This weekend has been a rainy one in Western North Carolina. Many of the surrounding counties are under flood warnings. I have had nearly 5 inches of rain in my back yard in the past two days alone.
I have two side to my garden, one is primarily in Square Foot Garden boxes, the other is a traditional style garden. After all of this rain, I cannot get out to get some of the last of the cherry tomatoes or pick peppers that are ripe, but I have complete movement in the SFG side.
Suffice it to say, it was a football Sunday rather than a garden Sunday.
Water standing--taken after a short lull in the rain on Sunday afternoon
What we have gotten this weekend reminds me of those long days in May when we got over 8 inches of rain for the month. The water stood like a pool around a number of crops–tomatoes, potatoes, squash, zucchini and my onions and garlic. Back then, I had only 32 square feet in SFG boxes–now I have 106 square feet available. Next spring, I will have no less than 160 square feet in the raised beds.
The SFG boxes are not rain proof by any means. The rains of May slowed down the growth across the board and contributed to fungal diseases that finally got my tomatoes and cucumbers, but the porous, light soil moderated the effects, and we harvested numerous crops all summer long. Today, Rose was making pesto with basil and parsley that are still producing great tasting herbs after several months after transplanting.
I planted strawberries eight days ago. They came as dormant root cuttings, and they were planted 4 to a square. To the left is a look at them after a bunch of rain this week. They are looking very healthy, and even though the soil is wet, there are no puddles standing. I am hoping for a few days of sun in the next week to dry things out a bit.
Hope your weekend has been a good one!
Posted at A Few Square Feet
I saw this article yesterday and thought back to my days in the dorm. Not sure that anybody would use their limited space to grow tomatoes (on the other hand, I am pretty sure that we had a guy growing weed in his room).
Read this:
Dorm Room Gardening
The guy uses a modified version of the Square Foot Gardening method to grow tomatoes, cucumbers and beans in his room. Not sure how much harvest he will get from a 1′x 3′ box, but he managed to get his picture in the paper, and he showed up in online news. That may be harvest enough.
There were a couple of Square Foot Gardening articles online this past weekend:
From Petoskey News-Review, Petoskey, MI
Manna Plants Seeds of Hope
Patrons of the Manna Food Project in Harbor Springs may soon benefit from their own garden.
Master gardener, Julie Winegard, and her daughter, Leslie, a senior at Petoskey High School, planted eight “square foot” garden boxes just outside of the pantry’s front door. Their hope, along with that of executive director, Kathy Hart, is to raise enough money to create kits that interested patrons at the food bank could put in their own yards.
“I wanted to do something like this last year but I didn’t have the time,” Winegard said. “This year I felt like I needed to make the time.”
From Salt Lake Tribune, Salt Lake City, UT
Homegrown Businesses Help Backyard Gardeners
Adam de Havenos didn’t know much about gardening when he moved to Utah from New York City, but it seemed a shame to let the small plot in the backyard of his Sugar House dwelling become weed infested.
The 31-year-old neurology resident didn’t have much time to spare, so this summer he hired a company to plant and care for his 5-by-10-foot garden. These days when de Havenos gets home from his job at the University of Utah Hospital, he finds a basket of harvested vegetables on his doorstep.
“It’s amazing how much is coming from that little plot,” he said. “It feeds me and a lot of other residents here.”
Cross posted at A Few Square Feet
I spent much of yesterday evening and this morning in the garden…
- Finished building the “portable” SFG boxes. They are 3 x 4 feet, and with the soil mix, they are just barely movable. Two people can do it–but they should be young like my son.
- Planted strawberry plants according to the All New Square Foot Gardening book. (4 plants to the square/trimming all runners through the year). I have two varieties purchased from Burgess Plant Company-Fort Laramie and Ozark Beauty.
- Picked some beans…they should produce some each day for the next few weeks
- Picked tomatoes and cucumbers (thinking salad this evening..)
- All of the fall crop seedlings are coming along–some of the plants that were sown in spring are stilll producing well, including–basil, parsley, Swiss chard, kale, and chives. We have some fall lettuce coming along, and there are beets, carrots, and various greens that are looking good.
This weekend has been a rainy one in Western North Carolina. Many of the surrounding counties are under flood warnings. I have had nearly 5 inches of rain in my back yard in the past two days alone.
I planted strawberries eight days ago. They came as dormant root cuttings, and they were planted 4 to a square. To the left is a look at them after a bunch of rain this week. They are looking very healthy, and even though the soil is wet, there are no puddles standing. I am hoping for a few days of sun in the next week to dry things out a bit.