Update 4/4/2013: This blog post was merged to "Daddykirbs Farm Blog". Please reset your bookmarks so you don't miss any super exciting updates to my garden and orchard!
I thought I had my garden all figured out this year. Boy, was I wrong. The six raised beds that I put in was just not enough. There is room for the Peppers, Tomatoes, Cantaloupe, Watermelons, Sunflowers, Cucumbers, Beets and Squash... oh wait, Where do I put the Squash?! Oops, I didn't plan on a spot for the Squash!
Time for more gardens! LOL
Daddykirbs Garden Blog: Firewood Raised Beds
Daddykirbs Garden Blog: Firewood Raised Beds
This led me to look around at my available space and resources. The area to the right of the small chicken coops looks just right. In fact I put in a raised bed there already for my Onions and Leeks. I just need to move the compost pile around and build the beds.
I have already spent too much money on the garden this year so I wanted this to be very cheap... like free. There are materials here to choose from, like: Pallets, Bricks and Firewood. Firewood wins! I have a big stack of this resource but I almost never use any of it. I don't burn wood in the house and since moving to the country haven't gone camping much. These logs will make very nice raised beds.
Daddykirbs Garden Blog: Chicken in the Garden
The chickens would have a ball in this if I didn't surround it with a fence. I'm very fortunate to have a supply of fencing and fence posts on hand as well. This entire garden was done in an hour or so with no money. All the materials were here just waiting to be rearranged and made useful. Check out the video at the top of this page to see the project from start to finish.
Update 4/4/2013: This blog post was merged to "Daddykirbs Farm Blog". Please reset your bookmarks so you don't miss any super exciting updates to my garden and orchard!
Lately I've seen so many ways to grow potatoes. My head spins when I research the different methods. It spinned so much this year that I almost couldn't decide how to grow mine. When it comes right down to it you just gotta do it!
I've spent too much money on the garden this year so when it comes time to put the potatoes down I wanted it to be cheap. ...and when I say cheap I mean FREE!
It came down to using what I had on hand. This scrap piece of erosion barrier that I got out of the dumpster should do the trick. Check out the video above to see how I put it together.
Update 4/4/2013: This blog post was merged to "Daddykirbs Farm Blog". Please reset your bookmarks so you don't miss any super exciting updates to my garden and orchard!
There are times when it's challenging to work with kids. I have said in the past that getting your kids to help is the easiest way to double the time it takes to do a project. I don't always do a perfect job at whatever I do, but I really want too. It's the desire to have things "done right" that makes inviting the kids to help difficult. Yes, I admit it... I don't always welcome the kids to my projects, but I'm getting better at it.
This year I have let down my guard. I am intentionally inviting the kids to come in and do some garden work. This has been done in the past but on a much more controlled and limited scale. Two 4'x4' raised beds have been built specifically for two of my kids. In these beds they have planted what they want. They won't be perfect... by any means, but they are fun.
I know my kids need to learn how to do some of this stuff. Gardening is something that everyone should know a little bit about. Growing food is so fundamental. There is a connection to who we are in this world that we GET when we grow our own food. Maybe that's a weird way to say it, but it's how I feel.
Not all of my kids care to be in the garden... that's ok. The two who really love it are a real joy. I love coming home and finding my little girl in the greenhouse singing as she is watering the little sprouts. She loves to tell me how many came up while I was at work.
My 15 year old son is autistic and he loves to plant things. He comes in with his service dog, Herry, to work with me as we plant new needs and potted plants. There are a few things he really enjoys in life: Frech Fries (crispy well done), Driving (he really wants a golf cart), Chin Hair and working with Dad!
Whatever my kids are learning in this process is good. Just plain good. There are times I think that "they need this"... and I'm sure they do, but really... I need them. I need this. They joy they give to me is far greater a reward than any harvest my garden will ever physically provide. I'm sure my improperly spaced pepper plants will be fine. My Tomatoes that aren't planted quite deep enough will grow. I'll survive my Lemon tree not producing as many Lemons because my little girl couldn't resist picking those pretty flowers in the Spring. ... All those things are nothing next to the blessings of sharing in the joy of gardening with my kids. :)
Update 4/4/2013: This blog post was merged to "Daddykirbs Farm Blog". Please reset your bookmarks so you don't miss any super exciting updates to my garden and orchard!
The fruit trees produce some of the most beautiful flowers! This post is to share some that I've captured in the last few weeks. My photos are all captured by my Galaxy S3... so, they aren't "professional" :)
Thanks for hanging out with here on daddykirbs blog!
Please feel free to leave a comment, give me a +1, pin or tweet my post!
Update 4/4/2013: This blog post was merged to "Daddykirbs Farm Blog". Please reset your bookmarks so you don't miss any super exciting updates to my garden and orchard!
I am very excited for this years garden! I have a greenhouse! This is the first greenhouse I've ever owned. It's not very big, but it should give me a nice place start my seeds and over winter some of the plants. My small Lemon tree will appreciate that.
These Harbor Freight deals can be pretty good. This greenhouse was on sale for $299 and they allowed me to use another 20% coupon on top of that. I was going to build my own greenhouse from scratch, but the cost savings here changed my mind.
This was from my garden last year. I have dreams
of greater success this year. My greenhouse is
bolstering my confidence! :)
Best of all, now that I have it I can SAVE MONEY! I used to buy all my plants for the garden, but now I can start from seeds. Plants can cost $4 each. A seed packet is usually around $1. Each seed packet can start 50 plants or more.
Daddykirbs Garden Greenhouse: Framing the Short Wall
Daddykirbs Garden Greenhouse
Daddykirbs Garden Greenhouse
In this video you will probably notice that I can hardly contain myself :) I feel like a little kid with a new club ouse or something. Only here... I am inviting you into my club, not keeping you out! LOL.
After my introduction I have a series of video clips that show how the greenhouse went together. I don't think you should use this as a stand alone "how-to", but it might assist you in the process of building.
I wanted to share with you how I started my tomato seeds in the greenhouse too. I really don't know what I'm doing so forgive my mess! This video shows that process.
Most of my tomato seeds this year were purchased from +Gary Pilarchik at The Rusted Garden.
You won't find a nicer guy to buy seeds from ;) He specializes in heirloom tomatoes. I chose to use the heirloom tomatoes this year because I'd like to learn how to save seeds for myself. By the way, Gary has videos on his blog about how to do that.
After the building and planting and the time it takes me to get a blog post up... here is an example of a little tomato seed that decided to love me back.
daddykirbs Garden Blog: Tomato Seed Sprouting
My little girl wanted to join in on the fun so she started one of the black sunflower seeds from the bag of chicken scratch. She grew some last year too :)
daddykirbs Garden Blog: Sunflower Seed Sprouting
We started a row of these in the raised beds too. We read that Sunflowers make Cucumbers taste better so we will start the Cucumbers near these.
I loved in elementary school when we got to start Sweet Potatoes in little cups! I decided to try it again here in the greenhouse. These are holdovers from the very few that I grew last year. These will be planted in the Hugel Beds up by the Orchard.
Here are a handful more of the construction photos.
Daddykirbs Garden Greenhouse: My Helper :)
Daddykirbs Garden Greenhouse: Constructing the Short Wall
Daddykirbs Garden Greenhouse: Constructing the Short Wall
Daddykirbs Garden Greenhouse: Framing Done
Update:
Looks like I didn't fail completely :) Almost all of the seeds have sprouted.
