how does your garden grow
Earlier this year, I decided that we needed a garden. Our home included a 200 square foot flower bed that was moving steadily towards total reclamation by aggressive, thorn ridden, noxious plant life. People who know me weren't surprised by the weed cultivation -- I insisted for several years that the back yard was xeriscaped with native plant life prior to Nat ordering sod. I spent several weekends and evenings digging out the undesirable material, tilling in compost, busting sod, and removing galvanized sprinkler pipe with my trusty sidekick. We started with eleven 9 foot rows over approximately 24 feet of garden.
Technorati Tags: black raspberries, boysenberries, cole, garden, jalapenos, lentils, pumpkins, raspberries, red bell peppers, roma tomatoes, tomatillos, yukon gold potatoes
I discovered that I enjoy playing in the outside dirt almost as much as I love playing in the clean dirt of my (presently mostly hypothetical) studio (e.g., clay). I planted three varieties of lentils (calypso beans, kidney beans, and boston favorite beans), roma tomatoes, tomatillos, yukon gold potatoes, pumpkins (for Cole and Tate) and peppers (jalapenos, seranos, habaneros, cayenne, and red bell). With one thing and another, I seized another 200 square foot section of the southwest corner of our lot for berries. I dithered on the berry decision long enough to miss out on the supply of blackberries at my local garden stores. I planted red raspberries, black raspberries, and boysenberries. We will get blackberries next year along with a couple of fruit trees. I will likely expand the garden to the edge of the driveway before I finish for the year. And, I have started thinking about a compost bin.
Before I started, I chatted with Jeremy of the Rockin' E Country Store and the fellow who runs the East Farms CSA. I knew almost nothing about vegetable gardening. Jeremy gave me some pointers for getting started and recommended a drip irrigation system. Once my berries and vegetables were planted, I spent a vacation day trenching across the backyard and plumbing in an irrigation water spigot at the garden. My sister-in-law is connected with Orbit Irrigation and got me a couple of their vegetable garden kits (Thanks, Mel!). I also set bamboo posts and purchased hemp twine for trellising my vines. I don't know how well the bamboo is going to work, but I like how it looks. If/when it fails, I'll explore other options.
I view the garden as the natural evolution of my lifestyle change back in January 2005. Michael Pollan's books The Omnivore's Dilemma and The Botany of Desire influenced my thinking as did my research into community supported agriculture (CSA information: USDA National Agriculture Library and Wikipedia's CSA entry) and the local CSA programs (Borski Organic Farms, East Farms, Ranui Gardens, and Zoe's Organic Garden). I was also influenced by discussions with my buddy Jean Wylie -- she's an adept gardner who tells me that the load of shit steer manure she received was the best possible house warming gift her friend Ivan could have given (Jean moved to Colorado at the start of the year to be closer to her children. And probably Ivan. I miss her something fierce.).