Spring 2017 is here! Time for garden planning and rotation

3-21-17

Progress year 3 and Garden planning

Well folks, we are now in year three and the progress is wonderful!  As you can see, we added fence posts to raise the beds. I had considered various methods but this is the new attempt. So here was the reasoning:   Most regular wood only lasts a season or two. Cedar is expensive. Block or brick is expensive.  On sale these only cost $2 each for 8 foot lengths.  It's possible they won't last long either but I'm hoping that the size/width will help. Because they have 2 sides that are flat they are easy to stack and I used plumber tape (metal strips that can be cut to length and screwed to stabilize the stacking and attack the beds together on the inside).   I will, of course, have to replace them at some point and purists may suggest that the staining isn't good for the garden but I haven't found any scientific evidence one way or another regarding anything besides weather treated wood so I forge ahead!  

As of today (march 27, 2017), various seeds have gone in the ground and the following are starting to sprout: sugar snap peas, leeks, radish, garlic, onion. I have also seeded  spinach, broccoli, and carrots.  Celery is a hold over from last year that I replanted and I'm trying a new layout this year based on the following: 

Grapic from http://www.betterhensandgardens.com/

 Each year you would rotate one quadrant so the plants have the nutrients that work best. In other words, legumes fix nitrogen in the soil and leaf plants love nitrogen and so on.  Some plants must be rotated every year or on a three year cycle to reduce pests and disease and these include potatoes and tomatoes.  Therefore, I have to make sure in my planning that I not only rotate the plants but make sure that as companions go, I don't put plants where they are more likely to fail.  An example is that potatoes and raspberries are not good companions and neither are strawberries and cabbage though I have a bed that is likely to have them relatively nearby.

 Here is the graphic roughly adapted for the central round garden bed: 

After creating this basic adaption I then went outside and began the actual planning based on location of current plants, bed size, plant location from last year etc.  The blue lines are the pathways and the pink circles are thornless rasberry plants planted in ground called : http://www.brazelberries.com/varieties/raspberry-shortcake 
(As a side note these have been a wonderful producer but if you don't want them to spread, be sure to plant in a large container instead of in the ground.)

There are amazing amounts of information on garden planning on the internet.  The trick seems to be figuring out what works for your garden.  I'm also doing companion planting which requires a bit of extra work since some companions re-seed and others are more permanent (such as some herbs like sage)  

My garden plan

Here is my layout for this year

I have large beds around the main circular bed that I rotate for other crops and some beds that are permanent such as berries, asparagus and kiwi fruit. This is not to scale but it gives a basic idea of position.

 While the planning does take time, it is much easier for me to plant knowing exactly where it is going in the garden this year.  I have other plants I'll be adding including marigolds, basil etc as the year goes on. 
I'll keep you updated on how it goes! 


  

'Hell strip' makeover

Landscaping the 'Hell strip'

One of my gardening projects has been to remove the grass from the front yard. While it looks lovely when the grass is green, summer turns the grass a dried-out brown.  There are many great ideas on the internet about landscaping with little to no grass. 

 

 Goal: 

Transform that awkward strip between the sidewalk and the road (aka the hell strip) by planting drought tolerant plants, creating areas to place the garbage cans, and using a visually interesting design.

Warning: getting rid of the grass is a time-consuming, sore-muscles project.  We decided not to go for the larger dumpster (costly) and have relied weekly on the kind neighbors who have let us use their yard waste bins.  Our strip is 50ft long and 3.5 ft wide.  It may not seem like much but each week it took 3 bins to remove a 3-4ft x 3.5 foot section.  The bins get too heavy to move if there is more!

Process:

1. Search the internet for ideas!
2. Measure the strip area
3. Draw up a yard plan with potential ideas and shapes
4. Start removing the grass
5. Determine what areas are going to be for garbage cans
6. Pay neighbor to bring all the remaining rocks to the front yard from previous pond area in back
7. Get supplies as needed
8. Start putting in the design
9. Look at it from all angles, look some more, move plants around, look at it lots more, wave back at the drivers who are watching you work.

Supplies:

1. High quality barrier fabric. Don't stint on this, most fabrics in hardware stores only last a year if that.
2. garden or landscape staples - again, be aware that there are poor quality ones out there. My first ones started rusting with just brief exposure to the air, the second batch - much better!
3. rock and more rock
4. bark (purchased bulk by the sq yard)
5. garden soil (purchased bulk by the sq yard)
6. mint mulch for color contrast (and it smells so good too!)
7. plants - mostly they were transplanted from other locations in the yard.

Ordered from www.amazon.com

Sandbaggy 500-Count Landscape Staples ~ SOD Staples, Garden Stakes, Square Pins
Dewitt 3-by-100-Feet 4.1-Ounce 20-Year Weed Barrier Fabric  

There is still a good 15 feet to finish but it should be fun.

I hope this inspires you!

Burlap for seed starting and groundcover - Excellent!

Burlap

I love to walk out into the garden every day wandering around and watching the plant growth. Is it small, large, a sudden burst? How did the weather affect it? what about the techniques I'm trying?  I recently experimented with loosely woven burlap to cover a mammoth crimson clover ground cover group.  it worked wonderfully!  The next step is to determine how much will get eaten by garden pests.  I have sprinkled a layer of straw over it as well as slug bait and finally some diatomaceous earth (but with the rain heading my way the last isn't likely to last long.)  I've had to re-apply the slug bait once more since the original planting back in March and have added other areas of clover.

