More on our efforts to embrace a 100 mile diet…
Last fall I constructed the garden box using six 2×8’s. I used construction screws (nails are so passe) to put the box together. Dead easy with a cordless drill I borrowed from my neighbour.
Next, I placed multiple layers of clean cardboard on the lawn inside the box. DO NOT bother digging up the turf. Cover it. Use cardboard or newspaper or leaves or any other compostable material. That is it.
Next came layers of leaves from the yard. Every time I raked the yard I just scooped them into the garden box. By the time the leaves had stopped falling the box was full to the brim. However, the rains came and the leaves were soon packed down to a thin layer.
Off to the beach and we collected seaweed that went on top of the leaves. The seaweed was followed by a few bags of sea-soil from Art Knapps Garden Works.
By this time it was early spring. One of our three composters was ready to be dug out. That was layered on top of the soil and provided countless millions of worms.
After a bunch more bags of soil I let it sit to settle with the spring rains. And then we started planting.
Now this is where we are at…
Here is Story with our first harvest of beets. We boiled them up for dinner that night and ate them. We were a little surprised that they were not as sweet as we had hoped. We planted another set even before these beets were harvested so we will see how they turn out.
And me with a handful of baby carrots the we ate right in the garden after washing them off with the hose. These were sweet.
A bowl of Swiss Chard which is just as tasty as spinach when cooked and covered with butter and a light sprinkle of sea salt.
The broccoli is not yet ready but developing quite nicely. I was very surprised at the size of the plants that the brocoli grew into. I have never grown broccoli before and if I were to grow it again it would not be planted in the middle of the garden box. It shades out too much of the rest of the box.
And last night, we had fresh new potatoes from the potato patch we planted alongside the garden box. These were SO delicious!
Of course the requisite zucchini plants have already begun to supply their bounty. The cherry tomatoes in pots on the front patio are slow this year seeing as the sun has not been shining nearly as much as they would like.
Our little garden is a fabulous addition to the backyard. This fall I will likely add another garden box alongside the existing one to more than double our production of vegetables. It is very liberating to go out to the backyard and grab a handful of food. So simple, so easy. So delicious.
Comments
4 responses to “Our Efforts to Live a 100 Mile Diet”
That is uber-awesome!
At this time I’m all flowers and fruit and with the lack of warm/hot/sun in any appreciable amount my raspberries while amazingly plentiful are a flavour-shadow of their usual selves and the strawberries are watery tasting but still “playing” and I’m grateful for the tantalizing little red fruits just showing up.
But, here is where I make an unbelievable, unprecedentedly embarrassing revelation: this is the 3rd year I have managed to kill zucchini. Who does this? I would have thought it impossible. But year one, I figure, “Buwaah, I’m a zucchini expert, watch me sow,” and I plant 4 seeds because how much zucchini can my friends eat anyway? Two seeds sprouted, got scraggly, and died.
Year 2, I plant a couple of hills of zucchini seeds and I actually pay attention. Make it nutrient-rich soil, good watering schedule. Nothing. Not-a-thing. Nothing sprouted. Or if it did critters made off with the sprouts before I noticed.
This year, Year 3, I bought a plant. BOUGHT a zucchini plant. Embarrassing enough, right? Apparently, not. Although I am refusing to admit defeat and pull out the poor twisted thing, it is dead. I would prefer to say it looks like it’s dying but that’s not true. It is dead. It is dead and non-growing beside an accidentally purchased spaghetti squash plant (I don’t really like spaghetti squash) that was the same size, same store, same location in the garden, same family group as zucchini and it appears I shall have spaghetti squash! More than one if the flower advertising is to be believed.
Who can not grow zucchini??!!
So, don’t be surprised if I drop by for a little beets and broccoli feast sometime soon… you wouldn’t want me to starve, would you?
Remember when we dug up the upper garden at Son Ranch Stacy? You and I dug out monstrous rocks and smoothed the soil for ages!!! Now there are still the odd little boulder that is pulled each Spring but mostly just real rocks! The garden is – green and lush and I am enjoying “puttering” all day. Pierre says I don’t know how to do that! Anyway- like you we have had rain, rain, rain this year! All the greens are lush- arugula, chard, kale, lettuce, spinach. But still no peas, carrots, beans are slow. We may not get cuccs, squash… tomatoes! It is cold and wet, cloudy and miserable! I picked cherries from Brian Taylor the other day and there were hardly any but I still dried a big tub full and froze a lot. Then I went and picked a huge bucket of Saskatoons at Eleanor Martin’s- huge and fat but watery! Amazingly the mosquitos are not that bad! Would love to see you all- the girls look sssoo cute with their garden produce. Beets and carrots sweeten up with storage. My 2010 beets and carrots were best this Spring! Great city garden- awesome experience for the girls too!
Remember when we dug up the upper garden at Son Ranch Stacy? You and I dug out monstrous rocks and smoothed the soil for ages!!! Now there are still the odd little boulder that is pulled each Spring but mostly just real rocks! The garden is – green and lush and I am enjoying “puttering” all day. Pierre says I don’t know how to do that! Anyway- like you we have had rain, rain, rain this year! All the greens are lush- arugula, chard, kale, lettuce, spinach. But still no peas, carrots, beans are slow. We may not get cuccs, squash… tomatoes! It is cold and wet, cloudy and miserable! I picked cherries from Brian Taylor the other day and there were hardly any but I still dried a big tub full and froze a lot. Then I went and picked a huge bucket of Saskatoons at Eleanor Martin’s- huge and fat but watery! Amazingly the mosquitos are not that bad! Would love to see you all- the girls look sssoo cute with their garden produce. Beets and carrots sweeten up with storage. My 2010 beets and carrots were best this Spring! Great city garden- awesome experience for the girls too!
We made and planted two boxes this year. We put in soil that contained composted manure. Our garden has been slow to start, but things are popping now. We will have to cut back on the kale planting, we have three plants and we are knee deep in it. The lettuce, carrots are ok. The onions and leeks are growing fine, but the garlic died a hard death. The weather has been so bad this year, but there is a promise of next year for the imporvements.