Kilb Residence-Del Mar, Ca

The plot we wanted to put the raised bed gardens in is ~11′ by 10′ and it originally had an very ugly 3-tier fountain in the middle of the plot.   The U Grow team came over to give us a free quote, they took careful notes and answered all of our questions about potential different raised bed configurations, the various other options beyond the gardens  (e.g., composting and xeriscaping) and shared their expertise as to what might work best and what things we were thinking of might not be best given the amount of sun our plot gets.  The U Grow team listened carefully to what our needs were and didn’t try and push us into anything that wasn’t a good fit for our family.  At the same time, they did suggest a number of features that we have found key in the success of our garden, for example the dividers in the herb garden and the lattice for the tomatoes.

The boxes are drop dead gorgeous. The craftsmanship is beautiful and the boxes are hardy and sustainable. The drip system they designed is not only for the geometry of our garden boxes but also for the placement of the plants in them, another aspect that I wasn’t expecting the U Grow team to provide, but was very impressed when they did. Every single visitor we have had over makes a comments on our lovely garden boxes. In fact so many people were interested in the boxes that I had to call the U Grow team to get additional business cards to pass out to our visitors.

They went the extra mile to help us with every aspect of our garden from clearing the area (not an easy job given the large fountain!), prepping the area and providing gardening tutorials for our beginning level.  They were professional, clean, considerate and fun too. Our two year old still asks about ‘Jake and Dan’ and if any gardening issues arises our daughter suggests that we ‘Ask Jake!’.  I was blown away at how quickly the U Grow team built such quality products, but even more stunned by the on the spot garden lessons and depth of knowledge about organic gardening.  Key in the tutorial services was the follow up visit where they could see how things were going, answer the list of questions I had and teach me about organic pest control.  Their tutorial sessions were similar to their conservation drip watering system — just enough advice given not too fast so that everything can sink in.

Our herb garden is the most prolific of the beds, we have more than enough lemon basil, mint (both chocolate and regular) and oregano.  It is a joy to share these fresh herbs with friends and family.  We love making pesto so the sweet basil we keep for ourselves and will likely put in additional sweet basil plants.  I still get great joy eating arugula at all hours of the day.  With the summer weather we almost always eat dinner at the outside table and the idea that I can just walk a few feet to get a few additional herbs for my salad and an additional cherry tomato for a fresh red side-dish still makes me giggle with glee.

My two year old loves to watch the garden grow and has learned not to pick anything until ripe. She learned this by trial and error picking and eating strawberries.  After a few days of picking the ‘white ones’ and realizing how sour they were compared to the ‘red ones’ she now will tell me which ones are ripe and which ones are not, and she is spot on.