Garden Update
I’m going to go ahead and call the no-till, new garden approach we started last year a resounding success. I may not have the best garden in the county, or even on our road, but everything seems to be doing well enough considering there was no tilling involved and it was started on sod with hard clay soil underneath.
I recommend this approach (explained more in this vide0) to anyone who has a piece of yard or field that they want to turn into a garden, but have the time to wait a year before sowing any seeds. For instance, if you have purchased a property but haven’t moved there yet, or if you have a current garden but would like to move it to a new part of your property, etc… It takes awhile, but really the worms, moles, centipedes, field mouses and myriad other creatures do most of the work.
In this photo: grapes, several potato varieties that are about ready to harvest for new potatoes, carrots that I started harvesting yesterday, salad greens, beats, tomatoes, green beans, peas, corn, chard, kale, watermelon, zucchini and sunflowers. So far the greens and peas are most prolific, but I'm hoping we'll be up to our ears in potatoes soon.
Related posts:
- Straw Bale Mulch No-Till Garden From Virgin Ground Experiment Update
- Tractor Saves The Day & Plans for Garden Flood Control
- Farm Update – May 20-24th
Category: Food, Gardening, The Transplants
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Wow! Your garden looks beautiful! I didn’t think you’d have time for anything nearly that big and manicured this year.
Anna,
Actually I feel like I’m doing “just enough” to keep it from getting out of control. If it weren’t for the straw mulch the whole thing would be overrun by weeds.
Every other day I make sure my fingers are nice and red with the guts of a few dozen Colorado potato beetles. Where do they all come from !?!?!?!
Everett! Congrats on being a new daddy and on a spectacular garden. I know it’s much easier with that rich blue ridge soil than it is here in CO. I just moved to a new house and I’m wanting to get a garden going before it’s too late. Any suggestions?
-Brooke
Hi Brooke!
We were hoping you’d move “back home”.
But since you’re staying in Colorado my recommendation is to invest in a rain barrel and get that water from your gutters. Make sure it’s up higher than the garden so you can gravity-feed the water into drip lines during those Denver dry spells. And use PLENTY of mulch of some sort (straw, chopped up leaves from the previous fall, or even newspaper) to keep the weeds down and the precious moisture in the soil. Even in Colorado you can have rich soil with some work. Compost, Compost, Compost!
It’s good to hear from you. Thanks for the congratulations!
Everett
Wow! I admire the lifestyle of you. The garden is well arranged. Congratulations!