Before I read her books, we made two lovely beds along our wall. We decided to skip the wood this year and go with bricks. They're $1.79 a brick, so its been a slow process. The wires are in there to keep the dogs out, as they run through them, dumb dogs. Well, Leslie said that concrete walls absorb the heat and release it at night, causing less fruit to grow on your plants, and to plant a bed in the middle of a yard, away from walls. Dang it! Its ok, these will be used for under ground stuff like onions, carrots, and also herbs.
So, we planted another one, the big Kahuna one, as I like to think of it. Almost done, need a few more bricks. This one will have veggies that have blossoms, such as tomatoes and peppers. We're also going to build a vertical trellis and grow green beans. (string beans) Its one of the veggie's Leslie has grown successfully, (therefore I can grow it, right? Sure hope so:) and I just want to see that plant explode upward. Ever since I made that awesome green bean casserole recipe, I'm ok with green beans. This bed will be filled with the special tomato lady's soil, another adventure that will require the sweet help of our neighbor with their truck and wheelbarrow. Did I mention that we have incredibly, nice neighbors that garden, have dogs, and helped us socialize Sierra? Yes, golden neighbors.
Last year, I discovered square foor gardening, and tried it out. It was fun. Basically, planting 4 plants in a square, and so on. I learned that you cannot squeeze a bunch of plants into a small space, they won't do well. Follow the spacing info for each plant, and they will do better. Small but good lesson. Parsley and herbs are awesome! These plants lasted all winter, through 30 degrees at night!
So we used to have this wonderful tree that creeped over our wall, from our neighbor's yard. Well, he cut it down because it was messing up his pool, and cracking the wall. His brother was in the tree with a chainsaw, and I jumped up on a chair and begged him not to cut it down, but he had to. He's another kind neighbor who grows grapes in his yard. Anyways, I never knew the value of a tree until its taken away. It changed the whole look of that corner, sad, but we still have the roses, and a yard. I was sad for a bit, but tried to remember our blessings.
Such as this blessing, this glorious tree in our other corner that's about to explode with leaves. Thank goodness for trees!
Oh yea! After studying many youtube videos on drip irrigation, we're going to install a system to water the beds, from our faucet outside. I cannot wait to do this! So many new terms I never heard of; couplers, filter, 1/2 inch tubing, goof plugs, drip lines. Again, one part at a time, paycheck by paycheck. Its an investment, but its going to be great to have something else watering my plants while I'm taking care of the kids. One thing I learned from all the studying; in Vegas, you have to water your garden a lot, like three times a day during June-August. That's why plants die, not enough water. Mulch, use peat moss and vermiculite in your soil (holds moisture better) and water in early morning, before sun dries up the water. Ok, enough about me, what are your gardening plans for this year? :D 
1 comment:
VERY impressive!
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