Spring 2013 garden tour update

On 4/2/13 I posted a tour of my early spring garden, you can see that post here.

Early Spring 2013 Tour

This evening I thought it would be good to step out and make some new pictures for comparison.... did I say comparison? There is no comparison as you are about to see. When things start warming up in GA, they warm up fast and the growing season really kicks in high gear. As many of you already know, I am pretty new at this gardening hobby and most especially SFG, but I think I have done fairly well in a short period of time. I even dove into chickens, composting and worms, turning my little city home into a mini farm of sorts. I am trying many different garden methods as well as a large variety of veggies to see what works and what don't and what we like and what we don't.

All of this experimentation will set the course for future years. Right now I see eliminating the buckets and replacing that area with the Earth Boxes and adding 2 more TT SFGs in the space occupied currently by the EBs. I am also finding the straw bale garden a little more work than I care for and will probably use only 2 or 3 bales for southern peas and pumpkins at the lower property so they can spread. Jury is still out on the red wrigglers, but the thought of those castings are just too much to resist without at least giving it a try. Just my early thoughts so far and of course I reserve the right to change my mind Hey.... I have to find things to keep me out of trouble in my retirement

Let's start with the table top SFG. All of my lettuce crops bolted about a week ago when the temps started playing in the 80's so I harvested all I could and put it in the refrigerator for daily salads. My wife agrees that we have enjoyed some of the best salads we have ever had from that little 4x4 SFG plot. Well, it was time to pull that which was finished and replant a 2nd crop which was mostly bush beans and a few late pepper and eggplants. The beans are already breaking ground and I even decided to try some late radishes as well.



My 3 sisters type box which is 4x10 is coming along nicely, but next year it will most likely be all squash type plants which is what I originally intended the box for. You can also see the Top Hat with the April 15 carrots I planted hoping the squash and Zukes would keep them shaded.







My strawberry bed is doing awesome, but it sure hurts pinching those blossoms off everyday.



Asparagus bed is doing well and if you look close in the 2nd picture, there is a beautiful little stalk that is begging me to have a snack, but I will resist.... I will resist.





I also built a small temporary box to try some fennel. I know it likes loneliness so I isolated it and it appears to be fairing well although slow.



Following are just general shots of my Earth Boxes and buckets. Tomatoes are really reaching for the sky and full of blooms and green fruit. You will also see pepper plants in the EBs and if you look hard you will see a good many peppers. There are some sweet banana peppers that will be on my plate before the week is out. I will most likely need to harvest the early peas soon as the heat is climbing. Garlic and shallots are still doing great and it won't be too much longer before harvest time arrives for them.



















After enduring all of that, here is a general shot of my ground level beds and composting area.





I set up 2 worm stations in under my shaded carport. The blue tub contains my red wrigglers for castings. The drawer units contain my live meal worm farm for chicken treats. I found myself picking out about 50 or so of the first pupa today and they will soon evolve into breeding beadles.



And now for my 3 little pride and joys. They are 12 weeks old as of today and have been a lot of entertainment around here. The grandsons can't wait for the next visit so they can see the chickens.





I guess I'd better end this and if you are still awake, I appreciate you letting me share my hobby with you in the form of pictures. Please excuse the debris around the yard, we had a powerful T-storm last night and still have a few things to finish cleaning up.

Wow...everything looks great and I'm so jealous of your weather. It just warmed up enough here to start planting spring crops. I sure do miss that GA weather. Good luck with your beautiful garden and chickens!!! My boys tried to convince me to get some but the military said having them is a no no when one lives in base housing.

Oh my! You have wonderful gardens and I love the chickens....

It's looking great, Bob, and from your pictures I can tell that you've put a lot of mental time into research, planning, and brainstorming.

bnoles wrote:...I am trying many different garden methods as well as a large variety of veggies to see what works and what don't and what we like and what we don't.
All of this experimentation will set the course for future years.

And I can sure relate to your approach to gardening: start out on a journey with a destination in mind, and then go where the garden leads.

I've learned to be grateful for whatever my garden gives me, and whenever it gives it. Even when it means eating Bok Choy for 21 days in a row!

Beautiful garden.

What is wrapped around your red buckets? Did you wrap the buckets to keep the soil cooler?

S Anderson

Lucky you, you have a very nice garden. It seems that you've put a lot of energy into it. Wish you a very good growing season. I saw in some of your pictures the plants were coming out from under/ piercing a cover; what's the use of this cover?

Fawzi

Bob,

Wonderful job, I enjoyed the tour very much! Everything looks terrific. Can't believe how fast things grew. How gratifying it must be to build all those things. How fun for the grandkids with all the action in your yard.

Say, if you were inclined to take any pictures while building those future table tops you mentioned, I'd love to see it. I keep searching for easiest to build, durable, wooden table top. Although my painted cinder block table top is indestructible, I don't want to fill my yard with any more of that industrial look ever again.

Thank you all for your kind comments. It has really been a fun and challenging adventure thus far and I look forward to the continuing challenges as they arise.

sanderson, that is a foil insulation wrap around the buckets to keep the soil and roots cooler in the summer heat. I got it at the Big Box store.

boffer, I too am grateful for all I can get from the garden, but 21 days of bok choy would certainly push my limits

LM, I will make a point of doing a photo shoot when I add the additional TT SFG beds. Actually my set up is to build the table of pressure treated HD lumber and then make the 4X4 box of regular pine nd set it on top of the table. That way the table should last over the life of several boxes.

Great job Bob. Seems the weather is now 'helping' up your way.

This is awesome! It's things like this that make me look forward to the day I have a big backyard. One can dream... For now I'll have to settle on my two amateurish 4x4 beds.

I hate trying to post from my phone so............

Bob you really have it going on

The fennel I did last year was really sloooooooooow; it supposedly does not like cold but did better during the winter for me.
Just look at that bell pepper, mine are just nubs.
Dual worm farms
My misses would 'bout kill for all those irises in a row. we have a stand of the purple.....so pretty.
My neighbors would NOT let me have your "little pride and joys". They would report me for sure.
Keep on with the pics you know "we love the pics" on here.

wow Bob look at how well your garden is growing!!

Thank you for taking pic's and sharing with us!

Please continue to keep us updated.....love to hear more on how the snacks work for feeding your darling girls we have been reading and watching more video's on this subject....we as of now dont have any chickens but sure would love to have some soon.....

happy gardening
rose

bnoles wrote: LM, I will make a point of doing a photo shoot when I add the additional TT SFG beds. Actually my set up is to build the table of pressure treated HD lumber and then make the 4X4 box of regular pine nd set it on top of the table. That way the table should last over the life of several boxes.

Excellent idea using pr. treated HD lumber for the table. Look forward to your updates.
I'm sure others will be very interested too.

Thank y'all for your most kind comments. I feel that I have come a long way in a short period of time with limited know how and ability and it is all thanks to Mel and the vast knowledge of this form and it's wonderful members.

Rose, every gardener needs chickens (hint, hint)

Pepper, that iris bed belongs to my bride and I have to make sure I stay at least 10 feet away at all times or else Yep, things really just started taking off once the weather straightened up. I am not sure I gained much by planting as early as I did on Good Friday, but I had to prove a point with myself at the time. That bell pepper will be harvested before the week is out and I am also eye balling several sweet banana peppers. As far as those chickens go, I live directly across the street from City Hall and we have ordinances that prohibit me from having them, but, with a few good connections I have over there and following common sense rules such as no roosters, no smell, keeping them 100% contained to their coop and run and well hidden from public view, there should be no problems.

jplee3, if you have 2 4X4 plots, you are doing very well. Managed properly, you can get a lot of food from them.