Sunday, September 13, 2009

It's raining, it's pouring and a wonderful sight indeed

It rained and it poured for almost five days but no one is complaining. It is unfortunate that our rain gauge is broken but there is no doubt we got a boat load of rain. The pasture is greening up before my eyes and what is left of my veggie garden is also perking up. I was about to throw in the towel and cut my looses until Wed. afternoon when it started raining. As soon as it drys up out there I will see what can be saved for the fall garden.
I decided that I needed to do was build boxes for raised beds instead of growing in rows with no control or order. By August the garden seemed to be out of control and no organization as to where the rows were or the paths were. With the raised beds I can just work the beds as needed and then keep the rows untouched. Either I can lay down weed barrier and mulch or even plant some grass and mow it. Depends on how far apart I place the boxes.
On Labor Day I purchased some lumber to make 4 boxes to begin the process but with the rain it was put on hold. Each box will be 2x8 feet. I can deal with that size with out killing my self and it is wide enough to plant 2 rows 8 feet long. I am going to check out the Square Foot Garden book and see if this is the way I want to go. Since the soil in my veggie garden is good and is deep ( the only place it is on the property) I plan to place a layout of where the box will be and then make my paths by digging down a inch or two tossing that soil into the place where the boxes will go. My plan is to get this done as soon as possible so I can get my broccoli in. Beets, spinach, romaine lettuce, and some other greens as well. I am also going to try planting lettuce in plant flats on the deck. This way I will have them close at hand. If it is going to rain this winter like they are talking, not having to walk into a muddy garden would be great.
Yesterday Saturday Sept 12th I attended a workshop on planting your landscape with edibles. It was a wonderful day and full of lots of information. I am finding that some of my quirky ideas (other then what normal people have) are also being used by others. One of the speakers who is a landscaper/designer is working on the Boerne Green House Project http://www.boernegreenhouse.com/. Since she is living in a Tepee and hasn't much in way of creature comforts she has had to find ways of being as comfort as possible. One way was to build a compost toilet. http://www.jenkinspublishing.com/humanure.html. I have been planning this for over by my studio once the studio is done. I don't think I will use it in my veggie garden but around trees, shrubs, and flowers is ok. Also she talked about ways of taking gray water and running it into a system to then be used to water the landscape. I have been emptying my washing machine out into the yard but really need to do more then that. We are doing the bathroom over and plan to run the gray water from the shower and sink out into a tank and then figure a way to get it out into the landscape. This project will be on going and I hope started soon.
Another good topic covered was inter planting edibles in with flowers and shrubs. I have been doing that for years. 20 years ago I lived in a condo with just a little border garden on the edge of my patio. Having left a large veggie garden behind when I moved I was not going to be without my garden. So I planted a few tomatoes and peppers among my flowers. When we moved to TX I did the same thing and still do even though I have a larger veggie garden too.
Her point was that we should all be growing some of our food. John Adams had a garden in the White House yet he did not get to enjoy it much since he was voted out of office. James Madison had a garden as well but the British took care of it and the White House during the War of 1812. More recent White House gardens were during the Franklin Roosevelt era and now the Obama's have a garden too.

Check our www.eattheview.org it is worthy of a visit. It is a program designed to get more high profile places to start growing food in their landscapes. You don't have to be a fan of the Obamas to find this a worth while project. They were not the first to have a vegetable garden and I hope they won't be the last.

I will try not to be away from my blog so much this fall. I guess this summer was just so stressfull with the drought and the heat.
Happy Fall Planting!!