this is the last area of the backyard that I have left to fix up.  But boy, does it need fixing!

Here's the not-so-impressive entrance to it.  My husband took the top off this arch when we first moved in because it was too low, and we still haven't got around to replacing it!  The sides are also very narrow (the wheelbarrow barely fits through) so this is one of the main things I want to change next year.

I grew all my tomatoes in pots in this area this year, and they did well.  Unfortunately, if they were just a little further away from the spruce tree (i.e. a litle further to the left of this picture), they would have received even more sun.  In fact, the farthest part of "England" from the rest of the yard is the sunniest, hottest spot in the backyard.  Perfect for a vegetable garden, you might think, right?  But...

... this is what it looks like right now!  This area was designed to be a parking pad and it has been our dump over the last five years as we've done renovations inside and outside of the house.  I was hoping to get this cleaned up this year and we did manage to make a start (the palette of bricks got used up in the retaining wall project, for example), but there is still a lot of junk back here. 

I originally hoped to do more reclamation of this area this fall, but after the mother-of-a-retaining wall project, hubby and I were spent and there were to be no more major projects this year!  Ah well, we'll have lots of fires in the fireplace this winter and hopefully be ready to tackle this area in the spring. 

The plan I hatched last winter can be found here.  I want raised beds and cold frames, baby!  This is prime vegetable gardening real estate in an otherwise relatively shady backyard!  You can tell gardening season is winding up for me because I'm already scheming about next year...

Comments

[claire]

Have you seen this book? Totally revolutionized my understanding of what can be grown here. He uses a double cold frame method that I'm hoping to try next year.

http://books.google.ca/books?id=QMHdDgkRjDkC&lpg=PP1&dq=four%20season%20harvest&client=firefox-a&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q=&f=false

ps- love your blog, I found it while googling zone 3 gardening :)

[Noelle]

Hello. I love this post because I can totally relate to it. I always tell my clients to do as I say, not as I do in my own garden....

[Paula H]

Did you make it to Lake Bonavista during the garden tour? The gardener had an amazing (read in my wildest dreams amazing!)greenhouse/cold frame set up ever. I think that he even sells some of his plants o the public! Oh, to have the time...

[Paula H]

I also meant to say, I too have a corner such as this-it is the "adventure garden"!

[Calgary Garden Coach]

Thanks for the book tip, Claire! I haven't seen that one before but it looks like a good one. Of course, the things it says about year-round gardening will have to be taken with a grain of salt, since the book was written in Maine! But cold frames can definitely extend the growing season in Calgary for a few months. I'm going to check this book out before I make my final cold frame design this winter. Thanks again!
Janice

[Calgary Garden Coach]

Isn't it true, Noelle?! I have good intentions, just limited time! So perhaps I should tell clients: "Do as I say I will do, not as I do"!!
Janice