Gardening

I have started to plant the “conditioned” (see also… Straw Bale Gardens by Joel Karsten for the conditioning process…) straw bales in my garden, and it has been fun and exciting. It is always fun to try something new.

Strawberry plants in straw bales.

Lettuce is planted in front, basil on the side, and a bush tomato planted in the back.

I have saved room in this straw bale bed to add more tomato plants that I have been growing from seed. Right now, I have a pretty good crop of mushrooms that are part of the decomposing process of the straw bales. They will eventually die back and the plants will take over the bales.

Sugar snap peas planted and trellis added for support.

I planted sugar snap peas in this area and by placing an old trellis between the bales and zip tying it to tomato stakes placed in the ground, it made a great place for the peas to run up on.

I am trying bush tomatoes in pots this year.

I planted two bush tomato plants in pots, then added these walls of water to protect them from the lower night temperatures. I have had these walls of water for several years and just never put them to use. I am trying for less wasting of resources this year, and that has also been fun… trying to see different things I can do with what I already have available.

The straw bale gardening has been the most exciting gardening project that I have ever tried. Due to the shortage of straw last year, the bales were a little pricey, but the experiment has been worth the money. Hopefully the straw crop will turn out better this year, and the price will come back down for the next gardening season.

If you are trying to save money in the garden, it is probably better to work on making more compost to add to existing beds. If you have never started a garden, the straw bales would be a great way to begin. There is no tilling of ground, or the adding of anything but fertilizer and water. It has perfect pest and disease control built in, since none of these exist in fresh straw bales like they do in your soil.

I am not protecting any of the plants in the bales from cutworms, or squash borers since the rough straw sticking out is a natural deterrent. Also, there is very little weeding to do.

Another good benefit from the straw bales is that once they have been used for the season, they can be composted to use in the garden next year.

So if any of you are thinking about a garden, keep following my progress with the straw bales over this season and see if it might be worth your time.

“See then that ye walk carefully, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.” Ephesians 5:15-18

 

Project Update

Last Monday I had a list of projects that I wanted to complete. The week flew by, and I felt I would never get anything accomplished. On Saturday, I worked on several of the projects, while my husband worked on getting some areas ready for planting grass. The plan was….divide and conquer.

My chief focus of work on Saturday was to get the corn planted. I have noted in past years, that if I wait too long to plant the corn, it tends to have more problems with worms eating the ends of the ears. Pests have their own cycles of development from larva to adults. If you can learn to plant during times the pests are not in a stage for eating crops, you will need less pest control intervention.

The area that I chose to plant the corn in has never been planted to  a crop. This area contains blueberry bushes, an apple tree, peach tree, two fig trees, and a small chicken lot. I had planted one lemon balm plant years ago and the lemon balm took over the area.

Lemon balm and weed overgrowth.

The trellis was placed in this area, several years ago, for blackberry and raspberry plants to trail on. The lemon balm and weeds choked out those berry plants.

I tilled the area and had been working to clear it off over several weeks. We finally took off a chain link panel at the back of the area so I could get the tractor in for deeper tilling.

Chain link fence removed for better tilling.

The tractor cleared more of the weeds and overgrowth of lemon balm.

I then took my small rototiller back in for the final clearing.

Area needing more tilling.

Area under peach tree that needed more tilling.

Under the peach tree was a large pot with a dwarf peach tree that I have had for years. It has never had any fruit. I removed it from the container and planted it in the ground.

The peach tree already looks better in the ground.

I placed some old landscape fabric around it to prevent weed growth until we can get another load of mulch to put around this tree.

I tilled the area, over and over again, and below are the final pictures of the weed free soil.

Same area where we had removed the chain link section. The section was replaced in this picture.

Area under peach tree.

We replaced the chain link section and I got the corn planted. I also planted more blackberry and raspberry plants in front of the trellis and laid down landscape fabric. This area will look much better when we get a load of mulch applied over the fabric.

Berry plants in front of trellis with landscape fabric.

There is still a lot of work to do in this area, but it is coming together. I moved the smaller of the two fig trees to the back trellis so it would not be in the way for planting corn or other future crops.

It is a load off my plate to be finished with this area for a little while so I can concentrate on the main garden. If you have big projects like this to complete, hang in there. Do what you can, a little at a time, and you will surprise yourself one day and actually get it completed.

Grapevine Transformation Completed – Before and After

BEFORE

This was the beginning of the transformation to get the grapevines under control and have a more pleasing appearance.

Before….it was a jungle out there!

Before picture of Scuppernong vine.

The metal posts had to be removed along with the rocks and keystone blocks that had been placed around them.

Old metal trellis with overgrown grapevines.

I pruned the grapevines during the late winter months.

After the grapevines were pruned.

New fencing was added.

Grapevines out of line with the new fence.

AFTER

Last week I moved grapevines and added mulch to cover the area.

Front left side view.

Front right side view.

We plan to replant grass on the slope below the grapevines.

Inside view from back.

Outside view from back. This was the old scuppernong vine.

The difference has been so amazing, even I have trouble believing it is the same grapevines and area.

I hope this gives you a new perspective on things you can do for improving your retreat.

Moving Grapevines

Grapevines out of line with fence.

In recent weeks we were able to have a fence installed to train our grapevines on. Several minor problems came to light when the fence was installed by professionals in a straight line. Two of the grapevines were not in line with the fence and one was run over by equipment and destroyed.

This morning I moved two of the grapevines and planted a replacement for the one that had been killed. I am pretty sure this is not the time of year to be moving grapevines, especially since the leaves have just started to appear, but I took my chances and began.

The largest grapevine.

I moved the largest vine first and was able to get some of its thicker roots.

Grapevine anchored to fence with cable ties.

Once I had dug the hole for this grapevine, I anchored it to the fence with cable ties to hold it in the right position and for future training of the limbs. I added a garden soil with fertilizer to the bottom of the hole to give it a boost and make it easy for the roots to spread out.

Garden soil

I dug two more holes. The roots from the other grapevines and some nearby trees made it a more difficult task than I had imagined.

Roots from nearby grapevine.

The next grapevine was smaller and easier to dig up.

Smaller grapevine

Of course the easiest of all is to buy them new.

New grapevine

Now all my grapevines line up with the fence.

Grapevines in line with fence.

After lunch I will add mulch to the area. Come back Monday for a before and after post. It is amazing to see the difference from the original metal trellis to the new fencing.

As always, I hope to show the improvements we have made just in case it is something you have been considering. That way you can decide if the changes would be worth implementing in your garden.

Have a great weekend!