Deirdre's Garden Diary: 2004 Vegetable Garden

:: 2004 Vegetable Garden ::
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:: 03.18.05 ::

I started my first vegetable garden in 2004 in late spring. I put it on the south side of the house where my grandmother once had her vegetables growing. This area gets lots of sun and I can keep my eye on it from the bedroom windows. I decided to build a raised bed next to the walkway, but eventually I will build more of these beds, three rows back and three rows long. I wanted to start small since I am new to this gardening stuff.

Below you can see how the plants progressed as they got bigger. I had to add bamboo stakes around the tomatoes and tie them up because they got a lot taller than the very inadequate metal cage that I had found in the old barn.

My mom bought some seedling plants for me at a farmers market on her trip to Amarillo and I had them sitting around a few weeks before I planted them. I didn't plant anything complicated this first time around, sweet Banana Peppers (on the right side), Bell Peppers: "California Wonder" (on the left) and Tomatoes: "Better Bush" (in the back).

The raised bed is 3 ft. wide x 5 ft. long and the wood sides are 9 inches tall, 1 1/2 inches thick. I filled the bottom of the bed with a few composted leaves and twigs mulched from around the property. On top of this I placed some of the topsoil I dug up in the backyard, and on top of that a mixture of fertilizer and a few bags of soil from the garden center. I don't think I put enough composted manure in the mix (can't remember if I put any actually) so next time I make the beds I will add a lot more. This was probably one of my mistakes. I also need to test my soil to see what kind of acidity it has and determine for sure how much sand or clay there is in it. Amazingly, I think the soil is a pretty good mix of loam; a little on the sandy side, but it has had a buildup of organic material for the last ten years from fallen leaves and twigs, dead weeds and grasses that were not cleaned up and were left in place to rot. The whole yard is like a giant compost and in some places your feet will sink due to the build up of humus. It seems to be draining well, no puddles when I water.

Overall, it wasn't a bad start for someone that has the reputation of killing the occasional house plant.

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