So I was looking at my back yard and trying to decide what to do about it and how to reclaim it again. One of the issues was that we have this dog kennel that the dogs have never actually used. At first I thought I’d just take it apart and get rid of it, but then I found out what a pain in the neck THAT would be. Then I realized that this little enclosure could make a great place for me to learn about gardening and start doing a little more to ‘be green’ and all that. Since this is sort of a grand adventure for me, I’m going to chronicle events here and share what I discover with the world! Okay, with the two or three of you that will actually come back more than once.
I started back in the fall by starting a compost pile. I want to build a better, nicer looking enclosure, but for now its a big box near the garden enclosure (notice how it’s not a kennel any more!). That’s been going for a while now and there’s a pretty good pile of good compost soil to add to the dirt.
This being South Texas, rocks start about four inches below the surface, so I decided to build the garden above ground rather than trying to prepare the soil inside the fence. I had a couple of eight foot 2×10 boards, so I screwed together a four foot by eight foot box and cleared out the enclosure.
(click on the pictures to see them bigger!)
Now, this is not a big space so I need to maximize my productivity as much as I can. I’ve always been a little scared of growing tomatoes but I really like them for a lot of things, so I did a little research and decided that I could probably do well with the hanging method.
As I write this its Thursday, April 23, 2009. We went and got some starter plants last Sunday, including some tomatoes….
Today I modified a couple of buckets and got the tomatoes transplanted. That’s Roma on the left and Patio on the right.
The next step will be to get some dirt, mix in the compost, and plant! What you see on the table above is some basil, thyme, parsley and three different kinds of peppers. There’s a lot of seeds in a bag just waiting, so it could be fun!
I intend to keep this page updated with a photographic record of this new adventure, so if you’re interested, bookmark the page and visit early and often! Wish me luck!
April 26, 2009
Well, I got dirt yesterday and filled the box up. The dirt store was out of garden mix, but since I had a bin full of compost anyway, I went ahead and got the contractor mix. According to the extremely persuasive lady that I talked to, its the same ratio of soil and sand but with mushroom compost rather than true organic. It was a little cheaper too, so we’ll see how that goes.
I had some starter plants and some seeds, so this grand experiment should be quite interesting. Nancy and I chose items that we knew we liked and that, hopefully, we can freeze or dry to keep well also. I did a little research on companion planting and found out that what we’re trying this time gets along well with pretty much everything else and that onion seems to be good for everybody, so here’s what I did (from the back to the front)….
I put a long row of cucumbers along the back edge of the box. They can use the fence to vine up. Then along the top of the little hill I planted some black eyed peas, green beans, and black beans because they are the most heat resistant and can handle a little less water, if it comes to that.
I spaced out the peppers (one each of chili, bell, and sweet) around the box, then put some carrots down one side and zucchini down the other. Then I put a row of lettuce next to a row of lettuce mix across the width of box and, finally, finished off with one each of parsley, lemon thyme, and basil right in front. I used onion bulbs and just popped a few in here and there around everything else.
I put a good misting on everything and now we’ll see how it goes. I’m a little concerned that I may be trying to do too much in too little space, but if things come up well I can always do a little transplanting to pots or something… but I don’t want to get ahead of myself just yet! Now we wait….
May 8, 2009
Well, it’s been almost two weeks. I had to put a tarp up over the planter box for the first three days because we got a lot of rain from that storm that tore up Dallas… didn’t want to lose everything the first day.
Since then, I’ve watered just about every day, but I think I may need to do more. We’ll see. It looks like everything is showing now so its just a matter of time before I know how its all going to go. I’ve still got onion bulbs that I intend to pop in later, once I know where the empty spots are.
I’m a little worried about the herbs. The parsley an the basil aren’t really thriving. I may need to put them back in pots and return them to the deck. I dunno yet. Any thoughts? On the plus side, check out the tomatoes! That made me smile! I’m getting excited to see how it goes!
May 31, 2009
Its been almost a month since my last post, so I figured it was about time I put an update on here for the one or two of you that actually visit now and then. From here on out, I’m going to put links to pictures, so look for those!
After my last post, the patio tomatoes started kind of closing up around itself. I finally figured out (with a little help) that they were getting too much water and not enough sun, so I moved them to another corner of the enclosure where they get more sun. I cut down on the water and did a little pruning and now I have one tomato almost ready to pick!
The roma tomatoes are thriving in their corner and are starting to get blossoms, so I should see some tomatoes there pretty soon.
I had a friend with more experience at this than me come take a look at things and as you can see by the updated photo, things are really looking pretty good. However, I did make a few changes. First of all, the parsley was getting too much water, so it went back in a pot and got pruned a bit. We had a couple good rains and all of a sudden the basil stood right up, so that’s looking good now.
The rain really got things moving! As you can see on the right hand side of the garden, the zucchini plants are threatening to take over. I actually pulled three of them out of the garden because they were overwhelming the peppers and I want to see those peppers come through too. The cucumber, in the back are starting to move toward the fence and should start climbing soon, and the salad greens are almost ready to try on one end. Over all, its looking pretty good.
Its pretty clear that I want to grow more stuff than I can realistically do in this space though, so I’m going to start piecing together some more boxes and get ready for next year. There is a big sunny spot in the middle of the yard just crying out for something to do!
September 1, 2009
The drought brought the ants and the ants ate the garden. Everything but the onions and the basil are gone. Now the project is about getting the ants out of the dirt and setting up for the cooler season. Wish me luck!
