http://www.angelaliewen.com/garden/index.php Copyright 2010, No Author No Author en-US SPHPBLOG 0.4.8 http://www.angelaliewen.com/garden/index.php?entry=entry080301-085037
At any rate, this rant is because I am closing down the garden aspect of my blog and transforming it into a regular, run-of-the-mill, any-subject-goes sorta blog. Transformation coming soon.

Until then... ]]> http://www.angelaliewen.com/garden/index.php?entry=entry080301-085037 No Author Sat, 01 Mar 2008 15:50:37 GMT http://www.angelaliewen.com/garden/comments.php?y=08&m=03&entry=entry080301-085037 http://www.angelaliewen.com/garden/index.php?entry=entry061203-192902
To prepare my potato seeds, which are actually small potatoes and not seeds, I put them in a paper bag with a ripe apple and left them alone for a couple of weeks. The apple was to induce the potatoes to grow eyes so I could tell where to section them. You want at least 2 eyes per bit of potato seed you cut and plant. I am planting organic German Butterball potatoes, organic French Fingerling potatoes, and organic Purple Peruvian Fingerling potatoes.

I lightly tilled the soil and added some natural vegetable fertilizer. I then dug shallow trenches, a couple of inches deep, and placed the sectioned pieces of potato seeds in the trench, spacing them 8 inches apart. I covered with soil and then placed straw on top of them.

I also read you can gown potatoes in a basket. So, as you can see by the pictures, I made a wire basket, put some soil the bottom, placed three whole potato seeds in there, and covered with about six inches of straw. I didn't section these seeds because I also read somewhere it's better not to section the seeds. So, we'll see what grows best.

I encolsed the potato area with chicken wire, although the the photos were taken beforehand. While planting, the cats kept coming over and playing in the straw. The last thing I want is my potato garden to be a cat box!

I've also posted some updated photos of my veggies. I still have bird netting over them, which you can kinda see in the pictures. All are doing great and growing well. I've harvested 3 batches of lettuce from the red leaf plants.





]]> Cycling http://www.angelaliewen.com/garden/index.php?entry=entry061203-192902 No Author Mon, 04 Dec 2006 02:29:02 GMT http://www.angelaliewen.com/garden/comments.php?y=06&m=12&entry=entry061203-192902 http://www.angelaliewen.com/garden/index.php?entry=entry061126-132429









]]> Cycling http://www.angelaliewen.com/garden/index.php?entry=entry061126-132429 No Author Sun, 26 Nov 2006 20:24:29 GMT http://www.angelaliewen.com/garden/comments.php?y=06&m=11&entry=entry061126-132429 http://www.angelaliewen.com/garden/index.php?entry=entry061106-101029





]]> Cycling http://www.angelaliewen.com/garden/index.php?entry=entry061106-101029 No Author Mon, 06 Nov 2006 17:10:29 GMT http://www.angelaliewen.com/garden/comments.php?y=06&m=11&entry=entry061106-101029 http://www.angelaliewen.com/garden/index.php?entry=entry061024-103027






]]> Cycling http://www.angelaliewen.com/garden/index.php?entry=entry061024-103027 No Author Tue, 24 Oct 2006 17:30:27 GMT http://www.angelaliewen.com/garden/comments.php?y=06&m=10&entry=entry061024-103027 http://www.angelaliewen.com/garden/index.php?entry=entry061018-110105









]]> Cycling http://www.angelaliewen.com/garden/index.php?entry=entry061018-110105 No Author Wed, 18 Oct 2006 18:01:05 GMT http://www.angelaliewen.com/garden/comments.php?y=06&m=10&entry=entry061018-110105 http://www.angelaliewen.com/garden/index.php?entry=entry061015-092755 I also planted my last square two days ago, a variety of baby carrots
that don't require a lot of space. They are in the square with new straw. The other squares of carrots are starting to come up so I'm slowing taking the straw off of them. I don't want to injure the new growth. In the lower left photo you can see peas that were planted on October 15 emerging.








