Veggie Garden Porn.....XXX......Season 3...(Very Graphic)

[bvar22]

<in best rural Arkansas accent>....Hey, Yawl. :hi:

Season 3 is underway


Everything is Late...Late...Late.
Planting this year was delayed by a Tornado in April followed by Monsoon rains.
We had no damage, but close neighbors did, and non-rain days were spent helping them clear up the damage.
We were also delayed by a garden expansion that became over complicated.


For those who may not know, Starkraven and myself moved from The Big City(Minneapolis) to rural Arkansas (Ouachita Mountains) in October of 2006. We are committed to a more sustainable, organic, independent, DIY, Anti-CorpoConsumer lifestyle. Of course, a large organic Veggie Garden is a BIG part of that commitment.

Season One:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=246x5729

Season Two:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=246x7979


The Beginning...Spring 2007....Hopes and Dreams from Season 1




Early Spring 2009



We extended the garden by tilling up a section on the downhill side. We originally had decided to simply mound up the earth in contours, mix in some compost, and plant a cover crop for next year. The project "complicated itself" while in process, and we decided to build terraces to prevent the new soil from washing down the hill in a heavy rain.


We were surprised by the amount of viable topsoil we found in this area while tilling. Two years ago, this was nothing but rocks and hard red clay. Nutrients from the fertile soil inside the boxes had undoubtedly run down hill to this area, and combined with the mowing/mulching of the cover clover produced a decent amount of viable soil. After sifting out the rocks through a shaker with 1/2" hardware cloth, there was enough soil to mound up.


To hold moisture, prevent run off, and begin soil enhancement, we laid thick newspaper in the walkways, and then covered with wood chip mulch.
The wood chips in this photo were formerly magnificent old Oak trees from Mena, AR which were knocked down by a tornado in April. Most of Mena will never look the same. :(
On the other hand, Firewood and Wood Mulch are cheap this year.


This is how it looks today (June 26th).

On the Left are Pumpkins and "Yard Long" Pole Beans.
The Middle rows are reserved for the Strawberries which we will split from existing beds.
On the right are Field Peas(Crowder Peas, Cow Peas), which we discovered do extremely well in Late Summer, and are excellent "Green Manure". We will be planting Field Peas elsewhere in our garden as Summer/Harvest moves on.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=246x9836


Squash

The biggest success this year has been the Squash.
This hasn't worked well in the past, and we were close to giving up on Squash. The Squash Bugs got them before we did.
We still Hand Pick the Squash Bugs (no pesticides), but isolating the Squash has made this task much easier and more effective.
We have already harvested some Zucchini (Yum!), and have some Butternut close to ripening.


How it looks today (June 26th)

The empty spaces in some of the boxes are from harvested Garlic & Onions.
We are preparing those spaces for either Field Peas, or other Fall crops.
We are going to attempt some Late Season tomatoes, and are starting the seeds now.
Last year, I attempted to Nurse Along the old tomato plants without much results.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=246x10193
This year, we will pull the Tomatoes, and transplant seedlings when the heat breaks.

Bush Beans

One of our favorites...Bush Beans.
These produce much sooner than the Pole Beans. I'm always amazed at the quantity of beans that come from these plants.

We have been eating daily from this small section of Bush Beans for about 3 weeks.
With a little Basmati Rice and Butter...Yum!


WTF?...Asparagus ?

Why yes, I do believe that is Asparagus.
I've never seen Asparagus growing, and don't know anyone who has grown it, but I have eaten a bunch of it.
It is difficult to photograph because it is so ethereal.

Starkraven ordered it online, and it arrived in a box. It looked just like a knot of brown cord. It sprouted several days after planting, and watching it grow has been a treat. According to Starkraven, I must be very patient. It will be a couple of years before we can harvest any.


Yes...We do have some Tomatoes (and Jalapeno Peppers)

Instead of one big patch of tomatoes, We spread them throughout the garden giving them plenty of space.
We have put them on the ends of the raised beds, and used Hogwire as support to spread out the plants and make them easier to tend.
We LOVE tomatoes, but decided to grow only enough for our needs. EVERYONE around here grows lots of Tomatoes....you can't even give them away.
The above is a Creole. We also have 3 Romas (for cooking and canning), a Betterboy, a Purple Cherokee, and a Brandywine.


