Our Place

The garden has come along way from raw pasture to finished garden. I hauled a lot of rocks out of there and filled in some low spots on the property. I have gardened for years, but on a very small scale in suburbia and nice clean fill dirt. This is a quantum leap for me and the beginning of a new learning process.

Everything is planted including a few things I have never tried before like watermelon and okra. I also have the usual beans, corn, tomatoes, cucumber, squash onions, and peppers, as well as some herbs. I am going to try pressure canning Alton Brown’s Tomato Sauce this summer. I may clear another smaller adjoining plot just for potatoes this year, but after all the work for this one the thought is daunting.

I am also experimenting with hay for mulch as I have an almost unlimited supply of that and cow manure. At least ten of our 15 acres is pasture and I let our neighbor hay it twice a year so that it is maintained and not allowed to turn back to nature.

Actually it will be a 50 x 50 vegetable garden but since I am carving it out of old pasture here in the Ouchita mountains, rocks is what I get. I had the neighbor plow it, then I rotor-tilled and am in the process of removing all the rock.  He has given me access to the area where he fed his herd of cattle all winter, all the rotting straw and manure I care to haul over here in with the ATV and a small trailer. To keep pests at bay ( rabbits, skunks, armadillo and deer) I am employing a three prong defense. I will have a 4 welded wire fence surrounding the garden, the dogs are in the yard along one side of it and I am using a motion detector impulse sprinkler. I am also moving all the rock to the base of the fence to prevent digging, and if I need to I will extend the fence up another 3 feet with deer netting. I know that they can go over the 4 ‘ fence like it is not even there. Here is the work so far with more to follow when I am finished and start planting ASAP.

I also finished cleaning out and insulating the root cellar beneath the old tool shed. It stays about 58 degrees down there and eventually will have shelves for storing root crops. After the garden is going I will build the chicken coop next to the compost pile and then we will start to really have a little homestead around here.

It is going to be 80 degrees today with a chance of Thunderstorms and Tornadoes. All kidding aside, we are under a tornado watch but you would not know it looking at the clear skies and 73 degree temperature. I got to dig out the shorts and completed the picnic table today. It came out real nice and I think we will grill some chicken tonight.