Back to work__Late March 2010

Once the snow had all melted, we needed to get back to work.  We wanted to put landscape fabric down under the wood chips that form the walkways between the raised beds.  BUT pesky wasps kept us ducking for cover (and in my case, running).  Now I don't mind a couple of wasps here and there, but this was an all-out infestation.  The Oklahoma red paper wasps (supposedly very aggressive) took up residence in one of the sheds.

Spraying them has helped a little.

Main Garden

Johnathan and Dad took a trip to the McAlester Municipal Landfill where we were able to get wood chips for the walkways.  Johnathan built one of the three big boxes, so we put it out there when the chips were laid down.  The tires will be planters for watermelons and pumpkins.  I think it's a great way to recycle.

We have started getting soil, compost and peat moss.  I am having the hardest time finding vermiculite for a reasonable price.  I've called everywhere in a 100 mile radius.  We might try to use coarse sand and/or lava rock as a substitute.  I don't want to though...

Johnathan is still building boxes.  He builds them in the garage and we walk it out to the garden.  

We planted onions and garlic in peat pots to get them growing before we put them in the bed.  

I've been tending the seedlings and buying some plants.

And here's our visitor...

Erin got a big kick out of seeing a frog.  How he got up on the table and into the box I don't know!

Hanging Tomato Plants

The two upside-down plants are doing okay.  As I said before, I wanted to try to grow three out the sides of a bucket like the new product they are offering.  Here's what the 1st bucket turned out like

Kitchen Bed

I planted the asparagus crowns in the kitchen bed so they won't be disturbed at the end of the season.  

Oh No! SNOW!!!!__Mid-March 2010

To our surprise, it snowed on the first day of Spring.  We got 8 inches!!!  All the garden stuff was either buried under snow or still needing to be built in the garage (which was now housing seedlings and 105 strawberry plants), so we took the time to build a snowman and snow angels instead.

Time to Till....March 2010

We decided to till all the weeds and grass under rather than try to pull them.  We rented a tiller for the weekend ($45) and got to work.  As well as tilling the main garden and the kitchen box, we tilled an extra area for a pumpkin patch.

After we were done tilling, we raked and covered the main garden with tarps.

Are teenagers ever happy?  Brandon wasn't thrilled with garden work.

Another neat thing that happened is that a lady on Freecycle offered free strawberry plants if we dig them.  We took a nice trip to Wilburton and dug some up.  We weren't counting as we we digging, so we were all shocked to learn that we brought home 105 strawberry plants!  What to do with so many?  Especially since I had just ordered 25 strawberry plants online two days before!  

We decided to make a terraced strawberry planter, but couldn't right then because of time.  So we transplanted them into containers and peat pots until we can transplant again into the planter.  We all got in on the work...

It's not all work around here.  Johnathan and Erin took some time to play throughout the day.  

Last thing we did that weekend was plant two of the upside-down tomato plants.  We still had two buckets with holes in the bottom from last year's plants.  Not wanting to waste them, we planted them.

Pretty scrawny looking!  

We are only doing the two upside-down planters this year.  We saw the new commercial for Topsy-Turvy and we're going to try the three plants out the side this year.  Pictures to come of those...

Starting Out....February 2010

Main Garden
So I wanted to start at the beginning so I can show you the progress we've made as we go.  As you can see, things started out pretty rough!  I never cleared out last year's garden and everything was overgrown and gross.

Yes, I am totally ashamed to admit I didn't clear out the garden in the fall.  What a mess!  There is standing water that has turned green and mossy.  It was horrible!  

Kitchen Garden Bed

When Mom & Dad bought the house, someone had already built this little raised garden bed.  I think maybe it was a kitchen/herb garden.  It was completely overgrown with grass and weeds.  There were huge rocks in the soil.  We laid a tarp over it, hoping to kill some of the weeds and make them easier to pull.

Preparation:

We wanted to eliminate some of these problems this year, so we are starting a raised bed garden.  After sitting down with Johnathan and working out how many beds we would need as well as where they would go,  we were ready to buy the materials.  OK, so a few boards isn't that impressive, but we were SO EXCITED!

Springtime 2010 - A New Season

WooHoo! It's Spring 2010!  That means a new growing season and great changes to the garden.  We are in the process of raising the beds to grow vegetables and flowers in.  I've taken a bunch of pictures to share as we progress towards planting time here in Southeastern Oklahoma.  
The locals say you shouldn't plant until after Easter weekend.  Last year, we did not have raised beds and the rain (everyday for 30 days) prevented us from planting until the end of May!  That's a huge delay in production.  Most of the people that did plant on time had their gardens wash away.  Because of the increase in rain, most people I've talked to completely lost control of their gardens by mid-summer.  The weeds were coming up faster than you could pull them.  About the only thing I harvested last year was a whole lot of zucchini, a bunch of okra, and 1 pumpkin.  Pretty disappointing when you consider all the work that was done!  
I'm extremely excited about the raised bed gardening this year.  Mel's Square Foot Gardening book completely changed my perspective on gardening.  We are an extended family and have seven people to feed, so only using 20% of the space (AND not having to maintenance the other 80%!!) is a great thing.  
I am not an expert gardener.  I've grown various flowers, fruits, and vegetables over the years, but overall, I'm fairly new to gardening for a large family.  As I learn things, I will share them with you - good or bad.  
Angi