Our Garden

I have been gardening for a long while. I have created new garden plots in heavy clay soil, sandy soil, heavy weed and brush soil, and around tree roots. Also have garden in pots and raised beds. I am not sure if I truly have a favorite method of gardening. I would say every style has its purpose.

Gardening is not just your vegetable garden by your back deck. Here gardening will include growing fruits, vegetables, and landscaping. All things soil.  Here you can read what works for us and what did not work out so well.

Landscaping

We recently have planted a new landscape for all of our foundation plantings. I was on the fence on if I wanted to create an edible garden, hedgerow, or a variably of textures, colors, and heights.

Currently I planted mostly bare root mix of different bushes and perennials. We will see how they will fill out. I would naturally assume that we will need to do some transplanting later on. So far though it is looking great. I have tried a new method to create the beds so we can reach the long term benefits without too much up front labor.

Orchard

The orchard was started three years ago with just a couple apple trees. Now we have twenty fruit trees and still growing. Currently we have a variety of apple, cherry, peach, nectarine, plum, apricots, and pear trees.

I have decided to try a different approach on how to grow the orchard other than the typical twenty foot rows or stagger placements. I do have a mix of semi-dwarf, dwarf, and full size trees.  This was the advantage I had for my plantings.

Fruit

The first thing you do after the orchard trees are planted is to get the berry plants in. We currently have raised bed of 100+ strawberry plants, row of raspberry canes, and potted blueberry bushes.  We are looking to expand this in the coming seasons to include grape vines, kiwi plants, blackberry, cranberry, and more.

Fruit plants are a great addition to any garden. The plants blend in well with the surrounding landscape and are fairly easy to maintain. One thing to keep in mind is during fruiting season it is a good idea to keep the bird netting close by.

Vegetables

I have grown vegetables for years but I have started a new plot this summer and will be sharing my findings. I keep a mix of all style of vegetable growing. I keep the bulk of the garden in the direct soil but quick harvest or early plantings I plant out raised beds. Lettuce is a great choice for a raised bed. The constant harvest if your go with the cut and come again method, so I do not need to kneel on the ground.

We also enjoy planting row crops and ground coverings. This keep our soil rich in nutrients and tilth. I grow from radishes to pumpkin, cabbages to potatoes.

Composting

I am lucky enough to have a constant supply of composting materials. We used to keep a large pile and keep adding too it. This would compost down fairly fast but the problem was that I could never to get the good stuff. Now I have a three bin compost system. This allows me to get to the finish compost will still adding to another bin daily.

I use the compost in the garden but also in new plantings of trees and bushes. Also it is a good to add to the raised beds and keep the beds full of nutrients. With this I do not need as much or any fertilizer.  Also I will explain what hot manure and cold manure is and why it relates to composting.