Mammoth Crimson Clover as cover crop

 These tiny seeds were simply scattered rather randomly over the barely worked earth that had been partially prepped last year (see previous blog re: no till earth prep)  You can see that it has taken well.  I wet down it down after planting, it rained about 36 hours later and a nice green carpet has emerged.  The burlap I have has a tighter weave unsuited once the seeds are up. The Burlap should be pulled up once sprouting has begun to prevent damaging seedlings by either crushing them underneath or pulling them out when it's removed.

 Wonderful!  Not only will the clover add Nitrogen to the soil but it will be lovely when it blooms. As you can see from the photos below, there have been been big changes since last year and the the clover is coming in well.

Now that the clover is in, I'm re-using the Burlap as a basic mulch and for Basil seedling germination. It worked very well with annual/perennial flower seeds now starting to bloom. Basically,  I highly recommend Burlap as a starter for seed!

1st year check-in - Front yard progress

Putting in the sod...

Loving Sod

Today I made friends with sod.  No, today I decided I love sod.  Until now, the grass around the firepit has been transplants from other areas of the yard where grass was being removed.  This is an exhausting process of cutting out sections small enough to lift in a somewhat uniform shape. Because the bottom of the transplants were of varying heights depending on the moisture in our clay soil, (Today it's concrete, tomorrow it's mud), It was an exhausting and time-consuming process of adding or removing soil to try and get the grass at the same height. But hey it was free right?  Now sod,  get the dirt flat, fill in any uneven spots, cut where needed.  AWESOME.

I only got 4 rolls and it filled about half of the unfinished area- for some reason when the clerk said 4x2 my heat cooked brain said: oh that will cover 8 feet each.  Ya, nope.  There is now discussion of adding a brick patio area for nearby seating between the lemon balm and the rounded planter.  (not shown).  This small area was all covered in gravel surrounding the old pond so it is cement in the summer and muddy in the winter.  It may be a lot easier to put sand on it and lay brick than to try and dig into it. I also have my doubts that the sod will be able to really take root in it without a great deal of digging and new soil.
 
Concerns: For at least 24 hours the sod will look lovely - sadly, the temperature is in the 90's which means lots of water and it make bake it to death.  Still, given the amount of time to do the other process, I'm ok with the tradeoff. 

I think it's time to raise a toast to my personal "sod".

Happy gardening!

Building the in-ground firepit

Closer to finished

 We really love out firepit.  It is large enough to get a good fire (3 foot diameter) , deep enough to protect from embers and the stone and brick around it also provide good protection from ash and embers.  Testing it out has been great fun. I have planted thyme between the stone and brick that is entirely steppable and we have added a grill across one side.

So here's the thing about an in-ground firepit.  If you don't fill in the hole properly or compact the soil completely- it won't stay level.  Also, if the blocks are placed on the lip of the metal ring - there isn't anyway to adjust it after the fact.  And there is NO way I'm digging this back out of the ground to get it level.  The North side is just going to sink.  oh well.

The original pond was 10 x 10 x 4.5 feet deep
the smell as we drained it was AWFUL. The pond was listed as a selling point of the house when we bought it last year (9/2013) but it was not part of the master plan.  Too much work for me to maintain.

As you can see, 1/2 the firepit is built on a ledge of the pond and 1/2 the pit is on fill. As a result, it settled on the north edge as the soil and rock compacted into the bottom of the pit.

The ring is from the local Coastal Farm and Ranch , http://www.coastalfarm.com/

The block is from another part of the yard that now holds the water tanks.

The rings sits on a circle of brick on top of 2 inches of gravel and the inside is filled with another 3 inches of gravel.

My Husband in one of his sillier moments.  Halloween 2013

After filling in the hole, I tried out various ideas for what to do around the pit.  I finally settled on using the stone from the original pond and scavanging rock that had been around the pond as well.  I then added the brick border to keep grass from growing into the small rock.
You can see that grass is in the process of being transplanted to fill in around the pit and eventually the Thyme will grow in as well.

Fun with water barrels!

So the next step in the roof rain collection has happened - I bought the barrels.
The first steps:
1. figuring out where to put them
2. figuring out how many I would need
3. finding clean, food grade barrels for a reasonable cost
4. getting them delivered

The 275 gallon tanks ($125 each) will eventually have some sort of fencing in front of them -- probably bamboo -  and shade cloth over the top to prevent growth inside the tanks. Water from the roof will run through PVC along the fence into the tanks.

The smaller 55-gallon tanks ($20 each) will be set close to the house
 on blocks with a single access point either from a rain chain or downspout.

Here are some links for sites that have been helpful in putting together my water collection plan:
(I am not necessarily going to use these exact plans - I will post what I use)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYTNciCplmw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUhox1ORlRk&feature=related

http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-275-Gallon-Rainwater-Collection/?ALLSTEPS

http://www.irrigationtutorials.com/drip-gravity.htm

http://www.dripirrigation.com/drip_irrigation_chapters/25/drip_irrigation_pages/40

Decorating the fence and outside of the house

 One of the many projects for the yard includes decorating the fence.  While the garden begins to form, the fence is a large canvas that creates interest throughout the seasons.  Our current plans include: birdhouses, decorated records, shelving, metal signs and dropoutart.com original art.

original work by Tim Blackburn  Dropoutart.com 

The teacups, plates, pots, and tin sign are either from Goodwill or garage sales. the sign is  framed with spraypainted, re-claimed wood that cost 25 cents from the local Habitat for Humanity
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