May 27 Garden update

The garden is coming along. A little slower than I'd like due to unseasonably cool weather and way too much rain. But I think we've turned that corner here in Middle Tennessee. Here's some recent pics:

The PVC is because I'm building something to drape bird netting over to protect my blackberries.

This bed has cucumbers on the back row. The 8 squares on the right are cauliflower. The 8 on the left are spinach that never came up. I planted them in mid March because they're cool weather crops. I just reseeded them so hopefully I'll have better luck now.

The back row of this bed is kale which I planted 2 months ago and they are still tiny. Something's wrong, I just don't know what. The big plants are broccoli that are doing fine. The 6 squares at the front are lettuces that have not done well.

This is another disappointing bed. The pumpkins are doing ok but the watermelon isn't. Those two I'll be growing up the trellis. There are things growing in each square but you can't really see them in this picture. Carrots, kale, etc.

Another disappointing bed. 5 tomatoes. 3 that will grow up the trellis. 2 in cages. Even though I planted these after our last frost date, it frosted at least once more after that and rained too much. I may pull these out and start again.

This bed is growing slowly but surely. In the middle is a skyscraper sunflower that should reach 12-15'! On the left are 2 zucchini plants. On the right, two squash. The cardboard is to keep weeds down and the cages are to train to enormous leaves upward. This will make the squash easier to see. The 2 plastic containers right above it are carrots and arugula seeded.

This bed is doing ok. The top row is pumpkin and cantaloupe which will grow up the trellis. Then red onions, yellow onions. Bell peppers (caged because these tend to droop from the weight of the peppers). I had to reseed the jalapenos. They never came up. I may have buried the seed too deep.

The containers at the bottom are stevia and fennel. This bed was planted in mid March will all cool weather crops. It's been disappointing so far.  :(

This bed is doing great. The top half is 1st year asparagus (which you don't pick year 1). The bottom left quarter is garlic. To the right is celery and arugula. The containers up top are celery I'm regrowing from organic store-bought. The bottom container is chocolate mint. The two plastic containers on the right are kale.

My strawberry bed with bird netting over it.

Looks like my strawberries will be ready soon.

Another very disappointing bed. The 2 upper right are sweet potatoes (which will grow up the trellis). There's something in each square but they're too small to show up in this pic and I planted them 2 months ago. Grrrr! Left of the bed is a tomato in a container.

Random pic from my patio.

I built a grape vine trellis next to my driveway.

There are even little grapes.

Either the birds or squirrels kept digging up my sunflower seeds that I started in big pots. This time I'm outsmarting them with a little protection.

May 7, 2013 update

My ultimate goal is to grow 100% of everything I eat. This isn't too hard to do during the summer months but to do this during the winter I'm going to need a greenhouse outside and some type of grow-light/hydroponic system for the inside. Growing microgreens would be the easiest. What are microgreens? Watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blBwFvAghTs

To help me reach my goal, I've just bought some apple trees, almond trees,  plum trees and grapes. These things you especially want to buy organic because they are some of the "dirtiest" fruit out there as far as pesticides, etc, go.  I keep this picture on my phone as a reminder:

I'm growing all 12 of the "dirty dozen" except number 6.

Another reason to grow your own is cost. Growing your own food is like printing your own money!

For example, a 10 ounce thing of almonds after tax is roughly $8.

I eat almonds at least every other day so this gets expensive. So I'm planting two all-in-one semi-dwarf almond trees at $60 each. 60x2=120 divided by $8 is 15. If I get 15 (10 ounces) worth of almonds out of these trees I will have broke even. But I should get way more than that out of the trees over the years. Not to mention the lessened environmental impact of not having to ship the almonds from California or where ever. I don't want to support our monoculture crops if possible.

I also eat or juice at least 1 apple a day. If you buy organic apples, they are

$6 for 8 apples. Or you can buy an apple tree for $20 (Lowes) and have pesticide free apples right out your door. I just bought 4 apples trees. Two that bloom mid-season, two that bloom late-season. I also bought two plum trees. Not because I eat that many plums but you need at least two for pollination.

Growing your own grapes make economical sense too. You can pay $4 a pound or buy a vine for $10

I just bought 2 seedless Concord grape vines for $20 that will produce for years. Of course all of these things are seasonal. But even when you factor in the cost of the grape vine trellis (a high cordon system in my case), you'll come out ahead.

Here's my front and backyard plans drawn out. Everything listed above will be grown on the right side along my driveway where it will get the best sun (and a nice privacy screen from the neighbor). I have yet to get the things highlighted in yellow. They're on my To Do List.

Of course the pool, shed, patio and greenhouse will be expensive so who knows when that'll happen but they're part of my plan. The honeysuckle will be free and fairly easy because it grows crazy at the park across the street. I'm just going to clip the existing vines and propagate them back home. It'll be nice to lay in my hammock with the smell of honeysuckle everywhere.

I'm actually waiting to plant the 4 apples trees, 2 plum trees, 2 almond tress and 2 grape vines until I settle a property line dispute with my neighbor. We are waiting for a surveyor to come out and settle it officially. Unfortunately I've bought everything already. They're just sitting in containers near my garden until this gets settled. The trees kept blowing over so I've used spare pallets to keep them upright.