I am so excited about the plants I picked out at Portland Nursery!

We are getting a 6-way espaliered apple tree, a 4-way cherry tree, a Bosc pear tree, a Brooks plum tree, an Issai kiwi vine, 4 blueberry shrubs to make a hedge with early, mid and late bearing varieties (Blue Ray, Sunshine Blue, Duke and Brigitta), 3 raspberry bundles (Amity, Autumn Bliss and Latham) for summer through fall fruit, and 25 Quinault everbearing strawberry plants.

I feel like my vision is finally starting to come together. We measured the area we want to plant and we have room for four 4×4 foot vegetable beds, and one 2×8 foot planter for the blueberries to grow in. Since space is at such a premium in our yard, I was researching how to grow things vertically and came across these Agro Tower grow pots that I think are so cool! I can see us having a couple on the deck for things like herbs and strawberries.

I am also reading up on square foot gardening, and want to use the method for my vegetable beds. I think it sounds easy and doable, plus I like the idea of having an organized grid pattern to plant things in. It makes it easier for me to wrap my head around what exactly I need to be doing.

Speaking of gardening, the latest issue of Edible Portland has a cool article about Your Backyard Farmer, a business run by two women who will come to your home and plant a mini farm in your own backyard. They come to your home every week and do all the work from prepping the soil, planting, and weeding, and when harvest time rolls around they leave a basket of veggies at your back door! It’s like having your own CSA in your backyard, minus all the hard work.