A Marriage in the (Ignored) Garden

Love means having a husband who doesn't give you a hard time for biting off more than you can chew. Garden-wise. Instead, he quietly helps you reclaim what has become overrun and completely unruly. He spends part of his weekend battling the wicked thistles - because a few months ago, you came inside - weepy. Croaking that it looked as if whoever used to tend our gardens seemed to have either died or up and left. He tells you that the aforementioned gardener was actually very busy doing something else. Bringing another life into this world and nurturing her in the best way possible. And, I melt.

So we worked together this past weekend. Battling the brush and the thorns. Bringing hope for the following spring planting season.

I also called on the experience of fellow gardeners in the Piedmont Virginia Garden Swap for their thoughts on reclaiming an ignored (but much beloved!) garden. Many recommended sheet mulching with newspaper and cardboard (we are trying that - with cardboard only - as we are growing food in these beds and are wary of the chemicals in newspaper). April's comment to me - about wearing my ignored garden as a badge of (mama) honor - made me puff my chest out and smile. Thanks, girl.

Over dinner last night, friends of ours (Reed and Christine of the Blue Ridge Permaculture Network) mentioned an organic farming friend who uses plastic mulch and plants in plastic mulch. We have a supply of black plastic that we'll be trying for the fall and winter - to smother what weeds we can and start anew in 2009. But planting in plastic? Must investigate further. This ATTRA article is interesting.

I can't wait to get back to growing our own food. With the lean times and the world being topsy-turvy lately - it will become more and more important to tend to our own plots and harvests. Our century's version of a Victory Garden.

DIY: Raised Bed Reclamation

Raised bed run amok.

With cardboard mulch.

Raised beds that were cardboard mulched last season.

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When I first got into gardening, it was with a zest and Tasmanian devil-whirlwind approach that almost did me in. I had lists upon lists. I created insurmountable projects. I worked until my back screamed 'Uncle.' Moving out to our five acres almost paralyzed me. So much land. So much to do. The lists multiplied by three, by six, by nine. I started to lose sight of it all.

Then something shifted. My pace became more plodding. I could laugh at my mistakes. The pressure was off. I made peace with my garden. I liken it to ants and their ant hills. Each small step could be a contribution. Each seed, each bulb, each new plant had possibilities that I could relish and appreciate.

I am almost eight months pregnant, but still wanted to get out in the vegetable garden yesterday - to enjoy the smell of the soil, some sun and the balmy 60-degree weather. I needed to feel closer to the earth and to the mountains. Even if it was only for half-an-hour.

I have two raised beds that are overgrown and need major overhauls. So, I weeded one corner of one bed yesterday and put down cardboard. Cardboard is a great mulch. Last year I used it on three other beds to smother remaining weeds over the winter. I then pulled up the cardboard in the spring and fed the beds with compost and shredded leaves. They have been on their best behavior ever since. Beautiful, dark soil with lots of fluff and air to it.

Winter garden projects. One corner at a time.

Corey's Rockin' Pea Trellis

At last! And just in time. Our pea trellis is up.

I saw a version of this trellis in a neighbor's garden and committed it to memory. Its sturdiness is an important factor - as we often have high winds in the Hollow. As much as I love the beauty of bamboo trellises and the like, they end up blowing over to our next door neighbor's property after a blustery storm. Sometimes across the street and down the road. Usually never to be seen again.

Corey buried big posts about a foot in the ground on either side of the raised bed, then secured them with some super-long, heavy duty screws. For support, he included a post across the top. Finally, we wrapped chicken wire around it (so it actually has two sides - one for our snap peas, the other for our french filet beans) - and he attached that with these staple-shaped fasteners. Voila!

I'm lucky to have Corey (a master carpenter and a green builder) around. Plus, I love watching him work with tools. It just slays me. Slays me, I tell you.

If you don't have high winds or power tools, check out this earlier post for some beautiful, simple pea trellis ideas.

DIY - Building a Raised Bed

My introduction to our land was almost comical. Not truly knowing its history, I set out during my first spring in Sugar Hollow with great hopes. I arose with the sun - with a naive plan to create my little bit of heaven. All 5' 1" one of me.

I stretched in the sunlight, took in a deep breath of mountain air, put my shovel over my shoulder and headed out back with a spring in my step. I readied myself and went to dig my first patch of land. Then, in an almost Wile E. Coyote-moment, the shovel hit the compacted clay - making my arms, and then whole body, vibrate with the impact.

Disappointed and immediately overwhelmed, I went back to the drawing board. Clay compacted by cattle for decades was not going to be moved by the likes of me. Then, an idea - The Raised Bed.

Lumber. We are trying to do things as organically as possible. When we built these beds a few years back, we used borate-treated pine. Be forewarned, it is expensive and heavy. You could also use composite decking material. Some people just use downed trees. Or, if you do the lasagna bed method, you don't even need lumber.

From the Ground Up. We put chicken wire as the base layer (to foil little diggers and voles). Then, I would recommend you lay cardboard down. It will suppress weeds (but does eventually break down). Follow that with a mixture of compost, shredded leaves, grass clippings, coco-peat (a.k.a. coir) - to create your soil. If you have access to nice topsoil, that'll certainly do, as well. Then, top it off with a generous helping of mulch. Make sure to replenish the soil with either compost throughout the season or cover crops.

Pathways. This turned out to be one of the more time-consuming aspects of our raised bed area. First year - we went with grass pathways that were tricky to keep up with . . . and I mean tricky in that we'd-rather-sit-on-the-deck-and-drink-a-beer-vs.-mow-the-pathways-kinda way. The second year - I tried landscape fabric. Um. Landscape fabric is a ruse. A scam. Useless. It was complete mayhem out there last summer. This year, I'm thinking that I have it in the bag (as I thought I did last year. A-hem.). I put layers of cardboard down and covered it with a thick layer of straw. Fingers crossed.

Fencing. I have found that there are certain crops our local deer enjoy more than others (i.e. tomatoes). So, to help safeguard those plants, Corey attached posts to one of our larger raised beds. Then, depending on my energy level, I either staple deer fencing to the posts - or just wrap fishing line around the posts at several levels (the deer walk into the 'invisible' line as they go for a nibble and get spooked).

The Goods. I have had great luck growing tomatoes, greens (kale, swiss chard), lettuce, spinach, radishes, peas, beans, zucchini, herbs, annuals and potatoes in these raised beds. I am testing out rhubarb, onions and asparagus this year. Corn and pumpkins will go in the ground - in a small plot next to the beds.