Since I am the world's greatest procrastinator, I need to backtrack about 2 months to put the beginning of this story in place. I started preparing the bed for planting in early April. It was full of weeds and a mysterious rhizome type of invader that seemed to originate from the other side of the fence (ie, the neighbor's yard). It couldn't possibly be from my yard, right? It probably wouldn't be that difficult for me to identify it but why bother - I just needed to get rid of it - without dousing it with Roundup! A few hours of hubby's manual labor later, the weeds were mostly out and the soil turned. I should mention that the above photo was taken about a year ago prior to doing a pretty good clean-up. April's work wasn't nearly as overwhelming as the photo suggests....but it has come a long way since that mess. Anyway, we then added compost (not from my bin because that stuff doesn't ever seem to decompose. At the rate it's going I'll have compost in about 10 years.....but I'll save that issue for a later date.). I also added lime to boost the ph level of the soil. I didn't test the soil first of course.....that's what well prepared, methodical gardeners do. Us fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants gardeners sprinkle stuff in that looks good and hope it works. We'll see.
A blank canvas
Because of the invasive weeds lurking below the surface, I chose to use biodegradable, weed-blocking paper over the entire bed. It's pretty neat stuff and I found it at my local hardware store. It comes in a big roll and is very easy to use. It's held in place by several plastic stakes.
Next I planted the starts. I was too late and too chicken to start with seeds, so I bought starts at the one of the only places in town that sells organic vegetable starters. Talini's Nursery is located in Midtown Sacramento and doesn't have a website, but location and other info can be found thru a google search. It's an inviting, quaint nursery that makes you feel like pulling up a patio chair and sipping tea for the afternoon while watching the hummingbirds flit about. Really.
This photo was taken a few weeks later. I love watching the beans climb their poles - they grow noticeably day to day. So, here's the list of what's planted: corn, pole beans, bush beans, tomatoes (2 varieties), sweet red bell peppers, anaheim hot peppers (only because I mistakenly picked those up instead of a second bell pepper)....that goes back to the flying by the seat of my pants thing. Also planted are cucumbers, zucchini, butternut squash, basil, lemon thyme, rosemary, and lavender. It smells wonderful out there!
This is a view of what the garden looks like today - approximately 2 months post-planting. We've been eating the bush beans for a couple weeks, but they have not yet made it all the way to the kitchen. The kids and I eat them as soon as we pick them. Next year I will definitely plant more than the 6 plants I put in. The pole beans look beautiful and are just now starting to produce beans. We sliced the first cucumber a couple days ago and it was fabulous. The corn silks are well established and the ears are starting to feel firm - I'm very curious about how they'll turn out. The tomato plants have set plenty of fruit but our weather is just now turning hot so I expect to see even more in the days to come. One other thing I should mention, mulch. Very important especially in this summer climate because it helps the soil retain moisture and also blocks those pesky weeds. I tried something new this year....straw.....and I must say that so far I'm pleased.
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