so with another week down and this much closer to summer. the garden is making some nice headway. with the initial set backs from a late lingering frost and cold damn weather past us... or so i hope. i have just about finished planting everything in the garden. with the warmer weather now apon us, and the longer available day light, the plants seem to be responding very well.
the newest additions to the garden this year have been working out very well indeed. the rain catch is just about empty from todays planting and watering of the raised beds. good thing they are calling for rain after midnight. its much needed around here. since the rain catch was installed. i have not used the city water at the house once! i estimate i am saving somewhere between 25 to 30 gallons a week on water just for the plants. the second addition is the composter. making new soil for the coming months as well as next year is a bonus. we have grass clippings, as well as leaves from the many trees to add in and make compost. i can already see soil starting to form on the bottom of the tray and its been only a month. it works even when you don't!
with 14 raised beds. and several in ground areas planted i will be trying to save and store a lot of produce this season. last year lots of it got wasted and thrown on the ground. not this year. between a food saver ( vacuum sealer ) and getting a pickling kit. i should be able to not only freeze food but also jar it and save it for up to 2 years! this should really help stretch the value of the home garden. between the rain catch, composting and the food storage. i really hope to minimize the impact on the environment as well as my pocket. with the ability to now make my own high grade soil for the garden, store water, and store the food i am growing. i am no longer dependent on the local grocer. well not just yet anyway.
the garden has a nice mix of things in it as well.
blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, and we also have mulberry tree in the yard.
the veggie garden has the following: spinach, roma tomato, beefsteak tomato, cherry tomato, corn, cucumbers, garden beans (string beans) , snap peas, white potatoes, red potatoes, jalepeno peppers, sweet peppers, pumpkins, and watermelons.
the flower garden will have a nice mix of annual and perennial plants. sunflowers are some of my favorites as well as a mix of some wild flowers to help attract the attention of bee's to help pollinate both the flowers and the veggie plants.
i am really looking forward to this season. with the amount of preparations and that this is now the third year i am working on this project. lessons learned or so i hope. i just need to remember no to start anything next year before the month of april. march is still to cold at night to keep things alive and kicking. i had some setbacks early this year. but we have more then recovered from them. lots of happy plants are growing now. it makes me feel good, and keeps my dad somewhat busy too.
well stop on over one day and take a tour. i now also have something like 26 trees that i have saved from the lawnmower and will be looking for homes in the next year or so. again trying to reduce my footprint on the plant!
