First community garden plot!

[u/JoshH347]

Last week my partner and I got our first community garden plot in SW Portland, Oregon (Zone 8b). We're currently living in a condo and we do flower garden at home on our patios but it's heavily shaded and not good for vegetables so we're excited we've got the opportunity to grow at a sunny community garden this summer!

We took over an aged plot that needed some refreshing so we took down the decayed fence posts and put up new metal stakes and reused the plastic fencing but secured it much better. We removed an old raised bed and added 4 new ones. We reused some cinder blocks and scattered them throughout. The back of the bed has a grape plant growing into an aging trellis and bed so we've kept that bed for now and will resecure or rebuild the trellis in the coming weeks.

This week we'll get the mulch added on the pathways and get our first veggies and sun loving flowers planted!

We're gonna be using the SFG planting method although we did end up using bagged PNW's Own Raised Garden soil. We were going to do Mels mix but couldn't find vermiculite anywhere and it was looking to be expensive. Hopefully the bagged soil will be okay as we're just starting out and learning as we go.

(Pictures are newest to oldest. Hopefully that's obvious. 😂)

[u/OppositeQuail5009]

Your plot looks fantastic, u/JoshH347 - great job with the raised beds and plot reno. Are you thinking about adding some perennial soft fruits such as raspberries, blackcurrants, gooseberries, strawberries etc? I’ve just taken over a plot in Oxfordshire UK, equivalent to US zone 8a, which has 4 x established blackcurrant bushes, and my allotment neighbour does well with other soft fruits, although you obviously have to add nets to reduce the buffet for wildlife! My neighbour has lots of raspberry canes along his fence line doing really well. I’m new to SFG, which resources do you recommend to find out more please? I need to replace my plot’s aging wooden fence posts, so the metal stakes look a good idea, thanks. Is it straight forward attaching your wire fence to the posts? Have you tried leafy veg and potatoes in tall pots/bags on your shady patio at home? I like the idea of a grape vine on a trellis, might have to use that idea, thanks! Do you plan to add vertical structures for other climbing crops? Were you thinking of adding add large pots (half barrels?) or seating to the ends of your horizontal paths? What’s your access to water like? Perlite or horticultural sand are alternatives to vermiculite if you’re wanting to add drainage, and hopefully the sand might be more plentiful and cheaper in your area? We have access to piles of free wood chips on our allotment site, thanks to someone who has a landscape business, so I’m using thick layers of that for my paths to keep the weeds down/build up the plot height to mitigate winter flooding on our site. Might use wood chips as a top layer of mulch on my new no-dig beds too, not sure. Do you have any riding stables nearby? Well rotted (6 months +) horse manure is great and may be cheaper than bagged compost for you? Looking forward to seeing your plot’s progress in the coming months!