I'm back! Bigger & better garden plans this year!

Hey everyone!!!

Dunno if anyone remembers me - I'm the weird deck-gardener up in zone 4.

Last year I skipped planting a garden because we had planned on rebuilding the garden-deck & I didn't want to have to mess with moving my big containers around. Unfortunately we had a few financial difficulties that meant the new deck had to be postponed, but THIS year it's happening for sure!

In the past I've grown everything on a 12'x6' deck - and in a few containers down around the perimeter of the deck. Most of my plants have to be contained in pest-netting to keep the squirrels from destroying the garden but I've grown tomatoes, peppers, pole-beans, mini pumpkins, herbs, greens, carrots... a WHOLE lot more than I'd thought I could in such a tiny space!

This year along with rebuilding the deck, we're making it BIGGER - which means a larger garden. I may have to move things around just a bit after building, but for now here are my plans for 2012.

 

I think everyone should study your garden plan to see how it is done, it's a thing of beauty. I've always thought that making a good, to scale, plan is one of the most important parts of the whole gardening cycle.

Peace,
poor_old_dad

 

Thank you SO much We've been over the plans for this year at least a hundred times now - trying to figure out how to maximize gardening space without sacrificing aesthetics.

Mintzilla is a strawberry-pot, with cuttings from the mint in my mom's yard. I seem to need to plant it fresh every other year as the cold kills it off, but it got its name because after about a month it seems to "reach out" and tries to trip with its long strands.

Yep, no large plots of land for me - my groundsoil is contaminated & NOT safe for edibles. So everything will be up on my deck. I dream of having a lovely raised-bed garden fashioned after Villandry castle - but lacking the funds for that, I've decided to see how pretty I can make what I DO have.

 

We've started!!!

I've got plans drawn up by Home Depot, and an okay from the manager to go ahead. My son & I started tearing the old deck apart this morning, and are waiting for the screwdriver batteries to recharge before we head out again.

Here's a photo of what the garden looked like a few years ago... you can see how we had our pole-beans creating a "secret" garden, and the pest-netting up on the deck keeping the squirrels from eating our produce. The blue bins to the far-left of the photo are where we tried to grow pumpkins. Frost has killed our pumpkins EVERY year however, so we're giving up this year and going for plants with shorter growing seasons.

Here's where we're at right now with "deck deconstruction." What you CAN'T see, is the moss growing through the saggy decking or the fact that the supports are all leaning in at a scary angle. I am hoping to have the new deck FINISHED and planted by Memorial Day... but that's gonna depend on how long it takes for a few of the supplies to come in. (I'm using composite decking this time so it doesn't rot, and the rails are a special order *shrugs*)

I am SO excited to finally be rebuilding this deck RIGHT! Can't wait for it to be bigger, can't wait for it to be STRONGER and I REALLY can't wait to see how it looks when all my plants are in & growing!

 

Looks good, keep us posted.

Peace,
poor_old_dad

 

Looking good, and well planned out!

I tried some pumpkins last year, but they did't live long enough to fruit, the flowers went all mouldy.

I'm curious, why is the ground contaminated? Did you know that before, or did you have it tested and find out afterwards?

R.

 

*sigh*

Have you ever had one of those years where NOTHING seems to go right?

Immediately after ripping out our old deck, we ended up having to start fast-tracking moving my FIL into senior housing and getting his condo ready to sell. It's taken three months, but we're finally spending more time at our place than his again.

Needless to say, we've had to put the deck off until next year yet again. The money's been put aside, but now we're also part-time caretakers for a man whose likely to be diagnsed with Alzheimer's this coming month. I'm just praying that my garden (and deck!) can happen NEXT year as we're currently planning!

So yeah - no garden, no deck, no fresh veggies... I DID can 5 pints of watermelon pickles this week but even my canning has diminished from last year. *sigh* I missed blueberry season and was so looking forward to making up blueberry jam & syrup for Christmas gifts again this year!

Ripple... the ground is contaminated because I live right next to a retired military plant. It's a known issue in our state, and because I'm "down-water" it's been advised that nobody in the area plant any edibles. My trees, bushes & flowers LOVE whatever's in the soil though!

 

Alzheimer's is sooo difficult. My grandmother has Alzheimer's and has to live in a full-time care facility.

Have you looked into how fungi can decontaminate ground? Look up a guy named Paul Stamets, his TED talks and a book he wrote called Mycelium Running. Look up what local fungi have done around Chernobyl (I question why the wildlife appears so un-affected, yet humans are definitely at risk. But what about the old people who insisted on staying?). See if you can inoculate your area with fungi... wait, look up fungiperfecti, that's Stamets' site.

Fungi can save the world, if we let them.

 

Dear homeschoolmama,

I'm very sorry to hear about your problems.

With you in spirit.....

Peace,
poor_old_dad