sb country n news-garden update

SB COUNTRY N NEWS-GARDEN UPDATE

almost a year ago we drove into town after a long two day
trip with all our possessions in our two cars
we saved our kids from having to sort through all that stuff
that kids have to sort through when their parents leave this
earth
well
we sorted through it for them
one day they will thank us
for relieving them of that burden

the next day after arriving
i started my garden having signed up for a community garden
that i had visited months before when we were looking to decide
whether to move here or not

i told my boss my wife she i have to find a place to garden
if we move

this is what my bed  above which is about 20 ft x 10 ft in size
looked like

now this bed had sat for awhile
it sits right next to where folks tend to sit and talk
and
where a lot of garden activities occur
like kids educational classes weekly harvest for food kitchens
things like that occur there since there are picnic tables and
a big ole oak tree and the community sink folks use to
wash their vegetables

over time a lot of traffic occured there
some right over that bed
packing it down so that eventually the soil became dry
and hard as a rock in places

enter
togd
to the rescue

after one year and obtaining the plot next to mine
so that i now have approximately 400 square foot of
garden space

here is what it looks like this week after a years work

i over time dug up 4 ft squares that were holes 2ft deep
i then added layers some would call lasagna gardening
that included cardboard newspapers lots of mulch
soil compost so that now the soil is rich
almost like the texas country n soil
almost
im getting there

its different gardening here but actually its the same as
in texas

its drier here as we get only around 13 inches of rain a year
whereas austin got around 34 inches a rain a year

where i garden now it never freezes so thats not really an issue

here we may get fog sometimes that lasts all morning
this sets veggies up for diseases
especially fungal diseases

here we seem to get more aphids than in texas
i guess cuz of the increased fog and moisture

here you can grow beets and carrots all year around

my tomatoes are the best looking plants ive ever had
i remember i had these once at the country n
then a hail storm weedwacked them to smithereens

so overall its easier i think to garden here so far
no oppressive heat and no freezes
it needs to rain more though

one of the things i did is to put up a rustic wood
lattice between the picnic area and my garden bed
this has kept wanderers off the bed
i added string up and across the lattice for vines
to grow
i grow sweet peas in the winter
green beans and malabar spinach in the warmer weather

i added a 1 foot wide and deep trench around my beds
and through the middle of the bed where i walk
it is filled with mulch
this spring after 9 months in the trench
the compost although rough was dark and rich
and full of worms

here is what i have planted
vine green beans of several varieties christmas lima beans
several mystery beans bush green beans
arugula beets carrots basil swiss chard leeks sunflowers
ms bs giant pumpkin zucchini squash three types of cukes
cantaloupe melon okra japanese eggplant and
purple hull peas

the purple hull peas we eat but they also operate
as a cover crop for any bare soil to help enrich the soil

i am growing what will be a dinasaur kale tree
i keep the lower leaves peeled off
we eat them usually unless the chickens talk us out of some
it should or can get up to 5-6 feet tall
well see

oh yes
i buried 8 5gallon buckets with 3/8 inch holes in it
filled it with food scraps and shredded newspapers
added a few compost worms
so
now as of yesterday i have about 4 5gallon buckets full
of pure worm compost
on of the best things to put on your veggies
we dump in paper pieces food scraps not meat weeds
cuttings from the garden pine straw some leaves
this is something i wished i had discovered year ago

so
i am producing most if not all the compost ill use
in the garden from
my worm towers
my 1 foot trenches

i also water conservatively
ive added buried black plastic containers that are 10 inches tall
every 2 ft in my garden
added a shovel of compost and some pine straw
i water my plants once they are established once a week
by filling these pots with water twice
i also will put an organic fertilizer in the pot or pour a liquid
mix of fish emulsion seaweed molasses in there

today i will be burying a 15 ft 2 inch pvc with perforations on the bottom
covered with a drain sleeve
this will be buried along the side of the lattice
you can see the trench for the pvc in one of the above pictures

this is how i will be watering and feeding my plants as they grow
on that lattice

of course there is ms bs little garden in there also by the small bench

this week for supper i harvested some zucchini squash that we used
to make squash pasta with
lots of greens for salad like some cherry tomatoes arugula lettuce
swiss chard basil curly leaf kale dinosaur kale amaryth

for our stir fry i harvested amaryth collard kales onions
yes the 1015 sweet onions grow here yes

unless nature has other plans i will have the best tomato crop
ive ever grown

we see lots of veggies in our future here
and
happiness

the organicgreen doctor