The Year Ahead

I've got some big plans for this year and I thought I'd share them. My garden last year was basically nonexistent (for multiple reasons), but I think (I hope) I've got things figured out this year. Last spring, I lost most of my seedlings when my tiny greenhouse was blown over in a storm...a tragedy that was multiplied by missing the harvest on most of the plants I did actually get in the ground. I did a lot of traveling last spring and summer...not conducive to having a garden! In fact, you can see the aftermath of one of my trips here:

Yikes...

One big success from last year was that I discovered a service called Chipdrop. They connect you with arborists working in your area. I had a mountain the size of two VW buses (!!!) of freshly chipped cherry chips dropped on my driveway in August. Those wood chips mulched every bed on our property several inches deep with a ton leftover. My sweet husband decided took the initiative to use the chips that were left to build me a new (gigantic) bed at the back of the yard. I'm slowly filling it with perennials of both the edible and ornamental variety.

Understanding my goal-oriented nature, I sat down a couple weeks ago and wrote out a few for this year. I've even already accomplished a few of them! Here they are:

• Enlarge existing raised beds to 4'x8' (I've already done this, but they were 4'x4'...pictures will be forthcoming!)
• Build an arch trellis between the two most northern beds for beans, butternut squash, etc.
• Plant blueberries. I tried this last year and both bushes died from drought during one of my trips. New bushes have been ordered, so I'm halfway there on this one.
• Plant a dwarf fruit tree that is self-pollinating in the new bed at the back of the yard. I've chosen to plant (and have already ordered) a pie cherry called a Northstar Dwarf. I'm hoping it will arrive this week!
• Plant an asparagus bed. This has already been done.
• Transplant Japanese Maple to new bed at the back of the yard. This is done!
• Move the rhubarb to a place where it is less likely to be stepped on.
• Keep good notes on the garden. I've started this, so I just have to keep it up!

And here's the biggie: May-December (and earlier/later if I can manage it), I want to purchase no produce from the grocery store. 

Now, between the garden and our CSA share, this should mostly be no problem. But the only fruit our CSA farm does is strawberries, and my fruit trees and bushes are a few years away from fruiting. I'll have rhubarb from my own garden, and have plans to purchase extra strawberries from the CSA farm for canning and freezing, but that leaves out a lot. My plan is to purchase fruit in bulk from farmers while it's in season. I'll do the same thing with corn since our CSA farm doesn't grown corn, and I would rather keep the garden space for other things.

This last goal in particular is going to take some work on my part. I'm going to be busy canning, pickling, freezing, and drying in order to have enough to last, hopefully, through the winter. However, I know the difference in nutrition and flavor will be my payoff. I might even have a reduced grocery bill!

New Addition: A Compost Bin

I've had compost bins on the brain lately. Maybe to the point of obsession.

I've been researching possible construction plans, debating the cost differences of building vs. buying and generally trying to gauge just how lazy I wanted to be about this whole composting thing. You see, I really like the idea of those fancy composters with a crank handle on the outside that allows you to turn the whole bin rather than having to actually stir the compost itself.

Here's the kicker though.....I'm cheap. My mom frequently laughs and says I "really know how to make a George Washington squeal." And those fancy composters are expensive!

I looked at several plans for building compost bins. Googling "DIY compost bin" comes up with plans for everything from a re-purposed trash can to some seriously elaborate carpentry that is way beyond my skills and means.

This is where fate comes in.

I was trolling through Home Depot (yes....I have been there nearly every day since we moved for one reason or another. It's getting to the point where the employees recognize me when I come through the door) when I saw this lovely little guy for $49 and decided to give him a home.

 I reasoned that it would probably cost me nearly that much to build a wood compost bin that would eventually rot away. It's also significantly more attractive than the garbage can method (there's really no place for me to tuck it away out of sight). It's also something that I could move if need be (since we are planning on eventually putting a shed in the backyard).

