I spent the morning planning and drafting out my 2015 garden in Excel, compromising on the amount of 'This' on my spreadsheet so I can grow a little more of 'That' in my limited space. I can grown an awful lot of food in my 9 4x4 intensive raised beds, but because of the simplicity of the math, I am also keenly aware of just how many square feet of space I have available to me and the limitations of such.I have learned over the past couple of years that if I already have my garden laid out in advance of looking at seed catalogs, it will help curtail the impulse to try out some of the wonderful, colorful temptations on offer. In order to add anything new to my carefully planned square footage, something else must be eliminated to make room for it.Before you think I am the most self-disciplined and focused gardener you have ever heard of, know that I also have a habit of saying 'well, I could make a little 2x2 box separate from the garden proper and try it over there...'. I have done this with morel mushrooms, some perennial herbs, strawberries and asparagus.In the meantime, the 'best laid plans' for 2015:
Fall Garden
Being a newcomer to the south, I like the idea of incorporating a whole new list of historically normal and place-centric foods into my garden and menus. I read this great article in Urban Farm magazine a few months ago that seeded the idea of growing collards. This was perfect timing since I was purchasing a house in late July making my 2014 garden and harvest options limited due to a shortened outdoor growing season for this first year.Collards are one of the southern foods that did not make their way into my rural, Midwestern childhood the way that fried okra, catfish and frog legs did. My only experiences to date have been at restaurants in and around the Raleigh area with mixed results. One of the reasons the article and the idea of growing my own collards appealed to me was the opening part about them being often overcooked, which I would say is true of every dish of collards I have had so far. I also believe that the time from harvesting until it is on the plate makes a difference no matter what kind of food we are talking about, so the idea of fresh collards hopefully cooked to perfection is one I am looking forward to.With my limited time frame, I have planted 16 dwarf collards (another 16 just last week and I am waiting to see if they germinate) and 144 spinach plants (2 varieties) in my outdoor garden. I am still looking at options for additional cold weather plants but feeling pretty good about what I have growing considering my time and weather constraints for this year.
From 6a to 7b
Where Is NearlyHomeGrown?In 2012 I purchased 10 raised bed kits, filled them with the mix recommended by Mel Bartholomew (1/3 peat moss, 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 compost) and had an intensive planting plan which resulted in an abundant harvest. I doubled the size of my indoor garden, started growing microgreens (in addition to, not instead of their macro counterparts) and started the whole process over for 2013 with lessons learned and plans for an even bigger garden.In May of 2013 a job opportunity arose that moved me from Wichita, Kansas (Hardiness Zone 6a) to Raleigh, North Carolina (Hardiness Zone 7b). Because I had purchased a durable raised bed product and made my own soil for my garden, I brought my garden with me. I spent a year renting a town home with no backyard but with a nice patio that I quickly filled with container trees and potted herbs while 2,000 lbs. of homemade soil in 40 gallon Rubbermaid containers sat waiting in my garage.In July of this year I purchased a home. Moving in meant unpacking boxes but also setting up my outdoor and indoor gardens and adding some fig trees and blueberry bushes to the productive capacity of my .2 acre lot and starting plans for even more variety in my plantings.That is a rough overview of what I have been up to since my last post. I have some interesting projects growing...