Art Design 4 Garden

We love this view, converted from weedy overgrown ivy-ridden trees to developing native woodland garden.

The view from this window convinced us to buy our small house in the mountains, within walking distance of downtown Asheville (and it wasnt even cleared of invasives, then).  Well eventually relocate there -- it wasnt our original intent, but makes sense now.

Jeepers, of all the animals one could be.... Although I do love salmon (its our dinner tonight!)

Who does these silly tests anyway - and what does Betty get out of it?

My mom sent me this link, but she didnt tell me what her inner animal is. I will have to ask. (Maybe she will leave a comment???)

I think this link gets you to the quiz.

Last weekend I prepared the soil of my bean bed and my popcorn bed.

Since beans dont need added nutrients, I didnt do anything to the soil of this bed, which is where my tomatoes grew last year. I hadnt touched it since late last fall and it was thick with weeds. I loosened the soil a little with a fork and pulled all the weeds. Now its ready to go. I will plant bean seeds this week.



Since corn needs a lot of nutrients, I did as much as I could for this bed. Last fall I planted cover crops, a mix of winter rye, clover, vetch and field peas. Then on top of this, in the winter and early spring, I layered on a good cover of horse manure. I reseeded with clover again in early spring. The rye grew to about 2 feet tall and the clover was nice and thick. On Sunday, I cut down the rye and turned the soil. It looks really nice with lots of worms and other crawling bugs. Next time I am at the garden, I will plant my popcorn.

I had never grown potatoes before last year, but was inspired about how easily my colleagues had grew them in raised beds and straw bales. Theyre such fun to harvest -- magic to be discovering them underground. (If I needed to grow enough potatoes for us to eat all year, I wouldnt be so thrilled, however.) Digging beds for new potato patches was not too hard. My plan was to raise the clayey beds slightly, add plenty of compost, and other amendments, and mulch heavily with straw.


I ordered seeds from Wood Prairie Farm, an organic potato grower in Maine. These are basically potatoes ready to sprout, cut up, and plant. And if youre going to grow them, why not try purple, blue, red, fingerling, and gold varieties! And, the kicker is that home-grown potatoes are much more delicious than store-bought, although maybe its just the idea. They certainly seem crisper and fresher.

Ive been attending a Carolina Farm Stewardship Association annual conference this weekend (my first time attending). This year, its nearby, and its been quite interesting. The CFSAs focus is to promote local food producers, sustainable agriculture, and local food (of all sorts). This is their 23th annual conference -- remarkable, really for our region, which is just now getting on the local food/sustainable agriculture/local farm & tailgate market bandwagon.

But its welcome, to be sure, and Im heartened by the numbers of younger people involved, as well as passionate folks of all ages.

I havent thought a great deal about food security issues, but its an important thing to consider. Why not support local farmers when we can and grow more of our own vegetables and fruits, if we can? Or Plant a Row for the Hungry? (This is a Garden Writers Association initiative). Many of us have space to do so. Or, why not participate in gleaning networks, which harvest otherwise unpicked produce for food banks and soup kitchens?


There are so many possibilities for those of us who are gardeners to reconnect to producing more of what we eat.

Im envious of this wonderful native persimmon tree that we saw on a local farm tour (to Greenbriar Farms) this afternoon.

The mountains (0f the Southern Appalachians) are nearby, and thats a good thing. Theyre covered with lovely forests (post early-20th century logging), rich in species, and wonderful to visit. I needed to drive up to Asheville today, in the center of Western North Carolina, and even though I didnt have time to hike anywhere, appreciated the beauty of our weathered mountains.

Rustik Magazine has published an excerpt of the new book Groundbreaking Food Gardens on their website. The except is about my old garden - my shady urban garden! I can reminisce about all the fun I had there.

Heres the link: Rustik Magazine - Shady Backyard Garden

Another flurry of goldfinches visited the feeders today, including some males that were a deep yellow.

Its nice to see them - I enjoy watching them all year, whether at the feeders or eating seeds from late summer and fall fruits. A literal bright spot in a glorious almost spring day!

The spring equinox tomorrow will be graced by perfect spring weather, a cool morning with afternoon highs in the 70°s (F). Im grateful for the arrival of spring.

I planted the bed at the far left with 3 rows of peas a few days ago. Im watching for sprouts. The cold frame is filling up fast and perennials in the bed next to it are sprouting.

a window-based cold frame

My results (on my first attempt) werent pretty like my gardening friends, but serviceable.

But I didnt need power tools.

I used nails and twine to secure the sides (so I can take it apart to store), and the top lies securely on the sides.

If I can find two taller end pieces (or the right-sized windows), it would look much nicer, but it seems functional.

windows and a electric screwdriver (not needed)

another low tech bamboo hoop house with plastic

components

I sowed some spinach and arugula seeds, and transplanted some lettuce.  Well see.

Im hoping that my second box (in a bed in the mountains) will look nicer, but that depends on matching the windows with the ends!

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