Lack of Posts

Hello to all of those who visit the Boone Gardens Blog!  We would like to apologize for the lack of posting in the past few weeks, but sometimes, while in the throws of planting and watering, it becomes a bit much to blog about it all while at the same time trying keeping it alive; (its a lot of work!).  But, be assured, progress is taking place, and eventually a more sustainable way of life through the production of our own food will be accomplished. 

A main staple crop of this garden has become the potato.  We are guesstimating that a total of 300lbs of potatoes will be produced by the end of the season.  We plan to store the potatoes by digging out holes in the ground big enough for five gallon buckets to rest in, covering the potatoes with straw, and closing them up for future use.  It is fair to say that whether the potato plant is in a tire or in a raised bed, they are doing equally as well as each other.  They have exploded with the recent wet weather which has made soil addition a top priority.  I have even seen the beginnings of flowers on one plant, which means fresh baby potatoes might only be a month away!  I do fear though the first drought of the year may be upon us this week, and water collection will become all the more important for the survival of every plant in the garden.

The sunflowers are starting to all come up and establish themselves throughout the tilled ring around the perimeter of the garden.  The sunflowers are separated by squash, watermelons. cucumbers, and pumpkins, which I believe will become a majestic sight to see in the coming months with the rolling vegetation creeping down the hillside.  I can only imagine what this will all be like to try and mow around later this summer.  It is going to be a wild, delicious mess! 

If you have stopped by the garden recently you  would have also noticed that the tomato box is finally starting to take off.  I was worried there for a bit that we would not get a good crop, but it seems that they are finally becoming established and we will have a wide array of heirlooms to choose from for canning and salsa purposes here in the next month or so.  If the tomatoes can grow fast enough, they can also provide some shade for the lettuce that was planted in the box along side of them.  There are also plenty of tomato transplants still up there just waiting for a home, if anyone is interested.....feel free to pick some up!

On the agenda for tomorrow is to get the first pepper box up to the garden (an 8x4 = 32 square feet of gardening space), collect and water the plants, scrap some metal and hopefully get some more bagged compost for the potatoes and the boxes.

Please visit this flickr account for 178 semi-recent photos of the garden!

The garden has been flourishing the past two weeks. It's hasn't been easy with the weather and the lack of bodies, but as always nature will press on and overcome. I hope the next few weeks will produce better weather and bring more people back up to the garden, and as always don't worry about those white legs! The only way to get a tan is to play outside!

Potato Boxes

The pile of scrap wood continues to diminish bit by bit with each new box we put together.  Today, under the protection of the trees from the continuing rain, we put together four more 4x4 boxes, as well as two 2x2 flower boxes.  The 4x4's boxes have already been placed on top of the four original potato boxes to form a second vertical level.  We will add in more soil and mulch once the potato plants have grown a bit more.  All we need now is our second layer of tires for the 11 we have already planted. 

A bird house was also made today, an eastern bluebird variety.  But, whatever bird gets there first, thats what type of house it will end up being, right?  This one birdhouse will be offered at our seedling give-away this Sunday, and if we feel ambitious, maybe a few more will be there as well!

Stay tuned for more rain and wet clothes......

We couldn't have asked for better weather yesterday, the sun dried up the ground enough for some tilling, and we got some trellising done for the tomatoes. Our newest member Travis is a little ball of furry always taking in new information and dishing out great ideas. We had a few visitors and helpers stop by; Dr. McNulty brought us some citrus scraps for compost, Jim & Bill from across the lake came by to lend a hand and share their advice on growing pumpkins and sun flowers, & Debbie dropped off some planters for us as well as help rotate some plants. We are so lucky to have a community that is eager to take a step in the self sufficient direction. Our next project will be to source some more tires for vertical gardening and to build flower boxes to complete the aesthetics of the place. We hope to have more great weather in the next few weeks and to accomplish great things for our garden and our community. -Ty