Fixin' and Plantin'

A lot of the material in this is spread over from the last several weeks. I've been kept on my toes with landscaping, farm work, house projects and the kids.. they should be going into pre-K later this year, so we have a lot of ground to cover with them.

Also, posting pics of bare dirt patches is pretty boring - so I was waiting till things sprouted.

This area of the garden has been a problem since Day 1.  It wasn't a 'planned' area, but a collection of broken glass, bits of wood, nails, and other debris with a couple of fence boards put there and dirt dumped over the top.. Also a Holly tree in the middle that must have been rather large, but cut off at the stump and a new bush sprouting up out of it.  I cleaned it up, dug it up, sorted out the trash and used it as the start of the garden - mainly because it was cheap to do, and also to keep is safe for the kids.

Rain falls down some 30 feet off the roof, and water runs downhill to this point. Last year I framed it out with some old wood I had, but this small hole (brick from the chimney extends down below the ground) was left - I figured it was ok, but water would run through and carry soil away - making it hard to grow anything there.

I put a new block of wood in there, and landscaping cloth along the top row or so of holes in the brickwork - hopefully water would go through and soil would remain..  When plants are in there the roots help stop this erosion, but the best times to plant are also the times we get the most rainfall... so your seeds wash out or rot before you get a chance for them to grow.

 Several rainfalls later and it seems that although it hasn't been perfect, it has helped.  Peas have sprouted down there (as I put there the first year) and I'm looking forward to them building up the soil. My handy '2 poles and chicken wire' trellis' will be put up behind there, but I'm not 100% happy with them. They get the job done - but I have an idea for something less fiddly and a bit more robust... A garden / woodworking project that I hope to look into over the next couple of months as I'll need a new sturdy trellis for my squash (hopefully).  In front carrots have sprouted up, but the combination of wet then hot have made a few wither up already - I'll keep planting till I have a full square. In the past I've done 16 per square, and had moderate success - but I'm trying 9 this year in hopes of larger carrots all round. Seems the only way to really see what you have is to pull it, and by then it's too late.
Carrots can be planted with Peas, as the carrot roots themselves put out nutrients that the Peas find beneficial - my first year in this location I planted Carrots, Peas, Beans, and Beets... all together before I split the bed for the rainwater channel.  What I didn't know at the time was this was a very good combination - beans and beets, carrots and peas.   When the peas start to climb I'm thinking of planting carrots in between then.
In the space where the most washout occured, cucumbers have sprouted. 4 per square, and I'm not even seriously expecting to get anything off them. It's a shits n giggles plant to watch how they grow - so if I'm serious about growing them at a later date I've already played.... (hmm come to think of it I did grow a lot of Dill last year that I didn't end up using.... mmm pickles!).

Kale and Sprouts continue to grow.  I have 3 Kale there, and have planted a fresh 4th. They've been growing all year round - so I see no need to pull them at the moment, rather have enough to harvest when I want it. With 4 plants I'll be able to pull old ones and replant should they get bitter or woody in their maturity - but so far I haven't noticed a difference in taste.
I'm starting to notice Brussels Sprouts budding on the plants - so I'll keep my eye on them for when I should harvest. I think they may be small due to spacing - but it was a lesson learned.  Later in the year I'll certainly plant them again, but will look into plants they can be companioned with so I don't have blank spaces doing nothing but providing room.


My first year on this garden I planted 4 squares of beans - they did very well. My second year I planted 6 in the bed I added that spring, and did even better... I had fresh beans every week.
This year we kick it up again. 14 squares of the brand new bed. I'm doing beets in the last 2 as an experiment.
One good thing about gardening this way is that you can see when things sprout what seeds have failed, been dug up, washed out, and need to be replanted very quickly. Each square should have a nice even pattern of 9.  Another thing you can see is when you were in a hurry and forgot to plant 3 squares with anything ;)  This is more a step towards 'mass production' - beans do very very well in the Spring, and Peas seem to do very well in Autumn (though both can be planted at either time).  I'm hoping to exceed my need for fresh this year and see how much I can produce to freeze and save. In Autumn I hope to do the same with Peas.


Last year Queen of Hearts Tomatoes were done in these pots. They went up as small bushes and did fairly well. They weren't attacked by the insects or the rot that tends to go on around here either.
Later I planted them in the garden proper, and they vined out all over and didn't put much out.  So this year I'm doing the same, in pots, only with more.  I'll be culling them back to 1 plant per pot next week by transplanting what I pull as needed.

Last year I also had a 'saved' blueberry bush - I was going to start putting together an 'edible hedge' to mark off the garden from the rest of the yard.  Well that didn't turn out so well with the bush dying. I wasn't too upset as it was fairly far gone when I found it uprooted at the farm.  This year another one was found, knocked down and uprooted by wear and tear, wind and rain.  This one I've nursed back to good health and will be keeping it in this pot for a little while longer before planting it in the paver ring from last year.

Other 'free' plants included parsley, which seeded in the pots I grew it in last year.  It's been transplanted to the herb garden, where Basil has been sprouting from fallen seeds.  As those seedlings get more robust they'll be arranged in an orderly pattern.  I also found a Pecan that sprouted, but when I set it aside in a bigger pot - squirrels dug it up and chewed it down to a nub.

Maybe next year I'll find another.


Lettuce is sprouting in the germination pots, and Eggplant is up in 4 squares - too small to show a blurry photo of, but it's there.  Some beets were planted in various places to find a good location, but most seem to be withering in the heat. I'll try again in August.  Beets are something I love, and had good success with the first time, and not much since.  I'm thinking that first year I hit a 'perfect storm' of the right time, the right place, and planted with the right buddies.

Older plants are still in and growing, but will be pulled soon to make way for Peppers - a good grower from last year, that I hope to plant more of this year and keep a closer eye on. I grew more on 5 plants last year than I could eat during the summer, and that's not counting the half of them that I had to throw away because I was too busy to harvest them.  5 Will be planted this year and we'll see how much I can put aside for the rest of the year.

On the horizon, it's already mid April, and Potatoes should be planted around Easter - so I have to pull my finger out and get ready for those.  Still behind on a lot of things, but slowly catching up.

Cheers.