Well its been 2 months since I put anything in here and its time to give an up date.
Back in March, I signed up for a class at the Botanical gardens here in Charlotte. The class was on organic gardening. Truly organic means that the garden will have no soil...only compost and no chemicals such as fertilizer or pesticide. A garden like this requires a raised bed.
Soooooooo, I did it. Once I came home and the weather reached a point where there was no threat of freezing or frost, I went to work.
As a kid growing up, we lived on a piece of land where we turned an entire pasture into a garden. While I dont remember the deminsions, i do remember my father saying once that there were 64 rows and each was about 1200 feet long. That garden was all consuming in that it required constant care and picking, Every member of our extended family that wanted fresh veggies was able to get them. We even sold some produce although I dont remember if it was a lucrative business.
My garden is not that big. In fact, for as much work as Ive put into it, I have to laugh when I think about the size comparison.
I built the bed 10 feet long, 4 feet wide 28 inches deep. It may not seem that deep but it took two truckloads of compost to fill it up.
On the back row nearest the fence I planted green beans which are currently producing enough to provide a meal for two every three or four days. I have 3 rows of Brussel sprouts which have turned out to be huge plants and once ready to harvest will provide enough to feed three or four families. The ironic thing about it is that I hate brussel sprouts but the rest of my family loves them.
I planted two rows of lettuce and carrots. The carrots are growing big and the lettuce is awesome. Its a leafy lettuce sort of like romain. Its amazing to me how strong, green and leafy fresh lettuce tastes compared to what you buy in the store.
No garden is complete without peppers of some sort. I have hot peppers, sweet peppers and bell peppers. They have all been slow to mature but as of this morning I have blooms on all the plants.
Next are the tomatoes. I put in one of the Big Boy variety and two Cherry tomatoe plants. Of all the plants these are producing at a rate that doesnt seem natural . On the Cherry plant I have ( at last count) almost 51 tomatoes that are currently in various stages of ripening. The Big Boys have about a dozen that should be ready in a few more days. The plants are almost 5 feet tall as I type this.
On a whim, and to fill in an empty spot, I dropped a couple seeds for a sunflower plant. Brandon and I took a tape measure a few days ago to get a measurement and it is now over 9 feet tall.
In all, if I were to pick everything at once, Id have enough to make a serving of beans and sprouts, and enough for one or two side salads. Its not really alot but it has sure been alot of fun getting it to this point.
Im already planning on dropping in a few more beds for next year.
Unitl the next entry........
