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| Before |
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| After Mulching |
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| Red Bell Peppers |
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| Early Girl Tomato (?) |
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| Jalapeno Pepper |
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| Unknown Tomato that found its way to the garden |
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Recent Pictures
Garden Journal
This blog has officially been transformed into a journal for this year's organic garden, which (thank god) is in our back yard. Last year the garden was located on some family owned property and suffered from being so far away from me and a water source.
This years garden currently consists of the following: (~16) True Platinum sweet corn, (9) four-fifty muskmelon, (3) Hale's best cantaloupe, (3) strawberry plants, (8) Stupice tomato, (2) store-bought tomato plants, (2) Jalapeno pepper, (1) Tobasco hot pepper, (2) red chile pepper, (6) Sugar Baby watermelon, (2) regular watermelon, (4) Bush Champion cucumber, (8) Nutri-Bud Broccoli, Catnip, and Zinnias. I'm probably forgetting a couple things but you get the idea.
Most of the plants were started from seeds that were directly sown in the garden, but some are store-bought. I did not have the luxury of starting plants inside this year, so some are still a little young.
I transformed a portion of our back yard into a small garden beginning in April. Sod was torn, soil was tilled, peat moss was added, compost was added, fencing was established, and seeds were sown.
Every aspect of the garden is completely organic; by this I mean that I am utilizing true living organics, which in its most basic form means teaming with the beneficial microbes in soil. Instead of using bottled chemical fertilizers (which devastate microbial life) or bottled organic fertilizers (which aren't truly organic), I rely solely on the immense biodiversity present in compost and naturally maintained soils. The only "fertilizers" I have used are in the form of compost teas and natural soil amendments. However, these things do more for the microbes in the soil than the plants themselves. It is the microbial life that does all the hard work for me. As long as they are kept happy, they will keep the plants happy. This might seem foreign to newcomers, but there is plenty of science to back this up.
Plants produce root exudates which are basically signals of nutritional requirement for microbes in the soil to react to. When a plant sends a signal, the microbes respond in delivering whatever the plants desires, such as higher levels of nitrogen (mostly produced by beneficial bacterias) or perhaps phosphorous (mostly delivered via fungi) in the fruiting season. By feeding the microbes instead of the plants with organic goodies such as alfalfa meal, neem meal, soybean meal, fish hydrosolate, kelp meal, and a plethora of other amendments, they are more than ready to produce whatever my plants desire.
I regularly water with compost teas, which, in their most basic form, consist of earthworm castings or compost, water, and an energy source. These teas allow the beneficial microbes in worm castings and compost to multiply (with constant aeration) so that they can be introduced to soil in high numbers, establishing biodiversity.
Lastly, this project is a movement of mine towards self-sufficiency so that I can decrease my dependence on mass produced, factory farmed, nutritionally deficient food that we as consumers are force fed.
Now that I've given you the basics, here are a couple pictures starting from the beginning of the season. I'll post more recent pictures very soon!
This years garden currently consists of the following: (~16) True Platinum sweet corn, (9) four-fifty muskmelon, (3) Hale's best cantaloupe, (3) strawberry plants, (8) Stupice tomato, (2) store-bought tomato plants, (2) Jalapeno pepper, (1) Tobasco hot pepper, (2) red chile pepper, (6) Sugar Baby watermelon, (2) regular watermelon, (4) Bush Champion cucumber, (8) Nutri-Bud Broccoli, Catnip, and Zinnias. I'm probably forgetting a couple things but you get the idea.
Most of the plants were started from seeds that were directly sown in the garden, but some are store-bought. I did not have the luxury of starting plants inside this year, so some are still a little young.
I transformed a portion of our back yard into a small garden beginning in April. Sod was torn, soil was tilled, peat moss was added, compost was added, fencing was established, and seeds were sown.
Every aspect of the garden is completely organic; by this I mean that I am utilizing true living organics, which in its most basic form means teaming with the beneficial microbes in soil. Instead of using bottled chemical fertilizers (which devastate microbial life) or bottled organic fertilizers (which aren't truly organic), I rely solely on the immense biodiversity present in compost and naturally maintained soils. The only "fertilizers" I have used are in the form of compost teas and natural soil amendments. However, these things do more for the microbes in the soil than the plants themselves. It is the microbial life that does all the hard work for me. As long as they are kept happy, they will keep the plants happy. This might seem foreign to newcomers, but there is plenty of science to back this up.
Plants produce root exudates which are basically signals of nutritional requirement for microbes in the soil to react to. When a plant sends a signal, the microbes respond in delivering whatever the plants desires, such as higher levels of nitrogen (mostly produced by beneficial bacterias) or perhaps phosphorous (mostly delivered via fungi) in the fruiting season. By feeding the microbes instead of the plants with organic goodies such as alfalfa meal, neem meal, soybean meal, fish hydrosolate, kelp meal, and a plethora of other amendments, they are more than ready to produce whatever my plants desire.
I regularly water with compost teas, which, in their most basic form, consist of earthworm castings or compost, water, and an energy source. These teas allow the beneficial microbes in worm castings and compost to multiply (with constant aeration) so that they can be introduced to soil in high numbers, establishing biodiversity.
Lastly, this project is a movement of mine towards self-sufficiency so that I can decrease my dependence on mass produced, factory farmed, nutritionally deficient food that we as consumers are force fed.
Now that I've given you the basics, here are a couple pictures starting from the beginning of the season. I'll post more recent pictures very soon!
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