Another Good Read

I started Second Nature by Michael Pollan last night. I'm hooked! His writing is so easy to follow and full of sarcasm andthings that make me chuckle. But this book is a serious look at gardening from his experiences etc. I'm looking forward to gleaning from his experiences.

It's been raining something terrible for over a week, so we've been mostly stuck indoors. As I said in an earlier post, Jerod and Eden did clear where our existing garden used to be. So now we are ready to start getting the beds ready. I need to move a couple things around and figure out how to get a fence up to keep the dogs out of the main garden area. I'd block off the whole yard if Jerod would let me, but I don't think that's going to happen. So we'll get that figured out.

Seeds should arrive soon. I still need to order my seed potatoes and garlic.....oh and I forgot peppers! Can't forget pepper!!!! So those will be ordered soon. Need to get some compost as we haven't gotten our pile started yet. Lots to do still. I'll try to keep this updated and get some pictures on here as well.

Seeds Are On Their Way

I discovered a fantastic easier to follow book on Biointensive gardening written by John Jeavons who also wrote How To Grow More Vegetables. The Sustainable Vegetable Garden is much easier to follow for someone just starting out on this adventure. I followed the author's advice on which seeds to try first so my list did change some. After I see what's in stock and on it's way I'll post what we will attempt to grow this year. But the seeds are ordered!

Yesterday Jerod and Eden went into what was our existing garden and took out all of the old plants and we will begin our compost pile with that. I purchased a couple tools that we will need and once the extreme weather has passed us by I will begin digging our beds.

I also need to look into getting decent equipment for canning. We are definately going to need it this year...I hope.

So that's the latest here on our little patch of dirt.

We're back!!!

It's that time of year again! Even though it's still cold and the rain is coming down spring is right around the corner and there is so much to be done to get our garden up and going for the year.

Last year we had great plans of expanding our garden throughout our backyard, but the dogs had other plans. This year a new fence will be installed prior to bed prep.

I have already done my seed research and here is a list of what we plan to see in the garden by spring/summer (please note we have found heirloom varieties for everything we want to grow this year):

Tomatoes:

• Black Giants
• Cherokee Chocolate
• Arkansas Traveler
• Aurora

Peas:

• Shelling: Alderman Pole Pea
• Sugar Snap: Super Sugar Snap

Zucchini: Golden Zucchini

Corn:

• Golden Bantam
• Japanese Popcorn

Romain: Jerico (this is a cold weather and warm weather. If planted in the next few weeks we can have this by spring and then replant in August for a winter crop)

Spinach: Strawberr/Beatberry (this isn't actually spinach but great warm/hot weather sub)

Cabbage: All Season Cabbage (this won't do as well in summer here, but if planted soon we can see quite a lot for spring and then again for winter. We can make all sorts of canned goodies with this.)

Cucumbers:

• Pickling: Snow Fancy
• Regular: Cucumber mix (lemon, American and Straight)

Leeks: Mussel burgh (this is also a warm weather/cold weather crop. If planted soon we can have leeks for spring and then again for winter)

Cantaloupe: Northern Arizona (This is not a cantaloupe. But it's flavor is similar)

Beans: Anasazi Bush Bean

Strawberry: Alpine

Sunflower: Mammoth

Peppers: Jalapenos/Early/Hot

Radishes: Mix for various colors and also making this an all season

Tomatillo

• Toma Verde (which is what you typically see)
• Purple de Milpa (beautiful purple color)

Herbs:

• Basil
• Borage
• Chives
• Cilantro
• Dill
• Chamomile
• Thyme
• Oregano
• Sage
• Cumin
• Lemon Balm
• Mint
• Savory

Quite the list! I am studying the Grow Bio intensive method this year because it really helps keep your soil alive. Good living soil helps a good living garden.

We still have 3 of our 5 chickens. We lost 2 of them due to the freezing weather we had a few weeks ago. They just couldn't take it. It was a sad loss.

I will try to update weekly if not more frequently as we progress or I learn something new.