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.

My bamboo

I love bamboo! I don't know what it is but I've always thought it was really cool. I bought my first house in December 2010 and decided I would plant some the following spring. I've heard people say not to, that it's invasive and hard to kill but that just sounds like a challenge to me.

I started out planting just one (and my only clumping variety and the only one I bought locally. The rest I had delivered from a nursery in Oregon). This is called Phyllostachys bissetii

Same plant 1 year later in 2012

and now, April, 2013,  it's starting to grow vertically again (something bamboo only does for approximately 2 months in the spring. The rest of the time it grows horizontally underground)

June 2013

The second bamboo I planted called Phyllostachys Nigra or black bamboo. It's canes look like this

First day of planting

1 year later

Now, in April 2013, it's starting its 2 month vertical growth spurt.

June 2013

This is the 3rd kind I planted. It's called Phyllostachys edulis "moso". It takes bamboo about 5 years to become "established". This little guy is one of the tallest species on the planet.

1 year later (5 new canes)

And now, in April 2013 it's starting its new growth (60+ new canes)

One week later

The forth kind I planted is Phyllostachys vivax "Chinese Timber"

And the fifth kind I planted is called Phyllostachys Bambusoides "Madake or Japanese Timber"

These last two I've planted in the front yard. They will hopefully all look like this in a few more years.

I'll have to install deep ground boarders so they don't spread quite this wide. I'll contain each grove to roughly 20 feet across.

I also want to use the bamboo for practical purposes. I plan on using it to floor in my attic. To build a pergola for my patio and to build a shed for the backyard. You can even eat young bamboo shoots.

Here's a clever way to container garden with bamboo.

My kitchen utensils like spoons and spatulas are bamboo. I've even ordered some bamboo toothbrushes as a "greener" alternative to plastic ones. Bamboo will breakdown eventually, unlike plastic. Thrown away toothbrushes are found by 1,000's in the ocean and some 50 million pounds of them are tossed into America’s landfills each year.

This bike frame is bamboo

Here's a cool bamboo house

Cool bridge

If I had more room, I would get some like the next two pictures:

Here's a picture of one in my front yard on day 1.

a year later

May 12, 2013

June 2013

How cool is this?!

If you don't like something in your yard, get rid of it! This bush was boring so I slapped a chain on it and pulled it out with my truck.

Of course I planted some bamboo in that spot.  :)

I even tried to grow sequoia sempervirens, better known as Redwood Trees. Here's a picture of me in Redwood National Park in northern California.

Hard to believe these giants start out small but they do. And they look like this.

 and this

They grew bigger pretty quickly

But sadly all three died. Even though I tried keeping the mulch away from the tree, I over-mulched. :( I might try them again. Who wouldn't want a giant redwood tree (or three) in the yard?!!

April 10 Garden Update

Severe storms are predicted here in Middle Tennessee today so I have taken precautions. I've planted dozens and dozens of seeds, most just 1/4" deep, so I'm afraid hard rain will flood them out.

I only had 3 tarps so I had to improvise with cardboard. I didn't cover up the broccoli and cauliflower shown here. They'll just have to take the beating. Hopefully it will just rain and NOT hail.

Does anyone else regrow food from cuttings? Here's some celery I'm regrowing from some store bought stock.

Even though I have 17 raised beds (13 in the back yard, 4 in the front yard), I'm running out of room for things I want to grow. So I'm going to try a few things in containers this year. An empty pot is a sad sight.

In these containers I'm going to plant Rainbow Chard, Arugala and more celery. I'll also plant beneficial flowers like marigolds and place around the garden area to attract good bugs and deter pests.