The Garden Thread.......

[kellya86]

I love my being outside in my garden...
It brings much pleasure to the whole family...
The kids will always choose the garden over computer or tv.....
And I'm never happier than when I'm sitting out vaping, and watching the birds and bees living their busy lives....

I'm also keen on growing many things, (not just the obvious), but iv only just got round to that, after 3 years of hard work, just to get the garden safe and usable for the children...

The lady before me had not cut the grass, or hedge, in over 10 years.... (inside the house had similar neglect)...
The tree was never maintaned and was blocking part of the road outside...
The hedge was 8ft wide.... And infested with ivey and elder...

So I basically butchered the shit out of it all, hacking it right back...
And pulling Ivey out till my fingers bled...
This pic is after iv already started clearing and burning everthing...
It was much much worse than this...

But the hard work paid off..
I had no privicy or security in my garden for 2 years as the hedge was decimated....

But it's getting there now....
There is not 1 weed on that lawn...
Kids get 10p per weed found.... (child labour)???

I'm about to slab under the gazebo, and round the house, and build a brick bbq/bar....
With a firepit and some decent outdoor furniture...
Where I'm standing taking the pic is my future veg patch... I'm about to plant lots of stuff....
Mainly for the tortoise to eat, and things to make jam with...

My other garden is the storage area so far....
And where my ferrets live....
Oh and my bike shed....
Eventually I'll extend the house into this part...
But not all....

So I thought id start this thread so I can share my progress, and hopefully others will post their gardens and efforts within....

I can't be the only one here who loves a garden...
I'm sure you Americans with your many miles of land, will have some amazing gardens to share...

I look forward to hopefully seeing some of your gardens...

 

[crawdad]

good work! i like the split logs for an edge.

got some potatoes, parsley, basil, oregano, rosemary and mint moving along in mine. i turned half of my back yard into a garden a while ago, then cut it back to a few raised beds and various pots i move around to catch the sun...keeping it simple has made it possible to maintain without turning it into a chore.

 

[ginolicious]

Nice bike. And great work on the yard.

Like you I enjoy my backyard as well. It's half the size of yours. But I do have a nice Koi pond. Love watching them eat and my daughter loves feeding them.

I did just rebuild my fence from last year. Cut a few corners that did not pay off. But now I got my fence back properly.

 

[vaporist4LIFE]

Raised beds are the truth !! I'll post pics of some of the area I have .got squash going, winter and summer , tomatoes of all varieties , cucumbers , bush beans and runners, onions, sweet potatoes, rainbow chard , lacinato& nashs green&red Russian & Siberian kale, bell peppers (side note all bell peppers are not green technically ), banana peppers , watermelon , cantaloupe, great nothern beans.might have forgotten a few .yes I am blessed with space to grow whole food goodness

 

[kellya86]

I dont usually drink but i just really fancied a pear cidre for some reason.....

 

[seaofgreens]

Hey @kellya86/everyone. So I got around to popping a few shots of the family farm.
Here is sort of the main field. I tried to get a closer shot, but this sort of encapsulates the main field better. Essentially it is beds of baby mixed greens and then the brown strips are prepped for a mid-season cover crop so that it will stay short for a mowing and eventual tilling under. We rotate with the cover cropped sections yearly.

Here is our garden area. Mostly staples and such for canning/storage later. I had ideas of taking some things to the farmers market this year, but have been too lazy and things have been slow to develop unfortunately. Maybe I'll get my butt in gear soon:

Then you can see the greenhouse in the background. I spent a long while putting this together (With some hands to help here and there of course.) I spend a lot of time in here. I have mostly tomatoes inside. About half are heirlooms (brandywine, cherokee purple, couple others,) the other half are mostly sungold cherry tomatoes with a dash of black cherry and a few wild plants from last year I just decided to trellis in:

Here is the back of the greenhouse Just 6 plants believe it or not... tallest is about 8 feet right now for frame of reference. Wasn't quite expecting them to get so out of control, I'm more used to 4 or 5 feet plants but it is what it is and I'm rolling with it this year.

Then I quickly tried an undercanopy shot. Got my finger in the way and everything:

Well. definitely have our fair share of weeds, sorry if things look terrible. Almost wish we had just sprayed round-up everywhere 5 years ago before seeking to become organic. But yep, that is my combo garden/job. Hope yall like it!

