The Sunset Garden

I decided I needed to come up with a name for my community garden plot.  Saying I’m “going to the plot” just sounds dull, and when I’m having a conversation, or typing up a blog post, mentioning my community garden plot is wordy and unimaginative.  So I’m calling my community plot The Sunset Garden.  It is directly to our west, and I didn’t want to call it just The West Garden, so sunset it is, since that’s where the sun goes down at the end of the day.

Spring has left us for a day here in Wisconsin.  Last night after work, Andy lugged 26 pails of compost over to The Sunset Garden and this morning I thought I’d go work that in and prepare for planting tomatoes later this week.  It’s cold out!  I wore layers to go work with the hoe, and when I came back in a few moments ago, my ears were feeling a little numb from the chilly wind.  I had originally planned on also laying my landscape fabric over there, but it is so windy, I cannot imagine that project going very well for me.  It will have to wait.  But what I did do was work in the compost and mark my rows with my feet, and figure out how many plants will be going over there.  Later today I am going to take the time to flag my tomatoes.  Since it’s too cold for them out today, I may as well take advantage of them being inside and do their labels.  It will be one less thing to do on planting day.

Anyway, here’s a picture of The Sunset Garden today.

It seems I already need to re-do my very outside border, but you can sort of see two rows of mulch around the garden.  In between the rows of mulch are where I’ve planted about 500 onion sets, as well as chives and garlic chives.  Hopefully they start growing soon- those are my protection against critters over here.

In the bottom right hand corner where the pink ribbons are, is a patch of strawberries that were already in the garden when I claimed it.  That needs to be weeded, and I’m not sure how many of them will grow, as I moved a lot of them a few weeks ago.  In the corner closest to me you can see my tiny lovage plant, and to the right of that is the peppermint.  You can at least see the label for the peppermint plant.

At the far back corner you can see my compost bin. It’s full, full, full. The one thing I’ve been told about this garden is that weeds are a problem.  You think?  I’m hoping to combat that with the landscape fabric.  There is mulch on site that I am welcome to use, but I discovered when I put the mulch border around my garden that I am quite allergic to it.  It’s a lot of pine- I suspect the curbside Christmas tree collection contributes to our mulch pile over there, and I am definitely allergic to pine trees.  So I’m not sure yet what I’ll do with regards to a mulch.  Straw is a possibility as long as it’s fresh, as I’m also allergic to the mold that can develop in old straw bales.

My current plan is to plant peppers and tomatoes here in the home garden tomorrow, and then the sunset garden on Thursday.  I’m running out of time to get them in the ground.  Sure hope the weather cooperates with me!  We actually have a frost/freeze warning for tonight, so I’ll need to get things covered that are already out.  Sure hope that sun comes out early tomorrow and warms things up!

Moving Right Along

I am at a standstill with the gardens today.  My tomato and pepper plants are very much ready to be in the ground.  I keep planning to do that, and then something comes up, which has turned out to be a very good thing, as we’re dipping close to freezing temperatures tomorrow evening.   So they wait for just a few more days.  They are all too big to fit under the lights anymore, so they’ve been going outside for the day, and coming in at night while cold and/or storms roll in.   Here they are, basking in the sun.

This year I’m using surveyors tape to label my plants as they grow in the ground.  The pepper plants get a bamboo skewer, the tomatoes will have the tape tied right to them when they go in the ground.  Hopefully I’ll be able to get everyone labeled correctly.

Since those are on hold, I turned my attention to some herbs this past weekend.  I filled a few pots for on the deck, and then tucked a lovage and peppermint plant into my community plot.   I have more herbs to add yet, but this is a nice start.

And now for some pictures of my main garden here at home.   We have discovered that Andy over-ordered the compost to fill the beds.  We’ve worked compost in everywhere, and still have a big pile.  He’s going to haul some over to my community garden tonight and tomorrow, which will be much needed over there.  We have so much, though, and he had lumber on hand, so he spontaneously built another bed for me.  This one is outside the fenced in garden, and we decided to put the sprouted potatoes in there from last fall.  I have no idea if they will actually grow- I have terrible luck with potatoes.  But if they don’t sprout soon I’ll figure something else out for the bed.  The main purpose of this though is for garlic in the fall.  Here you can see the new bed with the garden behind it.

See all those buckets filled with dirt?  Those are what he is going to take over to the plot, and THEN we will probably still have enough dirt to fill them again with.   I will then plant some extra peppers in the buckets- I’ve always wanted to try a few different things in buckets, so this is the perfect opportunity to try that.

Here’s another view looking down the length of the garden.

All that space in the ground is where I am going to plant some tomatoes.  The rest of the tomatoes are going in the community plot.  Today I plan to go out and staple down the landscape fabric in this space.  That bed to the right with the pink flags in it holds my eggplants and a row of snap peas.  I’ll have to cover that bed up for the next few nights.  Eggplants do not like it cold!  There is also plenty of space in this bed for cucumbers, and I’m thinking a row of bush beans right now.

And then one more view

You can see I’m going to have to do some serious weeding between the beds soon.  The bed here in the middle has cauliflower, kale, collards and broccoli in it, as well as scallions and radishes.  I am saving space in this bed for the cucumbers as well.   To the left, where you see more pink flags, are a few peppers, as well as some Swiss Chard sprouts, and then a whole bunch of blank space for bush beans.  The two beds in the back have lettuce, carrots, spinach and beets in them.  Those beds get some shade at the end of the day from the trees next to the garden, and I’m really hoping to extend the lettuce season that way.  Hopefully it works!