This Year

It began as a vision in the foggy mists of January. As I stood in the backyard chilled to the bone and praying that we'd have an early thaw, I saw the garden spot alive with flowers and butterflies and flowing with milk and honey. Well, full of food anyway. I needed something to keep me sane during the winter, so I ordered some gardening books for myself. I'll have to admit I was pretty zealous about it. The second the sun came out (mid February), I was outside digging and foraging for usable materials. I used the wheels my brother and I salvaged from our scrapping adventures, some bricks I found up at the dump spot on the hill, and some sandstone from a school that my brothers and father demo-ed years ago. My goal was not to spend a cent on the structural stuff, and I was able to realize it. 

So without further ado, here is the finished lot.

 

I put a boarder of railroad ties on the north and south sides.

I took another 5 feet past the trees into the yard and put in bricks as a barrier. 

As you can see I've planted a few things already. The raspberries and strawberries are located on the north side of the garden near the compost bin. I put down fescue grass as a mulch to help keep the weeds down. How well that works is yet to be seen.

 

I built up a little wall to make a permanent flower bed and put down old carpet
 as a pathway (I know it's not so green, but I'm using what I have here).

I've put a bed of Asparagus in on the south side with a rhubarb plant in the far corner. We had a bunch of rusted out water troughs and old tires that I thought would make great raised beds, so they were thrown in the mix as well.

I used the vintage farm wheels as decorative boarders around
 the perimeter of the house. This is on the south side where the
 tomatoes were last year.

I thought blueberries would do well in this spot so I put them in when the other berries went in. I also put a couple bushes on the east side of the house, so hopefully we will have plenty of them to keep us happy. It wasn't just the back of the house that I overhauled, the front needed work too.
Here is the result.  



I ripped out the wild rose bushes and created an actual bed.

I've planted perennials and artichoke as ornamental plants, along with watermelon as a cover, in the above spot. Everything is basically experimental at this point. In the below spot I've just fescued the dickens out of it in an attempt to control the weeds. I've planted herbs in the pots and put some cactus out as well.

 

We used to have a Dairy, so of course I would use these left overs.

There is a lot I still need to do, but I've decided to wait on it until next year. This has been quite the project already and my visions are always evolutionary. Most likely I will change a few things as time goes by, but in the mean time I'll just enjoy the work in progress.


Herb tower + concrete swan = hodge podge design. I don't know
if I like it yet, but I'll see what it looks like with flowers.

Last Year

Spring is here once again. It's the most wonderful time of the year and I love it so much! The cold is leaving (unfortunately though, that old North wind isn't giving up yet), the sun is here longer, and the sky is brilliant blue. My favorite reason however, is that I get to put my garden in. This first picture is last years raw materials.

There were aspects of  my garden that were just lovely and I always enjoy watching little things grow, but unfortunately there were things that just didn't work out.  I was in a bit of a rush when I moved home from Florida, so the seeds went in a little late. Since I started everything too late, the cold weather crops bolted and the summer crops still hadn't ripened as we proceeded into fall.

My baby watermelons were so cute, too bad they never got very sweet :(

 

As you can see the weeds were atrocious and the biggest problem was keeping them all down so the veggies could grow.

The Cauliflower was gorgeous, but never grew any heads???
 I'm still trying to figure that one out.

I planted my squash at the edge of Dad's corn field, but the tractor went through soon after and leveled the mounds. " Oops "said Dad "I forgot that I had that scheduled". Luckily, some of the seeds survived so I did get a few plants.

 

The squash was actually abundant, as squash always is. We got more then enough from the surviving plants to keep us swimming in squash. One of the two successes of the season.

 

The other success was the tomatoes. I put them on the south side of the house and actually bought the starts so they were nice and big when I put them in the earth.  To be honest, I consider this cheating (I should have started them myself), but I'm not complaining because the fresh ripe tomatoes in my salads, stews, and sandwiches were to die for.
 

 

I consider last year practice for the main event.  I have big plans for this year.  I've been working pretty hard since February getting the new garden planned and put together. I've already met with some failures (blasted wind!%@*&^), but those too are learning experiences. Practice makes perfect.

 

 

I'm excited for this year and many successes in the future. Mmmmm I can just taste those tomatoes !

The Good Earth

I'm a Farmer!

Dad plowed the garden spot yesterday

After years of city life, It's good to finally feel the earth between my toes again

 I have to design the layout still, but tomorrow I'm going shopping for seeds and starters. I'm planning on putting in perennials and making beds. Someday I hope it will look as neat and tidy as the pictures below.

I'm excited!!!!