My Garden

Ever since purchasing a house last June (2010) I knew I was going to start a garden.  I remember growing up and always helping my mawmaw sow, water, weed, and harvest.  Of course, harvesting was my favorite part because that always meant a fresh meal.  My favorites included cucumbers soaked in vinegar and salt and pepper, fresh boiled mustard or turnip greens, pan fried eggplant or squash, and the list goes on.  So after getting an itch in my green thumb I immediately began researching; this lead me to pick up the book "Square Foot Gardening" by Mel Bartholomew.

Square Foot Gardening piqued my interest because it touted simple, organized, and clean lines.  So taking a few suggestions from the book and tweeking them to meet my hearts desire, I began with this...

I constructed my square foot garden out of 2"x10" because I wanted a slightly deeper bed than recommended and also I wanted a beefier construction.  Where I did not stray was on the "Mel's Mix" despite how difficult it was to find vermiculite (which wasn't cheep and came in small 1 cubic foot bags).

Since my plan was to grow tomatoes, cucumbers, and squash, I constructed a trellis as the book dictated and it worked out well, well, almost...

I initially used the recommended trellis netting.  I had to replace the netting two times because it became brittle and could be wiped away just like you would a spider's nest.  So I made a slight adjustment and used some green temporary fencing, as such...

This had definitely worked much better than the netting.  I attached it to the frame using zip ties.  Easy peasy!

I still struggle with squirrels but I've decided against throwing the bird netting back over.  It was a pain in the rear to mow around and removing it and re-anchoring the netting once a week stinks.  So I've tried deterring the pests with a garden owl, which apparently does not work.  But so far I am having okay luck and have a few peppers starting to grow, finally.

A lot of the vegetables I planted at the beginning of summer never produced, but I have yet to pull them up and it appears that they might finally do something now that the heat has subsided.  Eggplant is looking promising, the carrots (what's left of them after the squirrels have uprooted most) are taking off, and finally the cauliflower has come to life.

Hopefully in another month or two I will get to talk about picking the first vegetables out of my garden! 

Gardening Woes

After buying a house last August, the first thing I immediately started planning was a garden.  I thought I had learned how to garden after all those years helping my mawmaw weed, water, and harvest; it looks easier than it truly is.

I researched and planned all Winter and was gung-ho about getting started immediately.  [Yeah right, you own a house now]  So, I got a fairly late start but was able to build a raised bed garden and plant veggies by late May/early June.  Things were going well, no to minimum weeding, all I had to do was add water.  Then hits the hottest summer ever and extreme drought conditions.  Let's just say that the only thing to grow [and survive the squirrels] was the jalapeno peppers, and I swear we've eaten less jalapenos this year than any other year, go figure.

So after unsuccessfully growing anything in the summer garden, I've ripped everything out and planted a fall crop.  I say it's a fall crop though I still have some summer veggies in the mix since we're currently at 24 straight days of 100degF weather with no immediate end in sight.  Hopefully this crop will actually be productive and provide me with some hope that I'm not completely incompetent.