Gardens
We started in 1995 by locating a former garden spot. According to a neighbor, the soil had lain fallow for better than 30 years. when I think about it now, that makes total sense. My mother bought the property in about 1956. I know she never gardened, so let's make that better than *40* years. We were able to delineate the borders by the presence of apple tree seedlings, rhubarb, and asparagus plantings on one verge; and traces of an old hen-house on the other. The old garden had been put in at the base of an ancient orchard. (I remember picking apples from the trees when I was young, making my first batches of applesauce. Alas, by the time I bought the property, my brother had long ago cut down the apple trees. Since 1995 I have been trying to replant as well as reclaim old trees in the surrounding acreage.)
The initial garden in 1996 was about 30'x30'. There was lots of old chicken wire to pull out, stones to pile, and a general mess of this-and-that which fetched up on the tiller and was piles off on the side. Some of the artifacts (like an old soil sifter) I later reclaimed for use.
We made personal acquaintance with several very large rocks or boulders in the process. Having teen-age boys helped a lot in this process, as they were always more than ready to engage in a tussle to see how big a rock we could move. One, in fact, in a flowerbed, was so large that we could only up-end it. We christened it 'The Matterhorn', and planted strawberries around it.
The very largest rock- or rock outcrop- remains in the garden. I was the first to try to move it. Then my son Joseph did his best. Finally my husband went down with his Kubota backhoe and went completely off the deep end, determined to excavate the thing. It is immoveable, which makes me wonder if it is attached to bed-rock. Unfortunately, once the soil was disturbed to that extent, drainage of that area of the garden was compromised. It has never drained well since. Corn grows well there, and beans, but the soil will not stay sweet. My most recent attempt is to plant some apple seedlings and blueberry bushes. They should be able to suck up the water.
The initial garden in 1996 was about 30'x30'. There was lots of old chicken wire to pull out, stones to pile, and a general mess of this-and-that which fetched up on the tiller and was piles off on the side. Some of the artifacts (like an old soil sifter) I later reclaimed for use.
We made personal acquaintance with several very large rocks or boulders in the process. Having teen-age boys helped a lot in this process, as they were always more than ready to engage in a tussle to see how big a rock we could move. One, in fact, in a flowerbed, was so large that we could only up-end it. We christened it 'The Matterhorn', and planted strawberries around it.
The very largest rock- or rock outcrop- remains in the garden. I was the first to try to move it. Then my son Joseph did his best. Finally my husband went down with his Kubota backhoe and went completely off the deep end, determined to excavate the thing. It is immoveable, which makes me wonder if it is attached to bed-rock. Unfortunately, once the soil was disturbed to that extent, drainage of that area of the garden was compromised. It has never drained well since. Corn grows well there, and beans, but the soil will not stay sweet. My most recent attempt is to plant some apple seedlings and blueberry bushes. They should be able to suck up the water.
Elements in the Garden
To state the obvious, not all the plant species described will be in every garden. It is well, as you diversify, to turn your attention frequently to the association and interaction among the massed plants. Permaculture principles should be in play here.
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