We were really thankful that things slowed down this past month and that we were able to wrap up most of our projects. The front yard garden was our next big one after we completed the high tunnel.
We thought it would be a lot easier in comparison. We were wrong.
I was able to buy all of the galvanized beds (6×3) on sale for $39.99. There were several reasons we decided to go this route. While we had initially planned on using old barn tin that was given to us, the cost of lumber put our costs at about the same whether we chose to build our own or buy.
That being the case, it just made more sense to buy our raised beds and save time on labor. I was able to put all but two of them together myself. And my husband really just put the last two together to show his solidarity.
Since we are just starting out, we don’t have any equipment. We filled all of our raised beds up using wheelbarrows. I 100% do not recommend this method. We saved money as we didn’t have to rent/buy equipement. However, it was HOT and our joints were aching for weeks.
We also saved money by buying our compost in bulk. Last year, we bought individual bags of soil since we didn’t have a truck. This was time-consuming and pricey. At the beginning of the season, I was able to locate a local business that sold a full trailer load of compost for $280. We bought two loads and still have quite a bit left over.
Summer Garden – Front Yard
We decided to use mulch in our yard as mowing around the beds were a real pain. I signed us up for chip drop but we never got a load (I have since heard that donating $20 may help you get a response). We were lucky enough to discover our local Sutherlands was selling mulch for $15. It took us about 6 loads filling up the truck bed to cover most of the garden area.
Please excuse the trash by the arch. There is not enough time in the day.
I meant to trellis the cucumbers and squash. Obviously, I may have waited a little too long.
If you are looking for a summer green that is slow to bolt, this Chinese Multicolor Spinach is fantastic! We use it on our BLTs and salads. It is also a beautiful addition to the garden.
The beans are going strong!
More beans.
I made sure to intersperse flowers throughout my beds to encourage pollinators. This has been, hands down, one of the best things I have done. Not only is it beautiful, but there are always bees out there.
Our current front yard garden layout. We tried to add visual interest but also provide enough space to easily walk through.
This was easy (and free!) to do. After picking out my beds, I found various grid pages online that were downloadable. I loved being able to play around with design and not waste paper.
High Tunnel
The high tunnel has been the problem child of our homestead. I may have prematurely given a sigh of relief after it was built, thinking most of our struggles were over. If anything, we had a new host of issues waiting.
For most of June, we had a pretty bad fly infestation. I’m not sure if they were attracted to the compost or, if the larvae were already in the soil. The fact remained that you couldn’t go out there without getting bit numerous times. Near the end of June, I even had an allergic reaction from one bite that required steroids.
We tried everything we could think of that fit into our organic gardening. We used yellow fly strips, a bug zapper, and put fly traps in every corner. The only thing that worked was moving the fly traps to another part of our property. The idea was that we would attract flies away from the high tunnel.
Also, those fly traps stink. Moving them away from the house was not an issue.
After that, we noticed that our tomatoes, which had gone weeks with only the barest of attention, were getting out of control. The bigger varieties also began to suffer from blossom end rot, most likely due to my inconsistent watering.
They are now on a schedule and are beginning to look better. I also decided to just let them go wild. Looking back, I should have stayed on top of it but THOSE FLIES.
We used wooden stakes and twine to hold the tomatoes upright.
They really are out of control.
Blue Berries Tomatoes.
Purple Bumble Bee Tomato.
Biquinho Yellow Pepper.
Shishito Peppers.
Leftovers – Purple Opal Basil, Genovese Basil, Thai Holy Kaprao Basil, and a Marigold.
This summer…
If anything, this season is teaching me that I don’t know near as much about gardening as I thought I did. While we’ve had one for years, we have never grown this much or this intensely.
I do appreciate having the opportunity to learn and grown in a field that I find interesting as well as vitally important. My goal is to continue to improve as well as expand our growing space.
0
