Happy New Year!

I hope your 2019 is the best ever.


I have spent December turning the entire back yard into potential veg garden.

I lay down cardboard everywhere but the septic leech field. I put whatever organics I had over that. (Oodles of leaves, old dirt from containers, compost, pine straw, fresh tree leaves.)  Several branches are holding down the leaves so they don't blow away in a winter storm. Over that, in January, I'll focus on my main veg beds, two 4 x 14 strips. I'll put down a mixture of

1 part bagged seasoned cow manure
1 part peat moss
1 part top soil
1 part bagged compost (I have mushroom and other composts, low priced at season's end.)
A few handfuls of slow-release veg fertilizer.

The rest of the yard, I'll keep an eye on. When the cardboard starts to rot away (or be eaten by worms), I'll lay down more. I have bags of leaf mold "cooking" in black plastic bags to add as more organics and weight.

In one section, I plan to grow winter squash, pumpkins, and melons, all of which will sprawl and keep the weeds down. In another semi-shady section, I'm going to try planting white, red, and black currants. In another section, I have the 4 x 4 bed I used last year. This year, that will be planted in spinach and mache, then in peas, then in beans for the summer.

I'm using a lot of my fencing for trellises. The next warm spell (next week), I'm finally attaching the fence to the top rail so it can take the weight of plants (and finally be straight and not flopping every which way).

I had two dead and one live tree taken out of my western yard to allow light in to the back yard and new perennial bed.
When I had my trees taken down, I asked to keep the chips, and he promised to deliver more for free. With the batch I have, I laid down two wood chip paths over cardboard. (My local dollar store is used to seeing me with a cheery smile and "cardboard?" being my only greeting.)

Every year, I'll add more shredded leaves and compost to the beds at the end of the season. There is some cost in labor and supplies here at the beginning, but after this, I'll only need to replace what breaks. I have a source for free compost in late autumn, and I'll be making a lot more of my own.


Next month, I'll post about seed-starting and list what I plan to grow. It's a lot! I'll feed my sisters and donate some.