garden news-my spring summer garden

GARDEN NEWS-MY SPRING SUMMER GARDEN

a few months ago i opted to move my two plots in our community garden to the opposite corner of the garden
it had a third more sq ft of gardening space
it was in mostly full sun
my old plot was partially shaded on part of it

i opted to move because of the increase space for gardening
i hated to leave my old plots since i had spent 5 years enriching the soil
the new plots have good soil but they are overgrown with bermuda grass and mint
a big obstacle to gardening

so i chose to cover the whole plot with plastic sheeting then covered that up with a thick layer of mulch
then
i am gardening above ground this first year
next year i will slowly remove the plastic hoping the grass and mint are all dead

i had just added additional soil to my old garden so i transferred that to my new beds
i also moved my eight 3 ft x 7 ft frames to my new garden
i also moved my drip system keeping the spacing the same as my old garden but i also had to add extra drip irrigation 

in the middle of the picture above are 6 black grow bags that hold about 20 gallons of soil
each bag has a dripper to the bag
in the bags for the spring summer are planted strawberries lettuce and greens 2 egg plants black beauty and long or japanese and red malabar spinach which will grow on a trellis
i have one bag with lettuce in it but will put something else later in the year

i have two irrigation controllers 
one for the right side of the garden and one for te left side of the garden
right now i am watering for just 15 minutes twice a week
that will change based on the moisture level in the soil


this is the right side of my plot
i moved my onions over to this first new bed 
they are doing ok but are stunted some by the transfer
in the first bed with the onions are two tomatoes planted in gopher cages
a sungold and a sweet 100
since the frame is over plastic i have mounded up the soil so its around a foot deep where the tomatoes are planted
next year i will remove the plastic under the bed and use the garden soil under the plastic to grow my veggies
im sure my tomatoes will be stunted some from the lack of soil depth but ill watch the moisture level closely and will maybe fertilize more like i was growing a tomato in a pot

the three beds above that have
a black krim  and a cherokee purple
two early girls 
two celebrations

each tomato will have its own large cage to grow in
each is planted in a gopher cage

then behind that is a bed that is 3 ft by 8 ft
it has a layer of gopher wire under it
the sides are trucks of a banana tree
it has planted in it a row of christmas lima beans the best beans i grow
my favorite beans
we will harvest them in october or november

on the far right in the front in  this picture is a 2 ft square raised bed with gopher wire and banana trunks
it has a collard tree or walking stick kale growing in it
it will provide tender collard leaves all year round
many of them will be donated 
we use the small leaves in salads and the larger ones in soups stews etc

the next raised bed up from that is about 3 ft x 7 ft
it has growing in it zucchini squash and tatume squash
tatume grows on a vine up a lattice 
when small its like a zucchini 
when larger its like a winter squash
it will produce a lot of squash 
some we will freeze and some we will donate

the next raised bed behind that is about 4 ft square
i made it into an asparagus bed
i planted new asparagus called millennial 
we may harvest some next year but it will probably be two years before we really harvest them

just next to this is a 20 gallon black plastic pot that has these three herbs we use a lot
oregano thyme and rosemary


this is my left side of my garden 
in the first bed i moved my leeks from my old garden
they didnt like being moved
i expect to not have a good crop this year

in that plot i have planted a shishito pepper
later i will add two basil plants
we use the basil to make pesto 

next i have planted a california wonder bell pepper
one pepper plant usually supplies all we need plus we freeze a lot
also on the other end i will plant an okra plant

next i have planted a sweet banana pepper 
this is a fifth generation pepper that i save seeds from each year
these we eat raw by themselves or in salads
sometimes we pickle them
on the other end of the bed i planted a jalapeno pepper
it supplies alll we need for the year
we freeze a lot later for cooking

next i have two curly leaf kales planted
these i transplanted from my other garden
they also were stunted for awhile
but are starting to grow now
we use them a lot for salads soups stews etc

in the back bed its like the christmas lima bed
i planted a row of french cut beans called emerite
these we eat raw and cook in soups stews etc
if we have extra we freeze them whole to use later

then i have noticed we brought some volunteer flowers in our soil like calendula and borage
i use the flowers in our salads
the bees love them also
i notice amaranth is also cropping up 
we use it in salads and soups stews etc

i have also found volunteer veggies like tomatoes and squash and malabar spinach
some i just let grow since i figure nature knew what it was doing

so thats my spring summer garden this year
im sure ill find spots for other veggies 
maybe even a tomato or two
i always do

we seem to be having more insect pests like aphids this year
im sure its all the rain we got this winter
we also are heading into our foggy morning period 

this is rough on our tomatoes and squash and beans

its always an adventure
i always say 
im glad i dont do this for a living
i enjoy it though for a hobby

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