Update on the no-work garden

[Terri]

IRRIGATION:

I am using a 200' weeping hose, and it is just too long. The far end does not have enough water pressure to force the water out of the sides of the hose so the plants on the second half are not getting what they need. I had woven the hose up and down the rows to water a large section of the garden all at once.

Since it is too long, I intend to cut the hose in half, and perhaps put a new end on the far half of the hose so that I will water each half separately.

THE GREENHOUSE:

The heat cable didn't help much. Perhaps the problem is lack of light? NEXT year I am going to try shining turkey brooding lights on the seeded areas for heat AND light.

The beets, kale, and later the marigolds did well enough, but then they would have anyways. They always have.

THE POTATOS BURIED IN LEAVES:

Some of the plants are blooming, but no spuds yet. The neighbor has spuds, perhaps all this mulching is slowing things down a bit?

The bed was framed with logs that were perhaps 3" thick, and tied together with a bit of rope. That took me a couple of days because, for me, wood that is 4' by 3" is heavy. The TOP framing wood is MUCH thinner and lighter and is working well at staying up and keeping the leaves and grasses in.

I had INTENDED to fill this 3' deep with litter, and swing out the fat lower piece of wood out so that I could get at the bigger spuds, repack it with mulch, and leave the smaller ones to grow. Since I only got around to heaping it 1' thick, it really will not matter as I can just feel around for the big ones.

That means that thin sticks would have done as well as the 3" logs. So, perhaps to save on labor I would do better to make the potato beds twice as big and only 1 1/2 feet deep.

I did not cover the spuds heavily with mulch at first, just put it on a few inches at a time to cover up the leaves as soon as they broke through.

Half of the sprouted seed potatos rotted and had to be replaced, but that might not have been because of the mulch. One bright and frosty morning I came out to find the seed spuds had been exposed and were somewhat frost bitten: the chickens had gotten out the afternoon before and had scratched the leafy covering off of the spuds!

So, I clipped their wings for them! THAT gave me some peace of mind! LAter, when the spuds were up, I filled in the blank spots with more seed potatos.

WEED CONTROL:
I used strips of plastic that were placed over the weeping hose. Now that they are in they are working, but they were aBEAR to get in!
Oh, the platic is light enough, but we get a lot of wind in Kansas so they had to be sucured. The things come with cute little pins but that isn't enough for Kansas in the spring.

In an excess of enthusiasm, I buried the edges of the first 50' strip, and it half killed me. That one works the best, but it is way to strenous. I have not the body that I used to have.

I decided to use sticks of firewood for the nexy one. That was better, but I had much to do and I couldn't spare the energy to do all 6 strips.

So I paid the kids to do the other strips. ;D THEN, I spent time fiddling with the strips to make them more secure but that is alright, they are IN. And the kids really DID do what they understood what I wanted.

And, they are supposed to last for 6 years. I will cover them with lawn cuttings to help protect them also.

THE VEGGIES TO DATE:

The zuccini looks the best.

There is an assortment of other vines up but germination is spotty, which is not unusual. I will just fill in the holes with other veggies, as I always have.

So far, it looks like a garden!

[Terri]

OH!

I purely forgot to give each project a rating on EFFORT!

The greenhouse was medium. There WAS a little work involved in seeding and weeding, as well as the occasional watering (not too much, our springs are wet and water seeps in). On the GOOD side, much of the work can be done before the main garden needs me.

In the main gaqrden, once the irrigation and the plastic is in, I expect that will be it for a few years. It is just the prliminary tweaking that is taking time. At the end of the gardening year, I can weed-whack anything the vines and such do not smother. That means that in the spring I only need to plant, and perhaps pull out the weeds that WILL get to big to live with veggies. I have decided to simply NOT plant any veggies that cannot compete WELL with grass and ordinary weeds and such.

The potato structure is up and I will leave it. It can stay until it rots, and I will just plant inside of it. Because the spuds were planted on TOP of the soil, all of the spuds SHOULD be in the mulch so that means no digging. I can just feel for them. IF this doesn't produce enough spuds (and I think it will not), I will build a second one out of lighter wood. Digging potaos in the summer heat is hard, feeling for them in last seasons leaves and grass clippings is not.

NEXT ON THE LIST: (I hope), is cucumbers and a trellis!

[salmonberry]

Hello Terri,

Any updates? Do you live in Alaska? If so, in which part. Any Pics? Would love to see your garden.

Next year I will start my garden. I have a pile of mixed manure composting right now. This fall I plan to lay the manure down with straw or newspaper and water. Then I will cover the whole area with cardboard. Next year I plan to build raised beds by taking the soil from the pathways and putting it in the beds. I will either plant grass in the pathway or lay down plastic and put pea gravel over it. I haven't decided.

Anyway, I guess it will be a lot of work whichever way I choose to go

Salmonberry

[Terri]

No, I live in Kansas, but, this is a pretty cool site to come to. I have always been drawn to the less-settled areas.

I got my first real harvest today. 2 cukes from plants that I started inside, 3 small potatos for my daughter and I (The guys are camping with the scouts so we are batchelorettes), and 3 little tomatos from a big tomato plant that I bought.

The zuchini and peppers are blooming like mad, but not producing yet. I suspect lack of pollination. I will give it time, the bees WILL find the plants in a bit! They always have!

There are certainly more potatos under the straw, but I had enough for the 2 of us so I didn't look. They were nice, clean potatos, too. The biggest was 3" long.

Next addition is a hose fitting that can attach to 3 hoses at once, with a lever that guides which hose the water goes to. That will prevent me from walking back and forth to the faucet every time I want to attach the hose to a new leaky hose. A minor refinement, but it is next. ;D Also, trellises for the row of cucumbers. They are in, but only a few inches high as I started them outside. The cukes that I picked were from much older plants started on a window sill.