I finally did it! I started a blog. I have been wanting to have a blog for quite some time, just never got around to it and never knew just how to get started. But here I am.
I am experimenting in the garden this year! The garden flip-flops from being my husband's project and his ideas and experiments to being all mine and my ideas.... This year Dh doesn't have the time and I have the ideas, so, it's mine. I like to get him in there to see what I am doing - mostly for his words of encouragement that all the hard work is worth something and that he thinks it might actually amount to something. So far his comments are:"Looking good!" and "I think what you are doing is great, even if it doesn't work well this year, it will have an effect on next year".
I read this book called Lasagna Gardening. And, well, the soil in my garden is pretty deplete of anything. We always add manure from the horse and some compost, and maybe a little fertilizer, but it seemed to only get more deplete. I decided to try the lasagna way... it can't hurt to add all that good stuff to my garden. If nothing else the girls are getting stronger shoulders. They have been wheeling up wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow of leaves, grass, hay, manure, barn litter, and bags of peat moss and compost for me. We figured we had done 30 wheelbarrow loads of stuff when we were almost half way. Then my dad and brother came along and helped the girls wheel up another 20 loads of manure... You have to know this garden spot is uphill! The barns are down at the bottom of the property and the house is part way up and the garden is straight uphill from there. I was a tad concerned about my girls building up their upper body muscles in the past.... I think we are on to something .
This has been a weird spring; cold and long and dry. I began my garden endevors in March. It seemed I could only get one bed every two weeks or so done. Life has been very busy for me. So, I would layer a bed and cover it with black plastic and weigh it down with metal posts and hope for another chance to work in the garden in a week or so. I have 7 beds and hope to do one more in the upper garden.
I have a couple of problems to deal with already. #1 is that I cannot seem to get enough water on the garden to soak through the top layers of the lasagna beds. There is no way on earth that a seed is going to germinate if I can't get the first inch of soil to stay moist. I can't add mulch until the seeds are up and the seeds won't sprout at this rate. About an inch down it feels nice and moist, but that first inch is DRY! Don't you just love how all the gardening books are written on the East Coast.... Everything is geared for wet and humid climates where a shower of rain takes care of all the watering needs and their biggest problem is mildew and soggy soil. NOT here. It is dry and hot and sunny. Every drop of water the garden gets - you are responsible for. We have a drip system, but that isn't turned on yet, and it doesn't work until your plants are up anyway.
Problem #2. The manure from our barnyard is full of weed seeds. NO explanation needed, I am sure. I tried to "cook" the first few beds I made with the black plastic and it may have worked to a certain degree. However, it's been a COLD spring as I said.
I asked my little "photographer" to take some good pictures to upload here. So, you will get a better idea of my progress.
Until Later,
Angela
keeping moisture in
Posted by Illoura on Monday, May 5, 2008 at 12:39 - Link
Hi Angela, I'm so glad you decided to start blogging here...I just started a blog too.
Your garden is impressive!! (I would show mine, but so far it's pathetic!)
One thing I have done in the past and didn't occur to me until reading your problem with water (my same problem right now, LOL) is to cover the seed beds with clear plastic. The easiest way to do this is buy a roll of painters' plastic- it's thin, too. A good watering, then plastic on top will hold the water in, as the evaporation just condensates onto the plastic and stays there. A few rocks or pieces of wood will hold the plastic down until you water again - like a week later.
Seeds love it!
Hope this helps!
Can't wait to see things a month from now!
-Illoura
Thanks for the comment and the idea. I will do that! I was really wanting to try growing carrots - believe it or not that is very difficult here. We have earwigs.... they are hard on seedlings. Anyway, I am getting a piece of plastic and will plant carrots seeds. Blessings, Angela
Edited by safords on Wednesday, May 7, 2008 at 10:02
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