This was our first couple of beds. They were double dug, and framed with found wood and bought fir. Found wood is ideal. I have used a mixture of pine, fir, found wood, and rounds of a tree that fell through our fence. The rounds are actually my favorite, it gives the beds a very natural look. I sifted the beds to remove the Bermuda grass, rocks, and random pieces of glass and children's toys. Bagged compost was added, as we had not been there long enough to make our own (though as you can see in the background I also added a three bin system for composting). The the paths that surround the beds are about 6 inches deep and filled with wood chips to keep the Bermuda from creeping right back into the beds. Wood chips can be free, an aborist will be happy to give them to you as they will have to pay to dispose of them otherwise. The paths also work as a long term composting system. The bottoms of the paths are now a fine, black compost in this area. Probably this fall I will clean them out and add the compost to the beds. The wood chips also hold moisture. This was our first crop, mostly tomatoes and squash.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
This was our first couple of beds. They were double dug, and framed with found wood and bought fir. Found wood is ideal. I have used a mixture of pine, fir, found wood, and rounds of a tree that fell through our fence. The rounds are actually my favorite, it gives the beds a very natural look. I sifted the beds to remove the Bermuda grass, rocks, and random pieces of glass and children's toys. Bagged compost was added, as we had not been there long enough to make our own (though as you can see in the background I also added a three bin system for composting). The the paths that surround the beds are about 6 inches deep and filled with wood chips to keep the Bermuda from creeping right back into the beds. Wood chips can be free, an aborist will be happy to give them to you as they will have to pay to dispose of them otherwise. The paths also work as a long term composting system. The bottoms of the paths are now a fine, black compost in this area. Probably this fall I will clean them out and add the compost to the beds. The wood chips also hold moisture. This was our first crop, mostly tomatoes and squash.
And there was land
We acquired our place about three years ago now. The yard as you can see was bare, which was actually a major attraction. A lot of land in our area has major trees, which can obstruct ones gardening plans. The view is to the west northwest, so the yard gets a good deal of sun. It was just a matter of getting rid of some of the grass.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Just Starting Off
This blog was inspired by the writings of Sharon Astyk over at Casaubon's Book. I do not pretend to know all there is to know about gardening, but I thought I could share what I have learned over the past couple of years about raising vegetables and some laying hens in northern California. My wife and I live on about 1/3rd of an acre in a 1960's subdivision in the suburbs of Sacramento. We have damp winters (hopefully) and hot dry summers. My soil started off remarkably bad. Compacted clay, little apparent humus, and a clay hardpan a couple of feet down. Not ideal for commercial farming, but I am only growing for us now. I am going to start from the begining and work to where we are now over the next few weeks. If you stumble across this blog and have questions go ahead and ask them. If you have suggestions to improve my gardening go ahead and share them.
-Campesino
-Campesino
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