Spring has sprung…thank goodness! I am so thrilled the season of rejuvination is finally here, and the garden is starting to show signs of life. The crabapple trees in the fountain garden are covered in buds, just waiting for a few more warm, sunny days until they burst open.
In the perennial garden, anemones are blooming, and irises, shasta dasies, russian sage and others are starting to leaf out.
It is also time to start planting the vegetable garden, so this past weekend that is exactly what I did. The weather was absolutely perfect here in Northwest Arkansas on Saturday, and so I soaked up some sun with a couple friends while trying out a cool new garden product I found online. It is called Nourishmat, and it is a really easy and ingenious way to plant a small vegetable garden.
First I prepared the soil in one of my raised garden beds by loosely raking it with a heavy garden rake. If you don’t have raised beds, you can just install Nourishmat on any 4’x6′ patch of bare ground in a sunny location.
Next, I rolled out the mat that is the center piece to the Nourishmat concept. It has labels that show you right where to place the seed balls that come with the mat, making it very easy to plant a successful garden, even for a novice.
Then I secured the mat to the soil using the metal pins included with the kit.
After that it was time to plant the seed balls. They are a mixture of the plant seed, clay and compost, and all you do is push it into the soil until it is buried halfway.
Finally, a quick drink of water, and VOILA! That’s it. Instant veggie garden. There is even a version of Nourishmat that includes a built-in soaker hose system for easy watering. My garden boxes are already irrigated, so I just got the regular mat, but the self-watering version would be a great choice, if you don’t have an irrigation system.
So, that’s all there is to it. I am eager to watch as the garden grows and look forward to harvesting all the tasty veggies for healthy meals this spring. Next month, I’ll be sure to update you on how the Nourishmat garden is coming along!
–Daniel
Exterior designer Daniel Keeley is an Arkansas native and founder/principal of DK Design. His work has won numerous awards and accolades and is featured regularly in various publications. For more information visit dkdesignoutdoor.com.
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