5 Year Garden Plan: The Ultimate Kitchen Garden

I have wanted a huge vegetable garden for years, but our backyard in Greenville was way too small (and the soil too hard) and the last two summers we were living at my parent's house (where we did have a medium-sized successful garden the first year). Now that we have our own place again, and plan on this being our "forever" home I'm dreaming BIG when it comes to my garden.

This is the plan I drew up to visualize my dream and so that as we work on the rest of the landscaping we can keep this in mind and not  put a sprinkler head in the wrong spot or pay to seed an area I want to rip up and plant next year. (Excuse my horrible sketching skills. Charles always laughs at me when I play pictionary)

 While I would love to have my ultimate garden right away the cost is too phenomenal, plus I like having something to new to look forward to each year. This is my "5 Year Garden Plan" and while I'm sure I won't follow it exactly it's nice to see my goals have a timeline.


Year One: Raised Beds and Apple Orchard
Year Two: Fence with Chicken Wire and Arbor with Gate
Year Three: Fruit Bushes and Grape Vines
Year Four: Greenhouse
Year Five: Outdoor dining set


My ultimate goal each year though is to keep a gardening journal so that I remember what grows well in my garden, what we actually eat, how much of it we eat, if it preserves well and take that date and use it to grow the variety of vegetables I grow each year (like tea, pears, endive) and have a garden that work specifically for our family.