Cosmo spring garden 2020

[Cosmo spring garden]

I feel like I've been hijacking other people's threads so I'll start my own. This will also help me to see the progress of my garden. We are a family of 4, living on sand mountain in Alabama zone 7A. We moved here 4 years ago. The garden used to be grass and weeds. And it's all clay! Red clay! We started prepping the area in 2016 with lots of leaves, wood chips and clippings and hay. The dirt seems to be eating all the organic matter tho. But it is improving. The first year we grew potatoes and few herbs. In 2017 we tilleded up a larger area and made raised beds with logs and that was a disaster. We had epic amount of rain and the weeds grew and overtook the garden. We harvested some things but most things were choked by the weeds. In 2018 we took the logs out and made raised rows and we had a great garden and I was able to preserve some things for later use. 2019 was a great year. We had kept the chickens in the garden over winter so we had to reshape the raised rows. The only thing that didnt do well were beans and tomatoes. But I learned and am staying ahead of the issues this year. Now 2020 started out rough with late frost, crazy windy days, aphids, and moles. But it's getting better. I'll try to post some pics in the posts. I'm praying this will be the best year yet. I work in the garden anywhere from 2-4 hours a day. This includes taking care of our 3 ducks, over 40 chickens and 2 goats, 2 dogs and a cat. And 2 kids ages 7 and 5.

 

[Cosmo spring garden]

These are my kids raised beds. I do a lot of the managing but they planted all the seeds.

 

[flowerbug]

moles can do damage in that they can uproot or disturb garden plants, but for the most part they are a good sign that your garden can support life. i get out and step down their tunnels to keep the garden plant roots from drying out. inside the fenced area, voles, mice and chipmunks can do a lot more damage in a garden, but even then i still consider them a vote of approval in that you are growing things that are edible. the air rifle and traps can get used if the populations seem to be really high. this year i've been keeping an eye on the chipmunks - have not seen any voles, did see something moving very fast the other day that i think was a shrew - it wasn't a mouse.

 

[Cosmo spring garden]

This is our view from our front porch. We took a break after driving some t posts for the new goat fenced area we are building. We should be able to start putting up the fence later today. It was way too hot so we are inside taking a rest.

 

[digitS']

Do you mean that you have a greenhouse on your front lawn?

There's no busy, country arterial or highway??!

Nice

Steve

 

[baymule]

My husband is from Florence Alabama. but he's been in Texas long enough to be considered a Transplanted Texan LOL LOL Please put your location on your avatar. With so many members, there is no way I can remember where everybody is! We moved to the Tyler, Texas area 5 years ago and our garden is a work in progress too. Weeds on steriods, pure white sand for soil, alternating drought and too much rain. I get where you are coming from! haha

 

[Cosmo spring garden]

Do you mean that you have a greenhouse on your front lawn?

There's no busy, country arterial or highway??!

Nice

Steve

Yep! Right on the front lawn and no one cares. I love it here.

 

[Cosmo spring garden]

We were busy putting up goat fence the last 2 days so I haven't been in the garden much. Did manage to snap a few pics while feeding the ducks and changing their water. I planted the elderberries last year in fall and it's already blooming! Mypainted mountain corn is leaps and bounds ahead of sweet corn. My rhubarb is happy with a volunteer potato. Not sure what I'll do with the potato. I probably will have to cut it so it doesnt keep.coming back. I am looking forward to spending few hours in the garden tomorrow. The pea flower is in my sons garden. He is so excited about 2 baby peas growing. And he harvested and ate 3 of his carrots. It's so nice to see him get excited about his garden. My daughter is not as excited about gardening but I know she is learning.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I've transplanted volunteer potatoes before, potato and all. It did OK. Potatoes are a relative of tomatoes, not sure I needed that potato when I moved it but it felt right.

 

[Cosmo spring garden]

One of my hens being fed by my daughter. The kids dump cups full of sunflower seeds so the birds know who to go to for food lol. The peach tree is 4 years old and this is the first year that it has fruit this big and this many. I'm hoping for a big harvest! And a picture of my kids garden beds. It was raining most of the day but I still transplanted beans. I was soaking wet but it was still fun. I made little paper pots using small rectangle of paper and gluing the edges. One tray held maybe 50 pots and I filled them with potting soil and planted beans. The roots appeared much healthier than when I plant the. In plastic cell tray. It was a bit difficult to separate the seedlings since the roots grew so long but over all it was a success and I'll do the same in the future. The seed catalog pages make 4 rectangle each. It's a bit time consuming but I think it's a good option. I have another tray with more corn, beans and okra. I keep planting okra and I dont even like them. They are all for sharing with neighbors and friends.