Big on Berries

We added two different June Bearing varieties this year, and will split our plants in July, moving some to Raised Rows. We have found Strawberries to be High Maintenance, but I LOVE them, and want enough to freeze and make preserves.
In the far bed are Black Beans and Roma tomatoes.



More about "High Maintenance Strawberries"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=246&topic_id=11505&mesg_id=11583


BlueBerry Fields Forever

Over the Winter we planted 24 Rabbit Eye Blueberry bushes, 6 different varieties.
All 24 seem to be healthy and growing well. We are delighted.
We installed a drip system for irrigation.
This system is inexpensive, easy to install, and is working well. The pieces simply snap together. We are planning to install a drip system in the Garden over the Winter.

New Baby Blue

The Blueberries are outside the fenced garden, on the backside of the hill. The deer don't eat them, but out of curiosity they pulled several out of the ground the first week, so we put little wire cages around them.


Hard Work?...or Hardley Working.

Running the water line from the house (150') was not so easy, and required several days with a pick & shovel. It was worth it to have faucets in the gardens. We had previously relied on a long series of garden hoses.


As I mentioned above, we moved here to commit to a more sustainable, natural lifestyle.
The Garden is a part of that, and has grown to an extent where it is probably more appropriate to post to the Rural/Farm Forum.

We also Keep Chickens and Honey Bees, and are working to make our cabin and lives more energy efficient.

Starkraven and myself are old Hippies, and have always been attracted to this lifestyle. We realize that we are very fortunate to be able to do this. Not a day goes by that we don't experience a deep gratitude for whatever made this possible.

I will post updates to this thread periodically.
I working on some posts about BeeKeeping and Energy Efficiency that I will post in the Rural/Farm Forum, so come visit over there.

[Suich]

1. That's absolutely gorgeous, bvar22!

You and Starkraven have put a lot of hours in and it SHOWS!

I like the idea of having the tomato plants scattered around. And I bet it's nice having garden faucets instead of running hoses!

I'm looking forward to more pictures in the months to come!

:yourock:

[Autumn]

2. WOW

thats a hell of a garden . I was proud of my little half garden with a few sprouts and tiny plants, now I hang my head in shame.:yoiks: Beautiful

[bvar22]

3. Oh, that made me sad.

Please take joy in whatever you are growing.
You are our sister, and together we are allowed to touch something that is bigger than us.
For many years our garden was a 5 gallon bucket with a single tomato plant.

This was our entire garden the Summer before we left Minneapolis in 2006

You see that little red tomato hiding in there?
I still remember the night we ate it.
Best. Tomato. Ever.

The garden we have today is a direct descendant of that tomato.
We didn't save the seed. We saved the idea.
Size doesn't matter to an idea.
The Seasons change, and the size and shape of the garden changes,
but the idea stays the same.
It is always connected.

[Autumn]

5. I should have put in an LOL

your garden is absolutely amazing but I really am proud of my garden, I am enjoying it,this is the first one we have had in 25 years and I know as soon as we get some sun for a little while my little plants will take off, and it has felt so good to work in my garden instead of the assembly floor. Much more rewarding, I am sorry I didn't mean to make you sad :loveya: I am eagerly awaiting more pictures.

[dgibby]

4. Great post!

Love the photos and the explanations. I always learn something from your posts, no matter where you post them. I think you have the makings of a book here. Thanks for sharing with us!

Here's a little something for you and Starkraven:

The Garden

Mother Earth laments
Pray,do not leave me barren
I will nurture you


(It's not much, but it's all I've got! lol! Just trying my hand at Haiku) BTW, old hippies are the best hippies!


:hi:

[bvar22]

11. Thank You so much.

We printed your Haiku and pinned it to the wall.
This would be a perfect sign over the Garden Gate.

[dgibby]

16. I'm so honored. Thanks!

I've only written a few of them. Just started, in fact. I posted some in the Haiku thread in the poetry group, if you want to take a peek.:hi:

[bearfan454]

6. Your garden looks fantastic.

I wish mine was that big. Great pics too. My garden is starting to burn up already. It's been over 100 every day for almost a week now.

