Not really sure what my excuse can even be... things take time?
I am going to skip the long and poorly written digression into why I can't write blog posts regularly or how missing 3 months of posting really puts holes in the story of "can we sell $2500 worth of farm goods", and just pick up where I left off. I do want this to document the progress made around the house, and lots has been made, so... behold!
First things first. Last August we had this garden. It was crazy overgrown and all the plants were perennial stuff that only had to be cut back. I saved certain areas so it would look nice, others I destroyed. Obviously I am not a flower person, but I can imagine how some people would think what I did was questionable.
Before
And then now:
All in all this process probably took about 15 hours, which of course seems completely crazy. "Things take time", is the reoccurring theme though. Have you ever tried to destroy decorative grasses? Its almost impossible. Have you ever dug out 500 tulips that magically appear out of no where? The bulbs grow so deep! Other things took time too, like trimming the Raspberries. Did you know Raspberries and Blackberries have a two year cycle? One year they grow up leafy bits, which all fall off without fruiting, and the next year the lifeless, leafless stalks grow fruit! At the same time new leafy shoots spring out of the ground! Its amazing, but figuring that out and them trimming out years of dead wood takes time. Then there was adding and spreading some horse manure to try to build up the organic matter, removing the roots and junk from the old plants (still in progress), and yet to come is redoing the in ground irrigation. The soaker tubes had been left in the same spot for so many years the perennial plants had grown right through them, trapping them in their root systems. I broke many digging them out and will have to get some new ones in the next few months. I think in the end I have achieved a nice balance between easy to maintain bushes and flowers that look nice, and adequate growing space for compact vegetables. The big ones will have to go outside the fence.
Because of the picture max, in the next post I will outline the chickens!
I am going to skip the long and poorly written digression into why I can't write blog posts regularly or how missing 3 months of posting really puts holes in the story of "can we sell $2500 worth of farm goods", and just pick up where I left off. I do want this to document the progress made around the house, and lots has been made, so... behold!
First things first. Last August we had this garden. It was crazy overgrown and all the plants were perennial stuff that only had to be cut back. I saved certain areas so it would look nice, others I destroyed. Obviously I am not a flower person, but I can imagine how some people would think what I did was questionable.
Before
And then now:
All in all this process probably took about 15 hours, which of course seems completely crazy. "Things take time", is the reoccurring theme though. Have you ever tried to destroy decorative grasses? Its almost impossible. Have you ever dug out 500 tulips that magically appear out of no where? The bulbs grow so deep! Other things took time too, like trimming the Raspberries. Did you know Raspberries and Blackberries have a two year cycle? One year they grow up leafy bits, which all fall off without fruiting, and the next year the lifeless, leafless stalks grow fruit! At the same time new leafy shoots spring out of the ground! Its amazing, but figuring that out and them trimming out years of dead wood takes time. Then there was adding and spreading some horse manure to try to build up the organic matter, removing the roots and junk from the old plants (still in progress), and yet to come is redoing the in ground irrigation. The soaker tubes had been left in the same spot for so many years the perennial plants had grown right through them, trapping them in their root systems. I broke many digging them out and will have to get some new ones in the next few months. I think in the end I have achieved a nice balance between easy to maintain bushes and flowers that look nice, and adequate growing space for compact vegetables. The big ones will have to go outside the fence.
Because of the picture max, in the next post I will outline the chickens!
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