staycation in the garden.

it's been a long time since i've taken a vacation.. and this time i didn't want to travel, we are staying home this week and spending quality time in our new backyard. the experiment with the cardboard gardens continues, today we extended next to the first bed attaching the second one to it and leaving a 'key' path in between for good reach.

first we used a hard rake, pulled back the grass that was more or less dead under the cardboard we laid down a few days ago. we used a spade to turn the soil beneath, pulling out some clumps of grass, and turning some back into the ground.

after watering the turned soil, we put the cardboard back down into the shape of the bed we are creating, making sure that all of the tape has been removed from the boxes. we then watered the cardboard. on top of the cardboard we mixed a couple kinds of topsoil, one had a little more sand than the other. then we mixed in black earth, and composted sheep manure.

we rake it out into a nice even bed, leaving a 'key' path to step into for easy reach. we will leave these half-paths all along the bed spaced so that you can always reach into the center of the beds. when it comes time to plant, the soil is pulled back, and an X is cut into the cardboard. we peel back the cardboard, put some fresh soil into the hole, and drop in the plant. the soil is replaced, plus some additional rich mix is added, mulching the plant.

we added more veggies, and some annual flowers that we liked the colours of. herbs were planted in the narrow patch at the end of the 'key' path, and more annuals were planted there at the border.

last year we used white clover as a living mulch to keep soil moist, weeds down, and return nitrogen to the soil. this year we are trying something different. we are using more food between the food to take up the ground space, crowd out weeds and produce as much as we can per square foot of garden.

here we used radish seeds.. in other places we used carrots and parsnips. these radish seeds were planted only a few days ago, and already they have begun to sprout. so exciting! so far so good on the new experimental beds. on the next post, we will look into the lettuce bed!

long weekend planting

YAY GARDEN! yes, we finally got one of the beds done. our first experimental bed started as a grassy meadow of a lawn.. the dirt and some of the grass was overturned, layered with cardboard, and then with various leaf mulch,and a blend of composted sheep manure, sandy topsoil and black earth. we are limited on funds this year so we work with what we get for cheap or free. so far we made out pretty well.. we had plenty of plain corrugated cardboard from the move.

however the move was at a time that made it hard to start seeds before the last frost, much of what we sprouted at the old house didn't survive the move. we have had better luck directly in the ground with the lettuce anyway, it already looks better than it did inside.

the main bed was planted with seedlings from the farmer's market, and some from the grocery garden centre. in between we are experimenting with making the groundcover layers of different low-growing plants from seed such as beets and turnips in a couple spots, and then lettuce mix throughout. once the sprouts start to show i will go in between where there is still space and drop some romaine or other lettuce seeds that will benefit from periodic shade of the taller plants around them.

the planter box with the already sprouting lettuce was infiltrated with carrots, beets and parsnips in patches throughout. we are experimenting with building dense polycultures, some plots we will intentionally overplant to see how much food mass a single plot can hold. this must be done carefully with attention to companion plants, root depths and how much space the plant itself will need to thrive.

tonight i think we may start some of the wildflowers and sunflowers in some peat cups so they are ready for when the ground is prepared for them. otherwise their sprouts would get lost in the meadow! also we have a few spare totes from the move so i'm thinking i will use one to make some super rich compost. Matt drinks a lot of coffee and we eat a good amount of eggs [shells!].. plus we have pulp from the juicer. mix that with some of the brown stuff from last year's leaves and a bit of water and see what we get!


in other news, we discovered quickly that this house doesn't have a hose hookup outside. i'll tell ya i've been getting a good workout going from the downstairs tub up and out to the yard a bunch, but i don't mind.. for now. by next weekend we should have our first rain barrel set up to collect off the roof. also i'm storing all of the water from the dehumidifier in a tote outside for soaking the soil. we seem to pull about 3-5 liters a day out of the air in the basement of this old house... that's a lot of humidity! keeps the basement super cool with all the windows closed too. that and a couple of air circulator fans and it's easily ten degrees cooler down here than on the main floor. love it! well there's a bunch more work to be done, ta for now!

ground break and earth quake..

so apparently there was an earthquake today. i was at work likely running a machine at the time so i didn't notice. if it was felt here that is.. i know it was felt by a couple friends in Toronto but no word yet this far south. just also happens to be the day we finally start digging the veggie beds. good times!

we had to cut into the meadow.. our landlord had promised since we moved in to bring over a mower. the one here was left out to rot, and the grass is about knee height in the sunniest spot. since i'm trying a 'cardboard garden' i started turning some of the grass right back into the dirt where it stands.. when i lay own the base layer of cardboard over the turned in grass it should keep it down long enough to decompose, and hopefully not sprout through.

on top of that will be layers of topsoil, sheep manure compost and leaf compost..and amongst the veggies while they're filling out will be some white clover sprouted from seed to act as a living mulch. the soil was surprisingly moist and crumbly, like a piece of cake.. i thought it would have been much harder to dig into than it was. my upstairs neighbour is trying a more traditional approach in the back corner, it will be interesting to see the differences between the beds. i can't wait to get back at it in the morning!

it's the long weekend, so i'm sure it will be busy at garden stands and markets for the open of garden season. hopefully i will make it over to the farmer's market to grab seedlings of things i didn't get a chance to start soon enough.. oh! and the lettuce seeds are sprouting! gotta grab some radish and carrots to join them in the planter.