]]> Cycling http://www.angelaliewen.com/garden/index.php?entry=entry061015-092755 No Author Sun, 15 Oct 2006 16:27:55 GMT http://www.angelaliewen.com/garden/comments.php?y=06&m=10&entry=entry061015-092755 http://www.angelaliewen.com/garden/index.php?entry=entry061013-095532




]]> Cycling http://www.angelaliewen.com/garden/index.php?entry=entry061013-095532 No Author Fri, 13 Oct 2006 16:55:32 GMT http://www.angelaliewen.com/garden/comments.php?y=06&m=10&entry=entry061013-095532 http://www.angelaliewen.com/garden/index.php?entry=entry061009-104402 a day after planting. It looks dark outside but it was just a dreary morning.

As I said, I am using the methods outlined in the book Square Foot Gardening. You can see where I outlined one-foot squares. From nursery starters I planted lettuce and onions. From seeds, I planted 2 varieties of beets, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, lettuce, spinach, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cilantro, and peas. The area covered by straw is where the cabbage, brussel sprouts, and beets are planted directly in the ground.

I also added chicken wire around the outside to keep rabbits out. And, I have bird netting over the top to keep birds out.





]]> Cycling http://www.angelaliewen.com/garden/index.php?entry=entry061009-104402 No Author Mon, 09 Oct 2006 17:44:02 GMT http://www.angelaliewen.com/garden/comments.php?y=06&m=10&entry=entry061009-104402 http://www.angelaliewen.com/garden/index.php?entry=entry060926-073759
Due to gophers and ground squirrels as well as heavy clay ground soil, I decided a raised bed would be best. In order to prepare the soil and make it easier to work with, I started watering the area heavily for about a week prior to my planned work day. I then borrowed my neighbors front-tined rototiller and tilled the entire area. I added gypsum and fertilizer and tilled again. Gypsum breaks up and loosens the clay and helps create better drainage but it takes a few years
for it to make a difference. I was impressed with how the soil was after tilling... it looked great! I found an old white spike that once was in a plant but was too faded to tell what it marked. Perhaps this site used to be a garden for a former owner. I also found an old can pop-top, the kind that you completely pull off the can. I haven't seen those since the 70's.

Next I dug out an area 3 feet x 6 feet and about 1 foot deep. I lined the bottom with chicken wire and started adding soil amendments over the wire. I put some well-aged chicken manure on the very bottom then layered it with ground soil, natural fertilizer, and compost and bagged soil I bought at Walter Anderson Nursery. I mixed the soil layers well with a pitch fork until it finally reached ground level. Then it was time to make a trip to Home Depot to buy materials for the raised sides.

I had originally planned on lining my bed with pressure treated wood, 2"x12". When I got to Home Depot, I had second thoughts. First of all, although they say pressure treated wood is safe there's really no guarantee the chemicals won't leach into my veggies. Second, the wood is quite expensive. I then considered using cinder blocks. I could've done this at about 1/4 the cost of using pressure treated wood but they are heavy and seemed to complicate the whole project. I finally found some 1"x12" pine boards that were cheap and easy to carry. I
bought some other stuff like screws and wood to anchor my corners and that was it.

The next day, I put together the sides for the bed. I stapled-gunned the chicken wire to the boards and then started adding more layers of ground soil, compost and natural fertilizer. I mixed it well and when it finally reached to top of the wood, I watered and let the soil settle.

Because I had also tilled an area outside of the raised bed and added a small amount of gypsum and fertilizer, I decided to plant brussel sprouts, cabbage, and beets as sort-of an experiment to see if veggies grow better in the amended soil or ground soil. There is no chicken wire in the soil so these plants could be dinner for gophers and ground squirrels.

The following photos were taken September 26, after I tilled the soil and created the raised bed.







]]> Cycling http://www.angelaliewen.com/garden/index.php?entry=entry060926-073759 No Author Tue, 26 Sep 2006 14:37:59 GMT http://www.angelaliewen.com/garden/comments.php?y=06&m=09&entry=entry060926-073759