Garden

Growing up in the South, almost everybody  had a garden for vegetables and/or flowers.

We had family all around us, so everybody shared the excess crops each year.

We grew the usual vegetables... peas, beans, corn, tomatoes, squash, watermelons, etc.

But, some years we tried new stuff. Sugar cane was planted a few times... Sunflowers for seeds was planted another time... Peanuts another time... One year we even tried  POPCORN!    

I remember the year we planted long rows of potatoes at my uncle's house. We had a truckload of potatoes!

We have a little free time this year, since its just the two of us in the house for the first time in approximately 27 years. It has been almost that long since we planted our own garden. We are ready to try our hand at it again and see how much we remember. 

We decided to experiment some with it though. We have a large enough yard to plant one that is fairly good sized, but  we decided to experiment with raised rows and potted plants.

We were looking for ways to raise the plants high enough that we don't have to bend over so far to pick butter beans, peas, etc. I still remember how tiring that was even as a child who did not have to lean over so far.

We considered using some of the supplies we had around the yard. Then we decided it would be better to shop around and research local supply stores and hardware stores.

We found some 5" deep gutters and concrete blocks to raise off the ground and decided to use them for rows of peas or beans.  We got several of each.  

We found a plastic trough about 4' x 3' x 12". Perfect size to plant a few zucchini squash. The first crop has already been picked and ate.

A plastic barrel cut in half lengthwise, a few yellow squash. Several of the plants have blooms.

We had many empty plastic 2-liter bottles. We planted 2-3 corn seeds, or  1-2 okra seeds per bottle. The corn is waist high and tassling. The okra is knee high and starting to produce pods.

We planted tomato seeds in 4 ounce plastic cups and transplanted the 4" plants outside. They all died. We planted more seeds, only two plants survived.

Check back later for more updates on how the experimentation is going.

***UPDATE***  MID-JULY  -

After raining 28 of 30 days, we have lost the garden!

The experiment wasn't a total loss, the plants were very bushy.

However, they didn't produce much edible fruit/vegetables.

We learned a few tricks for next season.

Thanks for checking back.

***UPDATE  MID-APRIL 2014  ***

DUE TO THE RAIN LAST YEAR, WE HAVE DECIDED TO BUILD A GREENHOUSE.

WE ARE STILL WORKING ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE GREENHOUSE.

THE WEATHER HAS NOT COOPERATED AT ALL!!!!

WE ESTIMATED 6-8 WEEKS FOR CONSTRUCTION.

IT HAS BEEN 14 AND COUNTING!!!!

PLEASE CHECK BACK FOR MORE UPDATES.