Consider the Garden All Year Round

Eliza and I (mostly Eliza) have begun work on our spring garden.  With our chickens finally securely isolated to their third of the yard, we’ve been able to plant our transplants and spring seeds, and soon we’ll be getting good food from our garden beds again.  It is an exciting time of year because we really ahven’t gotten too much from our garden since November (just some herbs and kale really).

Reading a fantastic article in the New York Times this morning, about year round organic farming in Maine, reminds me that we are so lucky to live in a relatively mild climate area.  If farmers can grow crops in Maine year round, with little more than unheated hoop-houses, then it should be no problem for us here in SC.  And, in truth, it is no problem.  Unfortunately, coming off of the chaos of getting married and still setting up our household, we didn’t get around to having a winter garden this past season, but our hope is, to now work on keeping crops growing year round.

Yes, there is a lot of work to be done, but after a while, much of it becomes more maintenance with just the occassional heavy labor.  We already have our raised beds made (though they needed some repair from months of chickens digging in them), we already had some mulch down, we already had trellising and tomato cages made, and we already have a giant pile of our own compost. 

Eliza has been thrilled to get her seeds in on time this year (for the past two years we’ve ended up being behind time). Yesterday she finished up seed trays with wonderful things like tomatoes and peppers and eggplants and a few other odds and ends.  We’ve also ordered some new fruit trees and shrubs to add to our space.  Now that we’ve been in the house for over a year, it is really feeling like the urban farming is pulling together.  Hopefully by this time next year, we’ll be harvesting the last of our winter crops and getting the spring ones going.  Year round vegetable will be wonderful.

I’ll make sure to keep you posted.  Need to get out and take a bunch of pictures.  When I do I’ll add them here.

~ by Nathaniel on February 23, 2012.