The Garden

Last weekend I went down to my dads and we finally worked the garden. The ground had previously been too wet to till, and it was just about right by the time my schedule opened up with a free weekend.

Having been dormant for two years, the grass had completely taken over, making things more difficult than they would have been in previous years. Still, it was great to work with dad in his element. He had already planted, but with no rain, my week delay will have little consequences and we should be off to an even start.

My garden spot is small, measuring about 40 x 80 feet, but it is still much bigger than the area I have at my home in the city. I'm trying the wide bed method, mostly due to the limited space. I split the two varieties of corn into two blocks, with each block about 10 x 35 feet containing 10 rows. Next are two 80 foot rows of Red Hill okra, followed by three long rows of Mississippi cow peas. finishing off the legumes, I have two closely spaced long rows of Jackson Wonder butter beans, and half rows of green beans and yellow wax beans.

I'm also experimenting with black beans and calypso bean, which I plan on leaving on the bush until they dry.

Planting close to 50 paste tomato plants, I hope to be able to can up lots of tomato sauce and salsa as well. Those and a few dozen other Heirloom varieties of tomato plants should have us with plenty to give away. Pepper varieties include Jalapeno, Habanero, cow horn, green, yellow and red Bell Peppers.

I also have two short rows of Red Pontiac and Yukon Gold potatoes. With such a late start, they will probably only produce small nuggets, but they will still taste fine. Lastly, I have a few small hills of Cucumber, Squash and Water Mellon.

Back home, I have decided to grow greens in the side bed. We love salads, and it just makes sense to try it. I have lettuce, carrots, radish and spinach up and thriving, along with bulb and spring onion.

With the exception of the yellow onion, just about everything we are growing came from seed, much of which was saved from previous years or given to me. My basement looks like a grow house every March and April, and I am finally getting to where I can do a successful seeding. This year, I bottom watered everything and had basically zero loss to dampening off. Adequate lighting eliminated spindly growth, and mild weather allowed everything to be hardened without interruption.

My biggest lesson learned this time around was patience. Dad kept saying, "not yet" and he was right. It looks as though it will be a good year, providing the rain will cooperate.

Up at the farm, we had our good friend Charlie clear off the lower pasture, and mow the base of the mountain along the river. I'm heading up there today to stake out the orchard and get it ready to put the trees in. My raspberries have suckered well this spring and taken root in pots so I have a dozen new plants to put along the fence. It should be a good weekend. :o)