Chewys--Momma's Day !!!

New Asparagus patch--




First of all anyone who knows us know that we are a very large, crazy (in a good way) family. We say the more the merrier about most things. (kids,animals etc.) ha,ha. So if you are reading this post and are shocked that they have Ducks, and Dogs in the pool; don't be. We don't just have animals we LIVE animals. No worries, there was no clorine in the pool when the Ducks had their swim. The dog, Titan took to it pretty well but his face in this picture just tickles me!! He reminded me of the Shepard Charlie in the movie "All dog's go to heaven."






For mothers day I only wanted one thing; more garden space!!!! So I took the opportunity to use my Mother's Day power and with full advantage had the hubby and all the children help with a few new plots.

We ended up putting in three new areas. I used the No-dig style for all of them. Relatively quick I had new planting space. Each year I think I have enough space and then I find myself longing for more because I have new things I want to plant.

The new cinder block, No-dig space is mostly for greens (lettuce,cabbage,Brussels sprouts, collards, Swiss chard, cauliflower) In the back of each I planted different variety of tomatoes. In the cinder block holes I planted lettuce, and corn. I'm not sure if the corn will thrive but we will see. When planting the corn I planted four seeds in each hole so that they propagate. I will thin them once they sprout, leaving only the healthiest plant.

Then I decided to use some things around the house for my pole beans. I had an old swing that I did upside down tomatoes on last year. I also had a broken doggie gate that I was going to just throw away but felt I could find some use for it. So I ended up with a make-shift solution for my pole beans. I ended up keeping the soil in the bag and planting directly into them. I just pushed the poles through the bag and left enough space for the plants to grow up and around the poles and eventually onto the gate. I added through the holes some compost and manure.

The smaller cinder block area in the front is for Asparagus only, and the holes in the cinder blocks are planted with a variety of lettuce.

I reused the BIG tire (some comments were worried about leaching of the tire) I planted Sweet Potatoes in the center. I also decided to grow red and russet potatoes in cardboard boxes (I have read that it keeps them pest and disease free) and I also planted watermelon, and cantaloupe in a few boxes.

Onto the Straw Bales-In the center I planted Zucchini, acorn squash, Muss Melon, cucumbers, eggpant, and sweet potatoes. I planted directly IN the bales only; different varieties of Strawberries, and one Big Boy tomatoes plant because I ran out of room elsewhere. The bales this year are second year and broken down more than I had expected. The good news is that I will compost them after this year. I will have to transplant the Strawberries, but I plan on doing another Cinder block, No-dig area for them. I will also buy new bales next year and start the process again.


All In the Family,

Chewy


PS: Sorry the pics are not in the proper order..still learning how to edit this......you might have to scroll up and down to see corresponding pic.

ChewOnGreens--

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Green-not my favorite color!

Green-proven that if you pick that color for a car your SMART (proven? really?)

Green-became an enemy, when I became a Golf widow (used to have an overwhelming urge when traveling on the highway and seen a particular golf course; to throw a exploding projectile onto the 18th green and snicker devilishly as I imagined all sorts of plaid clothing fly into the sky in a cloud of smoke he..he...he ...exclaiming FOUR!!!!!!!!! (ahem! sorry, got carried away) Geez...where would I get an exploding projectile. Hey! where would I get an exploding projectile? LOL..just kidding......or am I....

Green-makes the world go round-that's why I'm stuck in the vortex never quite spinning with the rest of the world...No green!

Green-A project (experiment really) I'm trying.......called Straw Bale gardening--

I have found there isn't much information out there about straw bale gardening. When you do find information there aren't many pictures of the process. So I decided that I would teach myself through trial and error and see what becomes of it. I don't claim to have a green thumb, and my only success story previously is that I have a few house plants that are still alive and thriving. I tried a traditional garden last year and was overwhelmed with weeds. I didn't see any fruit of my hard labor and that almost did me in on gardening. Most articles I read about Straw bale gardening seem to market the idea to those that can't bend much (like the elderly) or those that live in apartments, or don't have the yard space. All of those reasons are good ones of course but I decided to try it because it seem out of the normal realm of gardening; that appealed to me.

1) Get a few straw bales and set them up anyway you like-be creative-(make sure the twine around the bale isn't touching the ground) I put a sheet of black plastic down first because the bales need lots of water and the plastic helps retain water. plus, if you decided ( I did) to use the bales for a border and plant Lasagna style in the center (more about that later) then you will need to layer the center up (more later) and plastic is the first layer.

2) after you have set the bales up on the plastic-soak them everyday for 3-4 days. The other articles I read suggested using ammonium nitrate to soak the bales (but it is not found easily in USA) regulated etc...I had no luck finding this...so I experimented and soaked the bales with Miracle grow once. (really soaked each bale; you need a good nitrogen soak up)

3) The next day I covered the tops of the bales with blood meal, then manure, top soil.

4) Give your bales time to cool down, and start planting about four days after the Miracle grow. Plant- 2 plants per bale(just dig, cut or wedge down into the bale). If you do seeds (pushing them just barely into the bale) cover them with a thin layer of top soil and thin them out over time as they begin to sprout.

5) water often-straw bales require more water than traditional gardens.

6) Experiment-I can only offer the results thus far with my own straw bale experiment. I think I have already become obsessed. I have better results in the first week and a half than any other type of gardening I've tried. I also bent the rules a bit when planting. Because you get less area to plant, I decided to put a few plants like vining ones in between the bales at the bottom so that they grow out and into the yard. This way giving myself more available planting spaces...also I planted inside my rectangular shape. I decided in this area to try Lasagna gardening which is another alternative gardening style to the traditional dug garden.

The process of the center area of my garden is Lasagna style.

1) first we already laid the plastic.

2) cardboard or cardboard paper or newspaper.

3) top soil, blood meal, manure, compost--mix it into each other with a hoe etc...

4) loose straw

5) take the plant with a handful of topsoil and push it into the straw, firming it into the compact soil, and bringing the straw in close around that plant.

6) water, water, water.


Both of these techniques have saved me tons of time. I am a mom of four, and I don't have time to dig and weed. These techniques work great and my plants are doing wonderful!!


ChewyChews--