Well; Mid winter has arrived. Getting some nasty weather off and on. practically eliminating any possible naked working time. Last year came and went in a hurry. My mother passed away Oct 22 at 85 years of age, she was the family gardener through the 60's and 70's and 80's and then I kind of took up more of it. last years garden was partially successful and partially failed. The failure due to one deer that jumped my fence and the poor soil that I tried to plant some things in without compost. Always more lessons learned. this year I intend to make lots and lots of compost, and watch out for that jumping deer again more closely and do something about it faster if it does it again. Preferably add some wire to the fence to raise it. I did order 3 new apple trees, waiting for them to come, got 3 places ready to plant them with old horse manure and minerals tilled in. they are 3 old fashioned varieties which I think are top notch flavored. Cox's orange, Albemarle Pippin, and Ashmede's Kernal. Last spring I moved 11 overgrown apple trees from the temporary site that got neglected to the permanent site. 3 died before summer was over. Hopefully the rest will grow roots all winter and take off next spring. Also planted 3 more peach trees last spring. added to one the year before, all 4 grew well and one of them matured one peach. tasty thing. They were kind of an after thought, felt sorry for the peach trees languishing in walmart parking lot in late April. they all look to be loaded with flower buds, so if they escape spring frosts should have some nice peaches next summer. The first peach tree was stunted I guess from too much pot bound time. It didn't grew well the first summer despite the good composted horse manure i used in the hill. but after a winter of growing it's roots out into the good dirt it took off like crazy last spring.
Thanks for the update, Rueben!
I can appreciate your comment about poor soil, it's one of the worst parts of nude gardening here at White Tail Resort in Virginia. It's yucky, worn out gray clay for the most part, and ten inches down it turns into old river rock. I put in a double dug raised bed last year and though it was mostly experimental to see what would happen (and little did), we got a little produce in the way of radishes and a few carrots and leafy stuff. It's difficult for a few reasons besides my lack of prowess around manure-usage. I think I burned a few plants down with applying it too generously as I rebuilt the bed. Higher hopes for this year, and a second, larger (by a foot wide) raised bed I'll be digging as soon as the weather mellows out. We've learned some important things and the second bed will mostly be my sweetie's bed to plant in. She's a freak for green beans!
Yes, I said 'White Tail Resort' and it's aptly named with deer a constant fauna we deal with by tall netting around the bed and so far that's been working. We've got some nasty frakking squirrels though, hee! Can't shoot em! They mostly stick to the spilled bird seed - mostly.
Good luck and update some more when the moment avails.
It is now 2022. Time to start the next season's plants. No squash this year. I have had really bad luck with squash, only a fruit or two from 8 or so plants. Not a good return on my investment. Will try plum tomatoes, green beans, swiss chard, and peppers. Hope the herbs produce too.
It is now 2022. Time to start the next season's plants. No squash this year. I have had really bad luck with squash, only a fruit or two from 8 or so plants. Not a good return on my investment. Will try plum tomatoes, green beans, swiss chard, and peppers. Hope the herbs produce too.
Several months away from that yet. My spaghetti squash got bores and died, the buttercup and acorn squash went crazy despite the hot dry summer. The zucciny also went nuts. Tomatoes and peppers did well also.
YAY! My first tomato is out of the seed starting medium! And it's a new variety for us called Independence Day. So it begins again....and I'm very hopeful for better luck than last year's lackluster attempts at gardening. It was a year of experimentation and nearly everything flopped. I'm tightening up my technique and playing it safer, spending a little more on better equipment and being more attentive. Will it make a difference? Only time will tell, and it's all with no clothes on, so it's still good times, regardless of the veggies and herbs we'll eventually eat (or not).
Stay tuned, and let's hear it from the rest of the nudies in the dirty! There are lots of fun ways to get dirty in the garden - don't read too much into that, but a little reading is also fun, no?
Lots more seedlings out of the flat in the barn now, the second round came up in about three days, yikes! Dahlias and collards and cabbage, oh my ~ where are all these plants going to go! Planning the next phase with our second double dug garden getting going in the next week or so. A little under the weather so not as chipper about putting the shovel in our junky soil as of today, so maybe in a few days I can begin the relentless battle to improve soil that's pretty close to terrible. Grey clay....got about $200 worth of additions piled up near the frame that'll take about five years to recoup in veggies. There's (almost) nothing better than harvesting your own in the nude! How's everyone else coming along?
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