This year we went in on a garden project with friends Dawn and Donna. Donna had a great plot of land in her yard to dedicate to the project, with full sun and an established underground sprinkler system.
We decided what we would grow during a fabulous dinner. Donna started a ton of tomato plants from seed, and we bought various seeds and starters.
On April 17, we met at Home Depot and bought lumber to build 4 raised beds. Lumber is notoriously expensive right now, but fortunately we didn't need a lot. Between our cars and the kayak racks, we got the lumber to Donna's house and got started.
 |
| Assembling the raised beds |
 |
| Starting tomatoes from seed |
 |
| Carrying lumber |
 |
| Removing sod- hard work |
 |
| Removing sod |
 |
| Packing up, and tired! |
 |
| Four raised beds completed and ready for dirt |
Donna had dirt delivered, and we came to spread it May 6. Later, we put some fencing up to keep the deer out. Start-up expenses totaled $715, which we divided among us.
 |
| Dirt delivered |
Cold-tolerant plants, including broccoli, cauliflower, onions, two kinds of potatoes, celeriac, sage, snap peas and pea pods were planted on May 13.
More beds were planted on May 23.
 |
| Plant locations |
Slowly, plants began to emerge.
 |
| Fence installed |
In July we harvested our first potatoes, some more lettuce, arugula, some peas, basil and cauliflower.
In the third week of August, we picked a bunch of ripe tomatoes and got together to can them and eat smoked brisket and
baked beans. We canned about 15 quarts of tomato sauce, processing them for 40 minutes in the water bath canner.
 |
| Serious tomatoes |
 |
| Sangria is ready! |
It was a great and productive year of gardening with friends.
In July we harvested our first potatoes, some more lettuce, arugula, some peas, basil and cauliflower.
No comments:
Post a Comment