Only one of us over here is known for having a green thumb (…Emma!), or at least she’s been learning a ton from years of trial and error in her own garden. As for the rest of us, the idea of planning, building and then tending to a garden on the daily seemed a bit out of the realm of possibility until we learned about Ground Culture; Windsor & Essex County’s edible landscape and vegetable garden specialists.

We’ve been working on this Riverside project for over a year, and once the big kitchen and bathroom projects were nearing completion, it was time to think about tackling the sad, weedy and under-utilized yard. It’s probably obvious by now that we’ll take any opportunity we can to try something a bit out of the ordinary. This smallish yard happened to be the perfect location for our cottage-core experiment rather than simply sodding as others would do. Who wants to spend time cutting the lawn when you could be growing radishes and lettuce instead?!

We ended up deciding to install three raised beds with wide perimeter gardens that will be planted with pollinator-friendly, lower-maintenance plants and shrubs. Once the beds are installed, owners Brandi Bechard and Vanessa Carducci will be back to educate us on how our little plant ecosystem will function. For our project, we decided to go with a full-service design and installation but they also offer a wide variety of workshops and garden clubs for garden DIY’ers.

Excited to share more with you soon!