Gardening

I'm finally getting to some of the projects I had in mind when I first bought this place. Currently number one on the agenda: building level terraces in my back yard, and putting in a garden and mini-orchard.

Fruit trees: Pink Lady and Granny Smith Apples, Honeysweet Pears, Elberta Peaches, Damson European Plums, Sweetheart Cherries, Santa Rosa Asian Plums, and Moorpark Apricots. I wanted Bing Cherries and Flemish Beauty Pears, but neither are self-pollinating and I'm only planting one tree of each fruit (except apples).

 Vines and Bushes: Canadice Red, Interlaken White, and Glenora Purple Grapes; Ozark Beauty (everbearing) and Sparkle (June-bearing) Strawberries; and Sweetheart Blueberries.

Melons: Crimson Sweet Watermelon, Tuscan Cantaloupe, Tam Dew Honeydew, and Canary Casaba.

In the vegetable garden I'm going to grow:

Corn	Bell Peppers	Spinach
Beans	Celery	Cucumbers
Peas	Yellow Onions	Radishes
Carrots	Red Onions	Yellow Potatoes
Brocolli	Green Onions	Red Potatoes
Cauliflower	Plum Tomatoes	Sweet Potatoes
Brussel Sprouts	Grape Tomatoes	Butternut Squash
Yellow Squash	Head Lettuce	Acorn Squash
Zuchhini	Leaf Lettuce	Pumpkins
Eggplant	Spring Mix	Garlic

I'm planting all heirloom varieties, so I can save my own seed and do my small part to resist Monsanto and all the evil GMO mega corporations. And save the world by saving the bees.

Here's the plan I drew up:

Each section is going to be a separate terrace, getting lower as you move away from the house. And to the left of where the vegetable garden is, I'm putting in a fourth terrace, a nice flat space with grass that I can use as a little bit of yard. Here's what it looks like now:

I've...er...let things slide for a while. But this shows what fantastic soil I've got: this is two or three years' growth, and those trees are 12-16 feet tall! My soil is rich, black, loamy, and perfect in every way except for the abundant rocks. It's been forest floor for thousands of years, and has never been stripped, contaminated by inferior fill dirt, or poisoned by commercial farming.

Got all my tools ready to go. I discovered Mintcraft years ago when I found the double-bit axe at an old-timey hardware store, and found that it was the best tool I'd ever owned. Now I buy all my long tools from them. The hand tools I found in the Burpee seed catalog, and I'm very pleased with them: heavy duty stainless steel and solid hardwood. I tried buying cheap garden tools at the local department store years ago, and most of them broke within one season, so I go with quality now. Except for one shovel and one axe, which I somehow lucked out on, and used for years and years, until I worked the poor things down to the nub. My shovel actually had holes worn in the steel of the blade.

For the vegetables, melons, and strawberries I'm going to build raised beds, and for the bushes, vines, and trees I'm going to frame them in with landscaping ties. Then I'll mulch the walkways in between with cedar mulch (repels many pests and deters the growth of bacteria and certain diseases), then fence each section in to try and keep the deer and rabbits out. Also for deer discouragement, I'm going to sit on my back porch at dusk and dawn sometimes with my rifle. I love venison! I'm also thinking about getting a dog, and having him sleep out in the garden area in the summer, to scare the nibblers away. 

I'm also all organic. I make my own insect-repellent spray out of hot peppers, garlic, and tobacco (they hate nicotine), and a few other ingredients. And around the borders, outside the fences, I'm going to plant chrysanthemums , marigolds, lavender, and clover, all of which repel certain garden pests, as well as attracting bees and butterflies, which help with pollination.

So with venison and wild turkey, trout from the stream nearby, the produce from my garden and orchard, and the wild raspberries, blackberries, grapes, black cherries, hazelnuts, hickory nuts, and (keeping my fingers crossed that the trees I found can be kept alive and healthy to bearing age) CHESTNUTS!, I'll be able to produce most of my own food. And over the winter, I'll be working on rebuilding the half-assed chicken coop the guy I bought the place from put in, and next spring I'll get me some baby chicks, and then have my own eggs too. Still exploring my forest, and hoping to find a black walnut tree and a butternut. Also would love to find wild strawberries, blueberries, and plums. Things I'll still have to buy at the store:

Grains and legumes--what little I eat. Mostly just the flours to make my own Ezekiel bread, and some Basmati rice and Irish oatmeal.

Chicken--I have no interest in the amount of butchering and processing it would take to keep me in chicken. Not to mention the numbers that I'd have to raise. Also what little beef and pork I'll need, with the venison filling most of the red meat requirement.

Dairy--this isn't the right place for a cow, and I dislike both goats and goat milk. And I have no experience with dairy. I'll get all that from Homestead Creamery, except for the imported cheeses.

Citrus and bananas--too cold to grow them here.

Imports and exotics--coffee, tea, spices, and anything else I can't produce myself.

Beer and Wine--I may try home brewing and vinting at some point in the future, but not yet.

I'm also thinking I'd like to get some bees next year or so. Fresh bread with real butter and honey might be my favorite thing to eat. I know my neighbor Ralph would like that too. Have to come up with ways to keep him out of the hives, hopefully short of shooting him. And out of the chicken pen and garden too, come to that.

I'll upload pictures as the work progresses.