Since I got it home and set up (it just snaps together), I've been gradually filling it with food waste (no meats or fats...those can attract pests, though they do eventually break down) and yard trimmings. I had a few tomatoes and peppers that didn't make it since it took me so long to get them into the ground. Those went in there too. I figure I can keep gradually adding to the pile and hopefully in the spring, I'll have some good compost to add to my beds and to use as potting soil!

By the way, here are a few of the links that I found helpful in my reasearch:

• http://www.wikihow.com/Build-a-Compost-Bin
• http://www.doityourself.com/stry/h2composting 
• http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/how-to-build-a-compost-bin/index.html
• http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/the-unwaste-station-a-cool-diy-145463

Do you compost? Did you decide to buy or DIY? And if you had to do it all over again, would you do the same?

Sunshine on a rainy day

Ok, I promised pictures when the daffodils started blooming.

Aren't they lovely? It was a nice surprise to see them blooming because it's rainy and gross in Nashville today.

And speaking of gross.....my garden "helper", Seger had a very smelly end to his (and my) day yesterday. One of the neighbors behind us has a large garden, and I'm thinking it was just mulched with cow manure. Well, Seger apparently decided said cow manure mulch was a good place for a good roll on the ground.....needless to say, he was not on my good list! One bath didn't get the stink out.....it took two....gross!

So I guess lesson learned, right? Don't let your dog roll around in cow manure? Not sure there was any letting to it!!

More Composty Goodness and Some Planting

Another tub of compost showed up at my house on Saturday courtesy of my lovely friends who say they currently have WAY too much of it.

Not sure what I'm going to do with all of it yet (though I'm sure I'll find something!), but I put some of it to work as mulch around my baby blueberry. First though, I had to drag it up the hill to the back of the yard where the garden is. I've definitely had my exercise for the day!

In other news, I got my nasturtiums and peas planted! My next door neighbor stuck two tomato cages in the garden yesterday, so I decided to use those as a trellis for the peas to climb. I'll have to build another one that spans the end of the raised bed later, but for now, I feel like this is a good start.

My nasturtiums went in as a companion to the tulips I potted a few weeks ago, and also in a colorful coffee can I had saved to use as a container, and poked some drainage holes in. Maybe a little strange, but it works, right?

Flower Bed Before and After

Remember those picture I posted the other day of my sorely neglected, un-mulched flower bed? Well I've given it new life. I took myself outside yesterday in the rather chilly weather and weeded the bed.

Here is what it looked like before...

After I weeded....

And after I mulched (I used the cypress mulch from Home Depot)...

What a difference! Now I just need to find something to put in it! Last year I did a bunch of annuals, and my neighbors gave me the ornamental grass. One of my students gave me a white chrysanthemum back in the fall, so I put that in and cut it to the ground since there was no new growth. I think that's how you're supposed to do it (according to the information I've found online). I guess I'll find out come spring! It'll either grow back or it won't.

I'd really like to put in some perennials  this year, but am unsure where to start with it. This is a north-facing bed, so whatever I put in it has to be ok with shade for part of the day.

What do you put in your partial shade gardens??

Garden To-do's

Seeing as how I'm supposed to have at least a few days of nice, not-freezing weather (in the 50's), I figure I ought to get outside and put myself to work! Here are my plans for the end of the week and weekend:

Weed this flower bed (Look at all those weeds...yikes! I definitely should have put down some mulch last year). Which leads me too....

Mulch the flower beds! If I'm going to go to all the work of weeding those beds, I think I can take some steps to keep the weeds at bay. What kind of mulch do you use for flower beds? Any particular material that plentiful around Nashville?

Remove last year's jalapeno bush. Remember me going on about how enormous it was? Here is a picture of what's left....probably should have pulled this up a while ago....oops.

Get a hoe and break up/turn over the dirt in the raised beds.

Get compost from my friends and mulch that into the veggie beds.

What are you doing to get your garden ready for spring?