I figured a good way to start this site would be with a quick photo tour of last years successes and disasters...
Extending the beds in mid April
Inspecting the broccoli in June
Pigs begging to come into the garden
Front yard mini corn bed. Looked great and got a lot of smiles but no actual corn. Going to try to stagger the planting of rows by 2 weeks next time.
Rabbit drooling over the carrots
The larger Fowler's toad that called the garden home last summer. Great slug control!
Some of the veggies
Compost bin # 1 made from 2x2's and chicken wire
The Quail experiment begins in fall 2012
This is cool! I wanted to have chickens on LI but was told they're not allowed (in nassau county at least)...do you know what the rules are about having poultry?
ReplyDeleteHey Ms. S! It's true that chickens are not allowed in the majority of Nassau County. When I considered large poultry for the backyard I consulted a friend of mine who is a lawyer who gave me some good advice...zone restrictions are put into place for when the neighbors complain. Because I didn't want any violations I decided on Japanese coturnix quail which can be considered "song birds" and pets as that is what they were originally bred for. And they are insanely fun to watch rip through some fresh weeds and then convert them into delicious backyard eggs...
ReplyDeleteBlog looks great! I am totally addicted to blogging now that I have set my own up. It motivates me to go places, photograph things, and log my adventures. I hope that you keep up with it, it will also be a great personal log of your gardening! How well does your garden end up sustaining you?
ReplyDeleteIt's been a busy few weeks but I've added a few pics of what the garden has started to produce this year. So far it's been daily salads since late April!
DeleteThis blog rules.
ReplyDeleteGreat advice for [sub]urban DIY'ers. Thanks Matt S.
Great photos! Have you ever tried sheet mulching with cardboard? I didn't have time to prepare our garden this year and I read that it is a quick way to get things planted.
ReplyDeleteSheet mulching works really well for removing sod or groundcover from a bed you want to prepare. You just have to set it up early fall the year before for it to work. I would still suggest "double digging" the bed in order to get enough oxygen and compost in the soil to start a nice hyperactive ecosystem for the nutrient hungry veggies. I'll try to put up a post about some double dig methods that have worked well for my new beds this year. Great to hear from a fellow NY gardener!
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