So my garden is in full swing. I've got a few different things going on this year compared to past years. Normally I plant a garden and keep it up, but it's a chore. I really want that fresh great produce, but don't normally enjoy the process of gardening.
This year I'm excited about it! I'm spending time out there, reading up on the topic more, etc...I have plans to extend it and places I'm prepping the soil for new plans next year.
So I planted late this year, in May, late May. Just life craziness.
Right after I planted I watched this documentary called The Back The Eden Garden. You can watch it online free if you like right on their website. This method really interested me and excited me. It was too late to plant my own garden this way since it was already done, but I did mulch my garden with wood chips. That has helped a lot. We're in a drought here in southern California and I'm watering way less than normal with the mulch. Like less than half as much. It's also way easier to weed. I don't have enough mulch to totally choke out the weeds, but the ground is softer and airier, and when I pull weeds they come out way easier.
I've made it a chore this year for each of my kids to pull the same number of weeds per day as their age. so my 8 year old pulls 8 a day, etc... I'm hoping this keeps weeding consistent but doesn't burn them out.
I did start the back to eden style garden elsewhere though. I have a few intentions here. I've wanted to extend the garden out but haven't because of the work of tilling. I have really hard ground, compacted clay, and wasn't looking forward to it. Now I plan to use the no-till Back to Eden method to prep this ground for next year. I've also always wanted to do more along my back wall so I'm going to do that and get it planted as well.
Here's the part I'm really excited about. I have a small sideyard that is the hardest, more horrible ground ever! I've decided to use the mulching method from the video to prep it to put in a small fruit orchard of dward trees next year! I'm so excited about this! I just have to find a ton of mulch! !!! !! My friend Melinda let me scoop a bunch out of her yard from some trees she had cut down and ground, but I'm going to need more. My city has free mulch available but everytime I call they're out of it. I might call some local tree cutting companies and see if I can get some there. I need a ton of it to prep that side yard for fruit trees. I seriously need like 4 cubic yards! Or more!
Anyway, here are a few more shots of the July garden tour:
I planted tomatoes (1 sweet 100, 1 yellow pear, 6 celebrity, and 6 beefsteak), 6 red bell peppers, 6 green bell peppers, 3 yellow zucchini, 1 anaheim pepper and 1 pablano pepper, 2 cucumbers.
I also have fresh herbs. I used to never used fresh, only dried herbs. Cooking with fresh herbs is addicting! I have basil, parsley, cilantro, lemon thyme, mint, and oregano all in pots in an unused corner of the yard.
As you can see, the neighbor's pine tree is always leaving pine needles in our yard. When they're dropping our yard is covered in them!
I am also trying succession planting this year. I put the stuff along the back wall in mid July. We have a long season here so I was thinking, why not get more zucchini and anaheim peppers and cucumbers later instead of getting a giant crop all at once?! Not sure the cucumbers will like the back wall area, they might be too suseptible to powdery mildew there, but I'm trying it.
The peach tree is an early peach so we've already harvested all but one of those fruits.
I'll be making a totally separate post about my up and coming fruit orchard when it's planted. I'm taking pictures of the process along the way (if I can remember;)).
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