The Modern Victory Garden

Over the course of Thursday (January 1st) through Saturday (January 3rd) - I was able to get out into the garden for a least a couple of hours each day to make progress on site prep work.  While out and about I took a picture of the "January King" cabbage.   I was unsure how it had fared with the deep freeze and heavy snows of December - but it seems to be growing well and forming nice heads!  There is only three of them planted in this section - but they seem to be holding up to the foul weather despite not having been provided any protection at all.  

Friday and Saturday were particularly productive because I spent each of these days working in an area adjacent to the main garden beds - clearing brush, felling small trees, and removing the lower limbs of some of the larger trees.   I probably have another 2 to 3 more hours of work to do in this area to finish limbing up the two biggest trees in that area.   The product of all this work is greater sunlight exposure during the morning hours for the upper portion of the garden.  Hopefully I will be able to finish this work up next weekend.   Once this is completed, I will move back to the garden expansion project area and return to the task of removing the stumps and roots left behind from the clearing work we did late last fall.    If all goes well, I will get the garden site prep work completed by no later than the end of February.  This gives me the month of March to get the beds constructed in the new garden area.   

I got serious this weekend about planning and budgeting for the construction of new beds in the expansion area.   I walked off the general location of beds and found I can comfortably fit three 4'X24' beds plus one 2'X16' (vertical grow bed), plus a 6'X16' flat growing area (not raised bed) for growing sprawling crops like squash and pumpkins and a new raspberry patch area    In addition to creating these new planting areas, I am planning to put a retaining wall/bed around the area I grew the squash in last year.   It's a good growing area but has a steep slope that needs to be contained.     I priced various materials to make the beds with and have concluded it would be most economical (both short term and longer term) to do the new beds in concrete blocks for the edging.   

Today I did not go out into the garden at all other than to pick carrots for tonight's dinner.   I was pretty dang tired and sore after all the physical work I did on Friday and Saturday and decided it would be good to give myself a break.   I did not lose the day today entirely though.   I updated my garden layout schematic (done in Word using the drawing tools) to add the new beds being created.   I then saved it off to a 2009 garden layout file and began filling in what was to be planted and where for the main spring/summer garden.  I am gaining a lot of growing area with the new beds.   However, I am planning to plant perennial crops in some of the existing older bed areas so it is not a complete gain for annual garden crops.    One of the items I am planting in the older beds are 3 bush pie cherry plants.   I am also adding a second full bed of strawberries, a section of rhubarb, and a small bed of cranberries.    

I am hoping January and February are productive months in getting the new areas ready for planting and getting the first seeds started for the 2009 garden.   I am done with my annual seed, nursery stock, and supplies purchasing and ready to get underway with the "doing" part of the process. 

Happy gardening everyone!