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Gardening guides and tips from my zone 6b garden to yours

Unless you had the rare opportunity to grow up in with parents or grandparents who had green thumbs and passed it down to you, odds are gardening will be a learned adventure.

I'm still learning, and I imagine you are, too.  I'm currently working on making growing guides for all of our favorite (and most successful!) garden crops.  From Tomatoes to Potatoes and Garlic Scapes to Pumpkins, browse around to learn from my own successes and failures in the garden!

Gardening guides, tips & tutorials:

  • flock-friendly raised bed garden in zone 6B
  • The cover photo for a blog post called how to grow pumpkins in zone 6 and it is a picture of heirloom pumpkins in shades of orange and green on some straw.
    how to grow pumpkins in zone 6
  • seed packets
    when to plant seeds in garden zone 6
  • A greenstalk vertical garden system on a deck with trees in the background and a patio sofa in white.
    Review of Greenstalk Garden Vertical Gardening Systems 2023
  • blooming sage growing in a raised garden bed with a chicken coop in the background
    a guide to organic pest control in the garden
  • A group of freshly harvested and rinsed new potatoes drying in the garden.
    Ultimate Guide to Planting Potatoes
  • Heirloom tomatoes ranging in color from deep purple to bright red on a tea towel and wooden table top.
    Guide for Growing Tomatoes
  • A bowl of garlic scapes on a wooden platter with bread in the background.
    Guide to Harvesting, Cutting, and Preserving Garlic Scapes
  • how to propagate houseplants in water
  • how to save sunflower seeds
  • Baby Kune Kune piglet in the g
    late summer garden zone 6B

Garden-to-Table recipes:

  • A close up view of sourdough croutons on a baking sheet.
    Homemade Sourdough Croutons (Easy 4 Ingredient Recipe!)
  • A strawberry preserves salad with chicken served over salad greens and sliced strawberries.
    Strawberry Preserves Salad With Chicken
  • A white mini bowl with pour spout filled with apricot dressing on a white background.
    Apricot Dressing
  • Tomato Cucumber Feta Salad cover photo a top view of the salad in a shallow stoneware bowl.
    Tomato Cucumber Feta Salad
  • A mason jar infusing with strawberry top vinegar on a white background.
    Strawberry Vinegar
  • Cucumber Salad (cucumbers onion vinegar sugar recipe)
  • A close up picture of antipasto pasta salad with tortellini in a glass bowl.
    Antipasto Pasta Salad with Tortellini
  • A jar of homemade avocado mayonnaise.
    Easy Avocado Mayonnaise Recipe
  • An easy lemon vinaigrette in a small jar surrounded by salads, farro and a glass of wine.
    Easy Lemon Vinaigrette
  • tabouli salad with farro cucumber and tomato in a bowl.
    Simple Farro Salad Recipe with Lemon and Cucumber
  • A white stoneware bowl filled with caprese salad made with strawberries, mozzarella, Avocado, basil and tomatoes.
    simple caprese salad with avocado and strawberry
  • A platter of apple slaw on a brightly colored napkin with apple and scallion garnishes.
    Apple Slaw
  • Strawberry red onion spinach and kale salad with cucumbers on a charcuterie board
    seasonal salads from the garden

Jump to:
  • Gardening guides, tips & tutorials:
  • Garden-to-Table recipes:
  • Welcome to our happiest place! 
  • How to plan a raised bed garden?
  • How to choose the right size for a garden?
  • How to stop chickens from destroying garden?
  • Would you like to see more?
  • 💬 Comments

Welcome to our happiest place! 

My husband and I designed this zone 6b garden in the spring of 2017. We didn’t have a plan, a vision, or a strategy, but he knew that minimizing cuts on the galvanized sheet metal was a top priority!

summer garden with raised flower beds and a stock tank pool in central kansas zone 6
Our summer garden in Central Kansas, gardening zone 6B.

How to plan a raised bed garden?

Our zone 6b garden has many challenges: deer, chickens, dogs, (children- ha!), extreme hot and cold temperatures, wind... We had tried to grow our vegetables in a traditional in-the-ground garden for several years before admitting we needed to invest in something different if we wanted to be successful.

We began by designing beds that each required three sheets of 8x4 foot metal.  The beds were designed with a full sheet on each side, then a half sheet on the ends.  We used old fence wood 4X4's for the inner frame and trimmed the beds with cedar toned pine for a more finished look.

Each bed measures approximately four feet by eight feet wide and about three feet tall.  Due to our lack of building plans, you will have to use a little ingenuity to create your own based on our design, but I am confident that if we could do it, you can to!

our chicken coop and garden plot
This is the very first picture of our future garden! The area was leveled and the coop was set in place.

How to choose the right size for a garden?

We had a large area available to plan our garden, knowing that we wanted at least six raised beds and a chicken run.  Going back to our 'least amount of cuts as possible' rule, we based the size on the width of the hog panels that we used for the fence! 

Our garden is approximately twenty-four feet by thirty feet.  Aaron loved that we could frame the panels in cedar toned pine and build the fence fairly quickly!

nearly finished raised bed garden progress
The raised beds and stock tank pool are in place and the fence is nearly complete. We were honestly pretty shocked that it had turned out so well.
building a garden fence using hog panels and cedar toned pine
Aaron designed the fence using hog panels from the local farm store. We might have impulsively bought a stock tank pool, too. It would have been a shame not to fill the trailer, right?

How to stop chickens from destroying garden?

One of my favorite features of the garden is the custom chicken run that allows the ladies to roam around the perimeter of the garden.  They follow me around while I work, knowing that I will toss them scraps.  I think it is so entertaining to watch them catch grasshoppers that try to sneak into my veggies! 

We have learned from years of free ranging that hens are incredibly destructive to landscaping, so this was a creative way to give them both freedom and boundaries.

A FEW TIPS FOR INCORPORATING CHICKENS INTO A GARDEN DESIGN

  1. Use fencing, wire tunnels & runs to deter chickens.
  2. Protect your seeds and seedlings: chickens will scratch them out!
  3. Raised beds offer some protections, but remember chickens can jump and fly!
  4. Provide dust bath areas for the chickens.
  5. Have a way to let the chickens in and out of the garden on YOUR terms! (see our trap door to the chicken run in the photo below?)
View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Megan Marie Austin (@ninnescahhomestead)

Would you like to see more?

I've been documenting our garden journey on Instagram @NinnescahHomestead.  I'll begin adding pictures and info here as well! Here is a post that tells the story of how we came up with our garden inspiration.

Thanks for stopping by!

Affectionately yours, Meg

Primary Sidebar

Hi! I'm Meg, founder of Ninnescah Homestead

Megan Austin wearing a sunhat holding salad greens in her yoderbilt greenhouse, smiling at the camera.

Let's get to know each other!

I'm a wife, mother, recipe developer and photographer. When I’m not pulling weeds in the garden, I’m taste testing the very best recipes from my kitchen to yours! Here you will find ways to prepare and preserve food that are fun and simple. I am so happy you are here!

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