Our Raised Garden Bed Kept the Bunnies at Bay!

Both my husband and I had fathers who loved to garden. For both of these men, gardening brought them both a sense of pride and joy, as well as bountiful crops each summer. It was a place for them to decompress from the pressures of their jobs and to spend time outdoors, something both of them enjoyed.

I moved out of the concrete jungle of Queens, New York at the end of fifth grade. From that time forward, I loved picking fresh vegetables from our garden in my new suburban home. Corn was my favorite, and we always had the pot of water boiling so we could throw the freshly picked ears in as soon as they left the stalk. My dad was known to leave gifts of zucchini on our neighbors' doorsteps. Photo by Hannah Gold. All rights reserved.
My husband always had a garden growing up, and his father's was the best in the neighborhood. He always shared his bounty with his neighbors, especially his tomatoes. They were the biggest and juiciest, and when we had children of our own, they loved to go out to Papa's garden and just eat tomatoes right off the vine.

So at the tender age of twenty-five, when many of our friends were still living at home with their parents or in tiny apartments, my husband and I moved into our first little house in suburbs. It came as no surprise that we started a garden of our own as soon as the spring arrived.

We lived in that house for five years, and our garden was a source of pride and joy for us both. I carefully tended to it during my summers off as a teacher, and every Labor Day weekend, I would take the tomatoes, onions, peppers, garlic, oregano and basil and make gallons of tomato sauce that we would use for the upcoming winter months.

Our Garden Had a Problem...Bunnies!

In 1994, we bought the home we live in now. For the first four years, the garden in our new home flourished. We grew everything we did in our old home, and some fun things like pumpkins, watermelon and cantaloupe, which our daughter loved to eat.
But sometime in our fifth spring in our home, things stopped growing. The rabbit population in our area grew ten fold, and they ate everything in sight! For many years, it was an "us against them" battle, and some years we won while most of the time the rabbits did. No longer could I rely on my home grown produce to make enough sauce to last all winter; I now had to bring home 40 or 50 pounds from my father-in-law's garden  to supplement my increasingly meager crops.

No matter what my husband tried, it did not seem to work. Each summer we had less and less to show for our efforts, which increased more and more.

After seeing the raised garden beds our twins' school had purchased as part of the Garden Club and observing the amazing results-large flowers, Swiss Chard leaves so big it could cover an entire plate, and large, plump strawberries- my husband decided to invest in one for us.

He purchased the Gronomics Raised Garden Bed, size 49 x 95 x 18. It was so easy to put together, our son did it by himself inside our sunroom. He was 10 when he did this!   Photos of the outdoors taken by Hannah Gold. All rights reserved.    This is how it looks before you put in the soil.   It took a lot of potting soil to fill in the garden bed. My husband used a mix of our homegrown compost and soil he purchased at our local gardening center.

The Benefits of Using Gronomics Products

Within a week, we saw the difference in our garden. We still had a large one that was on the ground, shielded by a wire fence that barely kept the rabbits out. The plants in here struggled, while the ones we planted in the raised bed flourished!

No rabbits could get into the raised garden, nibbling on the tender roots and damaging our young plants. Nor could they get to the large vegetables and take bites out of them ruining the food for us. Our plants now had a fighting chance!
Before we knew it, the tomatoes and peppers in the raised bed were fighting for space, as they were growing so quickly. That is why we invested in another two smaller units this spring, so each kind of vegetable that we grow can be grouped and grow together. We now have three raised garden beds in our backyard.

Another reason we love Gronomics is that the material is lightweight, yet durable. It will withstand the harsh winters we have in our part of the country and not get ruined.

With no screws or nails needed to assemble it, our son put it together in a short amount of time.

Best of all, it is made right here in the USA, which is important to our family.   Gronomics raised garden beds come in all sizes so it will fit in any backyard space. If you have a townhouse or small patio, you can buy the smaller, elevated version which will not only give you fresh produce and herbs, it looks like an attractive piece of furniture.   If you are struggling with outdoor critters and want a garden of your own, I strongly recommend using a raised bed to grow your own vegetables. 

For Gardeners With Small Spaces

Imagine your own fresh produce growing here!

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