 

[kellya86]

Hey @kellya86/everyone. So I got around to popping a few shots of the family farm.
Here is sort of the main field. I tried to get a closer shot, but this sort of encapsulates the main field better. Essentially it is beds of baby mixed greens and then the brown strips are prepped for a mid-season cover crop so that it will stay short for a mowing and eventual tilling under. We rotate with the cover cropped sections yearly.

Here is our garden area. Mostly staples and such for canning/storage later. I had ideas of taking some things to the farmers market this year, but have been too lazy and things have been slow to develop unfortunately. Maybe I'll get my butt in gear soon:

Then you can see the greenhouse in the background. I spent a long while putting this together (With some hands to help here and there of course.) I spend a lot of time in here. I have mostly tomatoes inside. About half are heirlooms (brandywine, cherokee purple, couple others,) the other half are mostly sungold cherry tomatoes with a dash of black cherry and a few wild plants from last year I just decided to trellis in:

Here is the back of the greenhouse Just 6 plants believe it or not... tallest is about 8 feet right now for frame of reference. Wasn't quite expecting them to get so out of control, I'm more used to 4 or 5 feet plants but it is what it is and I'm rolling with it this year.

Then I quickly tried an undercanopy shot. Got my finger in the way and everything:

Well. definitely have our fair share of weeds, sorry if things look terrible. Almost wish we had just sprayed round-up everywhere 5 years ago before seeking to become organic. But yep, that is my combo garden/job. Hope yall like it!

Well now.... thats a fucking garden....
I cannot imagine what id do with that much land... probably the same as you...
With that much land I could achieve my goal of becoming a full hippy....
Fully detach myself and live on the land...

That sure does look bushy for only 6...
What are they...???

Also that roundup shit causes cancer right.????
Wasnt there some scandle where they only tested the active ingredient, not the carcinogenic ones...
And doesn't the company that make it also make most of americas industrial ferts..???

More reasons to become full hippy...

Anyway, I love your farm...
I want one very much...
Land in the UK is rocking horse shite.....

 

[seaofgreens]

Yep. Monsanto is Round Up. Problem we have is a couple perennials known as bindweed and Canadian thistle. Bindweed in particular has root systems that can extend down upwards of 15 feet and take about 20+ years to get starved out when you just pull the surface material constantly. Thistle also has an extensive root system that just comes back when you pull it. (This is what we do btw, with an army of help.)

If we had however just sprayed round up the first year we bought the place (The land I was showing you was just an empty hay field when we started,) and focused on smart weed management for the next 3 seasons, we would have qualified for organic certification and been way more on top of things than now as Round Up goes to the tip of the root and kills the whole plant which can spiderweb all over the place underground.

What did end up working well with the Thistle was a fungal pathogen we introduced that has done wonders so far. And the bindweed we just kick back as much as possible with a 16-18 inch deep tillage early on and it takes just forever for it to come back from that.

So we never had to compromise our organic principles, although in hindsight it would have worked perfect with the timeline of how our business developed.

Yeah, the plants you can see in the back of the greenhouse are actually just 5, as the 6th didn't take off. It is about 2 or 3 feet tall way in the corner and can't be seen. 2 are Cherry Diesel, 2 are TGA Vortex F1 and the largest one in the middle is a random bean I got from an old high school friend last summer when he and a buddy were passing through. I get Lemon and freshly cut pine wood when I rub a stem. The little runt you can't see is a Tahoe OG which is on its last run anyways as I'm a bit tired of working with it anymore. As another frame of reference, those five plants fill out a 30 foot wide stretch and are all 7-8 feet tall, topped and LST'ed since transplant in early May. Assuming everything turns out, I will be beyond set this year round.... and so will a couple friends I'm sure at this point.

Overall, it is a real laid back life, and I'm very glad my brother and I got into it... although I didn't show you our industrial side (the wash room, clamshelling/labeling room etc.) and shoving a couple thousand pounds of lettuce through it every week with all the cleaning, sanitizing, and paperwork that goes along with getting into retail outlets... it can really put a crimp on enjoying the lifestyle fully. But I have managed so far! Anyways, thanks for looking Hope to see some others!

 

[Vitolo]

Prickly Pear Cactus, that helps us with privacy in the front of our house:

Prickly Pear fruit buds all over the cactus... the red on top means they are ready to flower.

A couple of blossoms.... We will have close to 100 Prickly Pear Fruits when the Flowers wither and die.