The Floating Garden of Powell Lake

This time of year I start working in my vegetable garden. It's unique as gardens go. It's a floating garden. Our friend John designed and built it for me to float alongside our cabin on Powell Lake in Coastal BC.


Cedar logs were lashed together to create a float. Because dirt is heavy, several 55 gallon blue barrels were placed underneath and filled with air to provide extra buoyancy. Then four raised beds were constructed and placed on top. Each bed is four feet wide and ten feet long. Because we live in Coastal BC, our winters are fairly mild. My strawberries, asparagus, and herbs survive through the winter.

Here's my garden in early spring. My daffodils are sprouting, and Mr. Bunny is happy the chard and kale are still producing.



Summer is prime time. Even though space is limited, I have potatoes, onions, carrots, beets, radishes, spinach, zucchini, peas, beans, and lettuce in addition to my annuals. Each year I rotate my crops and replenish the soil, but I have to be careful to protect the water on which the garden floats. It also serves as our drinking water.

Thank you for taking a walk through my garden. While you're here, I invite you to click on my gardening link to see more. -- Margy