Farm Update #9

Today really isn't so much as an update but more like what I did and noticed while doing our morning watering.


That day at Home depot where we bought the dirt, I mentioned we bought two new herbs, Oregano and Pink Rosemary.

Well, I decided to extend the herb garden and add them in:

I found this branch on the hill, looks like it would be a perfect branch to use as a trellis for the new peas we planted with the kids.


These are the huge trees on the hill where the branch came from. I loathe these trees!

A little Garlic popped up overnight!

Looks like the corn is in bloom!


Forgot to mention, I harvested the last pound of lettuce. Must plant some more STAT!

Feeding the addiction

Three ways I did so...

1. Our toilet is not being nice, it's slowing running and wasting water. Once we figured out what was the issue, I talked the hubby to venturing out to Home Depot. Once there, I quickly grabbed the basket and made a bee-line to the garden center for more dirt. Three big bags to be exact. I don't what happened but two more herbs (oregano and rosemary) and a jalapeno pepper plant found it's way into my basket too. When the hubby found me, all crazed and a little high off the smell of dirt, he just rolled his eyes and took the basket away and paid.

2. I found the most amazing books on gardening. As much as I'd like to tote my laptop out to the garden, I don't think the hubby would allow it because of my klutzy nature. So in my search for knowledge, I acquired these bad boys on overstock!




3. My garden/cycling/all-around friend Bob is going to come over and is bringing me a HUGE gift.. a truck load of mulch. I know I know you are all jealous of my well connected friends who can get me tons of mulch and railroad ties for free. We'll finally cover the hill with it to keep the weeds at bay and it'll look a lot prettier than how it looks now too! I'm also going to use him as cheap labor and help move some dirt so we can start building the last tier. If he works fast, I might buy him dinner! :)

How do you feed your addictions?

Farm Update #8.1

Because of the amount of photos I took and the ugly timeouts I'm getting from Nikon Picture Town, I'll have to do this in two posts. Bare with me... lots of photos to follow!!!
I love spring time!


This is the mystery garden section. I am slowly figuring out what is what!


The first portion of the garden we did is sooo big now!


The Herb Garden


Peppers, tomatoes and squash!


The left row is Garlic and the right row is Asparagus


Even the flowers are blooming around the garden







You know how I mentioned we built a second bench? Well, we also stained it and here it is! We are going to make a top for the fire pit to act like a ottoman when not in use. That will be June DIY craft project. I love sitting out here in the evening with the tiki torches lit. It's very calm and serene!

Farm Update #8.2

Getting bigger by the day!

Artichokes on the left, Spaghetti Squash on the right


Asparagus


Grapes


Raspberries


Corn (tallest one is around 4ft)


Corn


In the back Snow Peas, left front is the last of the lettuce (harvested 4lbs so far) and onions are on the verge of being ready


I think these are radishes


Swiss Chard


Things are blooming!!!!

Tons of Cherry Tomatoes


Cucumber blossoms


Strawberries


Squash


Peas! YUM!

Farm Update #7

I think the hubby thinks I've completely lost it. I race home now to water the plants and make sure the puppies didn't do their own gardening. A few days ago I planted the garlic and can't wait for it to pop out. I finally got to the top tier and planted strawberries. On the new section we built a few weeks ago, the seedlings are barely coming up. We ended up just tilling it and planting again with more organic soil.

This past weekend's mini-farm to-do list went as follows:

• Plant asparagus


• Finish weeding... for the most part


• Plant another LONG row of garlic


• Plant new hydrangea plants and raspberry plant


• Create irrigation system for asparagus, garlic, hydrangeas, raspberries and grapes (it's further away from the rest of the garden


• Fertilize! Fertilize! Fertilize!


• Start drawing up plans on irragation system for the entire area
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This is the new area. We still have some maintenance to do (i.e. build a new gate to hide the spa equipment, buy metal sheets and paint black where the sheets of wood are, do more weeding and clearing) but for the most part, I'm really ecstatic we figured out how to use this area. You see, it's been sectioned off because there is a big dog in our neighbor's yard up there. Our dogs would barked like mad and we figured we'd just section off this side so they couldn't get up there anymore. Because of that, we never cared about this area and it always looked so ratty. Now, nice clean lines and hopefully it will produce garlic and asparagus, raspberries and grapes! (grapes coming soon)

Our final and major project will extend the wall we made. We are waiting on more recycled railroad tiers. Once they comes in, we'll build it and plant like mad!

So has anything produced? YES! We harvested lots of lettuce! It tastes unbelievable! I never thought lettuce had a flavor! In the words of the hubby: "TASTY!" We also measured to get an idea of how much we area we are using. Since we don't go to the top of the hill, we just measured to the top of the strawberries. Right now we are using 462 square ft of land for our garden. Once we put in the new tier, we will add an additional 136 sq ft making our garden 600 sq feet. This is amusing to me since my last apt was 600 sq ft! Glad we figured out how to use this wasted space. Photos will have to wait till we get some better light to show the new area!

On a non garden front, last weekend we built the second bench, this weekend we sanded and stained it. :) I LOVE how it all turned out!!!

Farm Update #6

You know how I mentioned before about planting in a new area? Well, this is the area I spoke of:

This tree/schrub/bush overtook the area and I got out my trusty saw and clippers and cleaned up the place. After about a 4 hours worth of cleaning it looked pretty good.

The middle teir has two types of peppers, another tomato bush and two squash vines. The bottom teir is the new home for the herb garden. Yes, I moved it because, it was bothering me having them with the veggies and I like uniform things. :) The top tier, well, not sure what i'll plant there but I'm thinking about that, not to worry, where there is dirt I will plant! :)

The other thing I did was put in a path to walk up without slipping down the dirt. I am terrified of falling so this was a must.

We used recycled brick we bought at Home Depot and rocks from the hill. I think I might have to make them bigger but for now, they work perfectly!