Preparing the 2014 Garden

We've begun planting the 2014 garden, come take a look at what we've finished so far.

Last year's garden was a bit of a mess.  It was begun quickly, and we didn't have the time to take care of it.  In the end it produced a lot of good food, but we knew we could do better this year.

We started by tilling & weeding the same garden bed.  We removed the janky old chicken wire fence so that we could work easily, and because the fence needed to be reinstalled anyway.  Next came some fresh mushroom compost from a local mushroom farm.

We're trying out an approach to gardening called Back to Eden, which puts an emphasis on using the mulch made from local trees to create a healthy, nutritious topsoil.  It's also supposed to cut down on the amount of weeding we need to do, so I hope it works as advertised.  There's a video available online if you want to see more about the techniques and ideas behind it.

So far, we've planted swiss chard, brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, and several varieties of lettuce.  The strawberry patch we started last year has started growing again, so maybe we'll have some berries this year.  We'll plant some more vegetables (i.e. tomatoes) a little later.

The Back to Eden approach requires a lot of mulch, so we asked our local tree service, Tree Doctors, if they could dump a load of wood chips at our place on their drive home.  After we reinstalled the fence, we added the chips to the perimeter to cut down on zoysia grass invasions.  The lettuces & sprouts have also been mulched, and we'll mulch the rest of the garden as time and weather permits.

Here's hoping for a good harvest!