by Noel | May 9, 2011 | CobraHead, Gardening
My garden is an experiment to prove to myself that it’s possible to maintain a large organic vegetable growing area using all hand labor and with a minimum of outside inputs. Weed control is the toughest part, and not having or taking enough time to do a good job of preventative weeding often leaves me with some labor intensive weeding chores. This partly weeded bed was planted with strawberries in 2007. I normally clean out the berry beds and move any...
by Noel | May 3, 2011 | CobraHead, Gardening
I planted a bed of potatoes Sunday, using two new planting boards that I made from a 4′ x 4′ sheet of 1/2″ plywood. I had been using some old scrap plywood for planting boards, but I decided I would be happier and more efficient with two boards exactly the size I wanted. I cut a 12″ strip off the 4′ x 4′ sheet so I have a 3′ x 4′ board for using when I’m on top of a bed and I have a 1′ x 4′ sheet...
by Noel | Apr 25, 2011 | CobraHead, Gardening
Here’s me, yesterday, atop a bed, planting peas. We had a nice little break in the rainy weather, so I took the opportunity to get my peas seeded. I’m using a large piece of plywood to kneel on. The plywood disperses my weight and allows me to get right on top of the bed. It makes the work much easier that trying to reach in from the sides to set the peas in place. The bed has just over 36″ of flat planting width across the top. I’m...
by Noel | Apr 18, 2011 | CobraHead, Gardening
Here’s a picture of my garden beds that I took this afternoon. Had I taken it early in the morning there would have been a light layer of snow over the whole area. April has been most cruel, so far. Cold and rain are the norm and it is not expected to be any nicer in the week ahead, in fact it will probably be worse. In most years I could be planting already. April 15th is the recommended date in this area for seeding peas, a lot of root crops, salad...
by Noel | Apr 6, 2011 | CobraHead, Gardening
It’s been a slow start getting the beds ready for spring planting because of the frequent rain. It’s not raining right now, but everything is wet and muddy. I did manage to get a brand new bed shaped up for planting last weekend. Its only 12 feet long versus the 21 feet of most of my beds. I made it in my compost area and I have another bed the same size about half shaped up right next to this one which I’ll finish off as soon as the ground is...
