I love gardening. I remember working for an hour and a half mowing my grandparents yard and being paid the astronomical sum of "three whole dollars" for my efforts. It seemed too good to be true. I have been mowing lawns and pulling weeds for as long as I can remember.
Fast forward a few decades...
I still love gardening, but three dollars doesn't seem like nearly enough money for an hour and a half of work.
Nonetheless, gardening is my escape, my gift to my family, my bridge to sanity, and, ultimately, my connection to God.
My Cousin works at a fencing company. They routinely install, fix, and remove vinyl fencing material. When they have left over, scrap and used material, what better place for its ultimate resting place than my garden?
I used the recycled vinyl fencing material to build raised veggie beds. They are 3 to 4 feet wide, 12 to 24 inches tall, and up to 36 feet long.
My wife is a graphics designer, so the layout had to be aesthetically pleasing. We went thru several designs before we settled on wht we call the "amazing maze design." Essentially, what we ended up with was a series of interlocking beds that provided for easy access and maximum planting area.
I have included pictures of the rest of my backyard area, including the chicken coop made from recycled fence material, the patio made from recycled sidewalk concrete, and other notable areas.
As of today, my garden has
10 varieties of tomatoes
5 varities of sweet peppers
5 varieties of hot peppers
baby corm
snap peas
snow peas
soy beans
yard long beans
4 varieties of cucumbers
squash
zucchini
arugula
lettuce
Swiss chard
Lima beans
chives
garlic
onions
shallots
ashawagunda
asparagus
basil
carrots
brochilli
cabbage
thyme
rosemary
oregano
okra
artichokes
blackberries, boysenberries, raspberries
grapes.
I also have cherries, peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots, lemons, grapefruit, limes, oranges, figs, almonds, walnuts and poppy seeds.
I am fortunate to be able to preserve enough food from the garden to carry us through the winter. We are still enjoying last year's blackberry jam and preserves, diced tomatoes, peaches, apricots, figs, nuts, chicken soup (not my favorite chore) and poppies.
If you like my garden, please vote for me.
Fast forward a few decades...
I still love gardening, but three dollars doesn't seem like nearly enough money for an hour and a half of work.
Nonetheless, gardening is my escape, my gift to my family, my bridge to sanity, and, ultimately, my connection to God.
My Cousin works at a fencing company. They routinely install, fix, and remove vinyl fencing material. When they have left over, scrap and used material, what better place for its ultimate resting place than my garden?
I used the recycled vinyl fencing material to build raised veggie beds. They are 3 to 4 feet wide, 12 to 24 inches tall, and up to 36 feet long.
My wife is a graphics designer, so the layout had to be aesthetically pleasing. We went thru several designs before we settled on wht we call the "amazing maze design." Essentially, what we ended up with was a series of interlocking beds that provided for easy access and maximum planting area.
I have included pictures of the rest of my backyard area, including the chicken coop made from recycled fence material, the patio made from recycled sidewalk concrete, and other notable areas.
As of today, my garden has
10 varieties of tomatoes
5 varities of sweet peppers
5 varieties of hot peppers
baby corm
snap peas
snow peas
soy beans
yard long beans
4 varieties of cucumbers
squash
zucchini
arugula
lettuce
Swiss chard
Lima beans
chives
garlic
onions
shallots
ashawagunda
asparagus
basil
carrots
brochilli
cabbage
thyme
rosemary
oregano
okra
artichokes
blackberries, boysenberries, raspberries
grapes.
I also have cherries, peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots, lemons, grapefruit, limes, oranges, figs, almonds, walnuts and poppy seeds.
I am fortunate to be able to preserve enough food from the garden to carry us through the winter. We are still enjoying last year's blackberry jam and preserves, diced tomatoes, peaches, apricots, figs, nuts, chicken soup (not my favorite chore) and poppies.
If you like my garden, please vote for me.
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Once this phase of my master plan is complete, I will use their poison-infused decomposing bodies to kill as many soil-borne microbes as possible. In fact, I estimate that each one of my children will render approximately two cubic meters of soil uninhabitable for at least the next 50 years. My wife may be good for up to three cubic meters.
Though I truly appreciate your comments, I must ask you to please refrain from mentioning this to anyone. It would truly be a shame if, after working so hard on my diabolical plan, it were foiled so close to success. I'm sure you understand.
By the way, about 66% of the water distribution pipes in the US are made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC). It appears that the Department of Health has the same disdain for the general population as I do for my family and the earth. I'm sure that agency would appreciate your silence concerning this matter.
In conclusion, thanks for the comment. I will think of it each time I use my plastic credit card to purchase a plastic bottle of water so as not to drink water from the plastic PVC pipes.
Again, thanks, and don't forget to wear your aluminum foil hat and gas mask when you go out into the real world.
What I do is make my own fence out of twine and clothes line. I stretch the clothes line near the ground and at about 7 feet up. Then I use the twine and go up and down, each time making a couple wraps around the clothes line (think modified clove hitch). Zig-zag your way to the other end of the row and tie it off. A few horizontal runs with the twine and you have yourself a pea fence. I'll post pics tonight.
Another pea fence option is concrete mesh wire. It is 5 feet tall and has 6 inch square openings. cost is $100 for 150 feet, but will last forever and makes great tomato cages, as well.
Thanks Laura
Man...I am still smiling over that reply. Thank God for people with restraint, humour and a seriously good grasp of the English/American language. You rule! :o)
Thanks!
btw: have you invited Mary-Jane? I'm sure she'd love it...;-)))
Cheers from Switzerland
yes me 2 me 2 :)
this is just my dream coming true but in ur garden
You grow food and you have a sense of humor, my kind of human. :)
As to which plants are easiest/hardest to grow, I have no real good answer. Some years tomatos (for example) are easy, the next year they fizzle: I was never able to get anything out of peppers until a few years ago, then the peppers were comming out of my ears. Last year my apricot tree was loaded, but this year, due to weather, I can only find a handfull on the tree. I was happy to get a handfull of cherries last year, and this year, I can't dehydrate them fast enough. Squash always seems to be easy, Beyond that, it's a crap shoot.
As for the dirt. I use dirt. Granted, I live in the breadbasket of the world, and the topsoil around here is 200-300 feet deep, so I start out in a pretty good spot. To that, I add a lot of municipal compost ,chicken manure, and some self-produced worm castings (well, not exactly self produced, but you know what I mean),
I am most definately NOT organic. That being said, I use only ladybugs, preying mantis, chickens, Neem oil, dish soap, and diatomatious earth for pest control. I never use pesticides like Sevin, Methaldihide, or malathion, because I don't want to harm the beneficials. I use glyphosate liberally for weed control outside of the beds, and some will excoriate me for this, but they aren't the ones pulling my weeds! I guess my philosophy falls in line with every other farmer in the country...." I am as 'green' as I can be and still get the job done."
As for the harvest, squash is doing great and I suspect I underestimated the amout of room I should have given it...oops. Tomatos are on track for an average harvest, Peppers and cucumbers are sucking hind teat. Everything else is producing as expected.
Thanks for the comment and the interest.