[bvar22]

12. Killer HOT here too.

And DRY.
1" of rain in 6 weeks, and that was a freak thunderstorm.
Its like we missed June, and went straight to July.
We may not get much from our garden this year.
The fruit that set in May is ripening OK, but I don't see much fruit from the new blossoms.
Such is life.

Hi, neighbor.
It looks like you are not too far away.
I spent my first 40 years in South Louisiana.
Worked in the Oil Field.
Drilled a lot of wells between Bryan and Austin.

[nc4bo]

7. Lawd hammercy this post should be rated XXX

How beautiful!!

[hippywife]

8. Incredible as usual!

And the photos, too. Just gorgeous!

From a pair of old hippies to another...you guys are awesome and inspiring! :hug:

[bvar22]

13. Hi, Neighbor.

Thanks for the kind words.
Looks like a lot of us old hippies are using what we learned in the '60s.
:hippie:

[hippywife]

15. I only wish ours looked half as good as yours

but then we probably don't put half as much time into ours, either, since we're both working full time. Still, I'm really glad we are all doing this. That'll show'em! LOL



That was before I put the cardboard down in the paths. Looks so much neater and cleaner now. Everthing's twice as high now. Looks smaller than it is from that angle, too. :hi:

[Inchworm]

9. Yowza! Thanks for adding to the blueprint in my mind

One day...

Beautiful!!

:yourock:

[MuseRider]

10. What a wonderful garden!

The transformation to this has been fun to watch and thank you for sharing. We are on our first year in our new 2500 sq ft garden. It has its problems but we are figuring it out. Your garden was the one in my head as I designed it. We did not raise the beds and it really looks nothing like yours but yours was the goal I had in mind. I see many years of learning here as we have our successes and failures, this year some sad failures but at least we know what we did wrong and the long, cool, very wet spring and still wet and now very hot summer has done us no favors.

These old hippies here in NE Kansas send you our best and thanks for the inspiration. I am looking for sustainability as well and we planted for 20 instead of 2 but I like to can :).

I will post some pics one of these days. It is raggedy but ours. There was nothing but reward from all the back breaking work. We are very proud of it.

Thanks for sharing. That is what life is all about and you have succeeded in showing us all what can be done. Beautiful garden.

[bvar22]

14. Hi !

I think you got OUR rain this year.
We haven't had any to speak of since late April.
Hot...hot..hot
Dry...dry...dry

We too are learning as we go.
Last year, we learned NOT to mulch with fresh hay.
I'm sure there are more lessons in store for this year.
Thats one of the good things about gardens.
Ever changing, nothing set in stone, new beginning every year.
We constantly talk about "Next Year....."

Are you growing any grain crops?
That is one area we want to explore.
Starkraven already bakes most of our bread, and we were wondering how hard it would be to grow our own grain.

2500 sq ft the first year is a BIG bite!
Hard Work is working for someone else.
Working in The Garden is a Labor of Love and much more rewarding.
Please keep us posted.
:hippie:

[MuseRider]

17. Hi back.

"Hard Work is working for someone else.
Working in The Garden is a Labor of Love and much more rewarding."

Very true.

I have not done any grain. I would love to though. I am looking into beans for next year since I have not done that. Being a vegetarian I would love to be able to grow my own Chick Peas but have no clue how to go about it. I will start looking that up pretty soon. Amaranth has been something I have thought about for grain for some time but I don't know if I can give up that much hay pasture, soy beans as well.

I am sorry you are dry! I hate dry, my pastures hate dry! Our garden is watered by our pond but we have hardly been able to use the new pump since it has been so wet. We also have a very large barrel of compost tea. Still, too wet. Still I would rather be too wet than dry. Everything is stunted and late and leathery and apparently that is how everyone's garden appears around here according to the Extension Office. Well except for the Cukes, the Squash, the Horseradish and the Cantaloupe. They are taking over the garden!

Next year seems to be the theme of most of our discussions as we wait for that first tomato.