well it's been a long day of work, play and gardening.. time to go relax with a book.

changes..

so, we moved.. we lost most of what we had sprouted at the old place, but we now have access to an entire back yard. only problem is.. we're broke! the move happened sooner than expected which worked out well, but we weren't anticipating one of us losing our source of income. while the man looks for another job, we are focusing as much funds as we can on growing some fresh food.

we are very limited on tools this year, literally all that we have at the moment is a spade, a watering can, and a wheeled cart to bring home bags of soil from the market across the street. i have an enormous stock of seeds from last year to experiment with, though for many it will be too late to start. we found a few random packs of mesclun mix seed, so we prepared the already existing pre-dug bed for the lettuce by adding some more soil and compost. it's in a space that will get a lot of shade but still enough sun to grow something, so we figured it's the perfect place to start some lettuce.

there was a patch of weeds growing out of a mound next to the bed so i decided to chop it up, pull the weeds and break up the soil to throw down some clover seed, and in the process of doing so i found a sprouted walnut! we have a big black walnut tree on one side of the yard, a squirrell must have buried itself a snack and forgotten about it. we decided to throw it in a peat pot to see if it will survive.

if it does survive we don't have enough space in our yard for another large tree, so we will give it up for adoption. it will be interesting to see if it grows! our next project will be to start the vegetable garden. we have decided that we will try a 'lasagna garden' method this year, we have lots of cardboard from the move, a large pile of leaves raked into the corner left from last year, top soil and some composted sheep manure.


it's a pretty cold, rainy day today.. we even got some hail. for the past few years we have experienced intense cold snaps in May, hopefully this is the last one. in the next two weeks we should have the veggie bed prepared just in time for planting season. 'lasagna gardens' or no-dig gardens are usually best started in autumn, but it is possible to start one in spring. we will be experimenting with a quick-ish method that will also help us to get rid of weeds and grass while creating a fertile, moist and sunsoaked spot to grow some food.

the potato experiment..

 as i have probably mentioned before this is my first year i have had the opportunity to start so much from seed, so everything at this stage of the game is experimental. i used a part of one of the trays just to test the viability of some beans and it turns out theyre still good.. but it's far too early for the bean plant, they usually would be started at the end of frost. i had planned just to terminate them once i knew the packets were good, but i feel bad for ending a life, and have decided i may just get some buckets and keep them as indoor beans for now.

as for the potatoes... they've been in my kitchen for a bit. my roommate left them uncovered on the counter and they began to grow almost immediately, as i had warned they would. well that didn't work out so bad, i have a couple of sprouting potatoes to look out for, and try to grow as well.

so we have quite the assortment of produce started so far, the tomatoes, lettuce, yellow and purple beans, the long red peppers finally popped yesterday morning, and of course the potatoes... the tomatoes will need to be separated into slightly bigger pots soon enough to prepare for transplant.. and i just may have to pick up something else to attempt to start from seed. the journey to food continues..

sprouting a salad

i don't have much experience starting from seed indoors.. i've only grown peas, beans, herbs and lettuce from seed in previous years. this time i am trying a couple species of tomatoes, a bell pepper and a spicy pepper. also we were curious to see if the bean and squash seeds from last year are still viable so we threw some on the seeding trays with the peppers and tomatoes.

they lived! i wasn't sure if the beans would still be good, many of the seed packets that we were given last year we didn't get the chance to use and they weren't stored in any extraordinarily careful conditions. we were happy to see after a few days a few sprouts pushing their way out.. hopefully everything we get to sprout will survive the move and the timing, we will have to leave them outdoors in early May as there isn't anywhere indoors to keep them at the new place. we will ahve to get creative and build them something to let the sun in and keep the frost out.

our lettuce mix is looking happier and stronger each day. it will be the first fresh crop to be ready for the season, and we're eager to dig in.. i'm thinking of picking up some herbs to start next, like mint and thyme and perhaps some parsely and a few chives... the possibilities are endless. we're so grateful that we will end up having a yard this year to grow in, and we move just in time to begin after the last frost. so excited!

let the seeds begin...

happy spring!

what better way to celebrate than to start some seeds?! what an exciting time. we found out recently that we will be moving our HQ closer to the core of the city, and we aren't sure how many things we want to start before the move.. being the long weekend there were many desserts purchased by family and friends, and i managed to scoop up a few of their containers to recycle as seed starting domes and trays. i decided first to start some lettuce in a cookie container. it's a quick crop that can stand a small container, and we can trim and eat and let it re-grow.

i put the container together just a few days ago, and already some of the seeds have sprouted. it brought a smile to my face for the rest of the day to see the new life next to my window.we have accumulated a huge amount of seeds mostly given to us, so we have many varieties to choose from this season. hopefully we can get away with starting some of them a little late as we will have far more space for seedlings at the new place.

tonight we are starting another tray of peppers and tomatoes, and also we will be testing some of last year's seeds to check if they are still viable. they may not have been stored in the most favourable conditions,and we will have a chance to see if they will work or if we will have to get more before planting season begins. we will also have to test some of last season's white clover seeds to make sure they're still good. we will be using clover as a living mulch for the third year in a row, only this time at our new homebase.

2013 has been an exciting year so far, and is sure to be a busy one. stay tuned!