These are more of the progress pictures taken over the last few years. Check out the previous post for more information.
More Garden Pictures
Tag Archives: Garden
Spring is Here!
Yes, it’s time to start working in the gardens again. This year we will have a double challenge. Not only will we be working on the garden we had last year, but there is a new site as well.
In December we inherited a property that has since eaten our lives over the last four months. The yard is one of the biggest challenges. Once we clear the rubbish, we will have to totally revitalize the soil. In many ways, it will be a perfect testing ground for some of our ISRU projects.
The front yard was xeriscaped once upon a time and we will be restoring that. The back yard will have a compost heat experiment as well as a couple of keyhole gardens.
Over the winter, we have worked with District O.N.E. and One Table, our local food to table group. It has been very interesting and I am looking forward to our further adventures.
Lessons Learned, 2015
Over the winter, we have compiled a list of things that we’ve learned.
- Zucchini will take over the world.
- Root cellars need a constant temperature.
- Veggies store better kept in a root cellar and in either sand or straw.
- Onions are hardier than you might think.
- Composting is vital to return nitrogen to the soil.
- Tomatoes will ripen in paper bags and boxes.
- Pumpkins are almost as bad as zucchini.
At the end of winter, we still have frozen green beans, zucchini and plums. It’s been wonderful, but we are looking forward to fresh fruit and veggies.
Zucchini Galore!
We have been so pleased with how well our garden has done. We’ve given away more produce than we’ve been able to eat or process. It’s been great. The pumpkins we thought would not grow have taken over rows in the garden with their long vines. The butternut squash has not been a prolific, but we have 3-4 ripening. Zucchini have been fantastic, as have the crook neck (two varieties) and the delicata. The tomatoes have exploded and we have all sorts of them growing. The few we’ve had ripen have been heavenly.
We’ve been making plans to expand the garden and add new veggies. Next year we plan to plant Fewer zucchini, acorn squash, cucumbers and eggplants, kale, onions, garlic, corn, green beans, pumpkins, tomatoes, radishes, and the wild variety lettuces. The pics below are of the Bee garden we’ve put in between the compost and the fairy patio. I’ll be taking more pictures this week.
These pics show the growth in the garden and some of the veggies we harvested.
Produce!
Our garden is doing well. This year is a ‘bench mark’ year. Seeds vs starts. No fertilizer. Basic watering. (ie, an hour, no more, and not every day) We are trying to see just how good the soil is and what we can get out of it.
So far, things are going very well. Our radishes are huge! The spinach that survived the first weeding is doing well, as is the lettuce. We have squash everywhere! Funny bit is a few hills didn’t sprout, so we raked them out and planted new seeds. Well, we ended up with a lot of volunteers. We have harvested lettuce, spinach, radishes and cilantro. The herbs are doing well too.
We had a wonderful salad tonight.
