As mentioned in the last post, my mom and I have launched a full-scale gardening project for the entirety of the Backyard.  This portion of growing real-estate was not previously utilized because of inferior sunlight exposure.

Because the Front and Side Yards have more than adequate sunshine, I prioritized the cultivation of that ground first.

In a suburban neighborhood, it is unusual to have a large-scale garden encompass the entirety of a Front Lawn.  If you have been following this blog a while, you may remember when its sudden presence caused a bit of a bother.

While maintaining what has already been established is keeping me plenty busy, the need for expansion must be satisfied.  And There is a Whole Backyard Just Waiting, after all.

When creating the Front Yard and Side Yard Gardens, I did not document the step-by-step process to my satisfaction.  Therefore,  I am making amends with a more comprehensive explanation of this new endeavor.

The Epic Backyard Gardening project began with lifting, hauling and shoveling  20 30 50 100 a million a great many bags of soil and mulch.

These bags were my “free weights” for the day.  Hauling each one from the driveway to the back of the house required a squatting deadlift and then a bicep-curl carry.  Placing and replacing each bag over the weed-block material necessitated repetitive squats and lifts.

It seemed like this amount of coverage was a lot of work.

And then I added more.

And I am still not done!

My camera does not have a panoramic setting, so it is difficult to get a complete shot of the entire yard, but you get the idea.

The planting concept in the backyard is going to be different than either the Front or Side Yard Gardens.  Rather than using a rototiller to remove the grass, the weed block material will deprive the freshly mown grass (thank you, Dad) of sun, water and nutrients, eventually killing it off.

The bags of soil, which I normally would have used in the creation of creating rows for planting, are actually going to remain intact.

The bags themselves will function as containers for the seedlings.  The portability of the bags will allow me to make placement adjustments to allow for more or less sunlight exposure.  I can also move the bags if certain plants appear to need more room to sprawl as they grow.

This Backyard Garden project is an experiment, so I am not sure if it will be more or less successful than my previously established (and more conventionally engineered) crops.  I will certainly encounter different issues than I do with the front/side yards, such as drainage and root development.  I will be limited in the types of crops I can cultivate via this method.

I am starting off with Pumpkin seedlings.

Tools of the trade. 

And gloves, if one is so inclined.  (I usually am not…hence, the chronically filthy fingernails).

Scissors: Use to cut the weed block appropriate lengths for maximum coverage.

Pocket knife: Efficient for cutting an “X” into the tops of the soil bags to allow for transplanted seedlings.

Metal teaspoon: The absolute ideal vehicle for scooping out seedlings and replanting while maintaining each root system’s integrity.  (My mom taught me that!)

Before applying this method, I was killing off about 50 percent of my seedlings during transplanting.  It was a perpetual bloodbath.

So far, so good.  I finished transplanting all the Pumpkin seedlings today.

And I have begun mulching around my “containers”.

There is, literally, a lot of ground to cover.  I have Rosemary and Asparagus to transplant next.

Because I am nervous about their fragility, I will be reserving roughly 60 percent of the Asparagus seedlings for Front Yard transplanting, where I feel more confident in their potential success.

They are so delicate and I really want them to do well.  Asparagus plants, when solidly established can produce for more than 20 years.

Asparagus is among my top 3 favorite vegetables, so I am looking forward to the eventual harvest.

I also have Romaine and Broccoli that will be changing their residence soon.

This post, like every post has gotten much longer than I intended, but it is just the very beginning of the Backyard Gardening project.

As I continue constructing this madness, I will post pictures, updates and problems encountered.

Wish me luck, sunlight and rain!