Hi there and hello...

I think it is fitting to start when the year is almost over, so I can follow this through with some sense of unity.

So here is some background:

We moved into our home in Columbia, SC this last May. It is the first time I have had any kind of space to work with outside. So it is possible I have bitten off more than I can chew out of sheer excitement and impatience. I will post a scan of the garden plan next post.

Sharing space with a play area for my son, and a patio, I will be using companion planting and intensive raised beds. We compost and rotate crops. I have no idea how much produce to expect, but you can find out with me, I guess.

We are having an uphill battle trying to remove this horrible, invasive thatch that the home builders covered our backyard with. It is an ongoing experiment how to get this stuff out, so we can grow anything else. We have had moderate success using a garden claw-style thing and pulling the chunks out and disposing of them. But it is hard work, and now it is freezing out.

Most of our edibles are going to be in the back yard, but I couldn't deny the precious real estate that the front yard provides. So we will be growing a few things there too. Largely though, my affections will be in the back yard. In the front we have 2 grape vines, a dwarf North Star cherry tree, and 3 of the 4 nut trees. The other will provide shade for the backyard play space.

This last fall, we bought 5 dwarf fruit trees. One Elberta peach, a 5-in-1 pear, Tartarian cherry, Damson plum, and 5-in-1 apple. Also we bought 4 standard size nut trees, 2 pecan and 2 English walnut. I am still waiting to see if a couple of them actually come out of dormancy. There is a one-year warranty on the entire order of plants and seeds that we got.

I have planted the perennials around the perimeter of the fence, so that the crops that need to be rotated are in the center, and easily changed from year to year. Our perennials so far include rhubarb, lavender, asparagus, strawberries, blueberries, and globe artichoke.

Our seasonal produce plan lays out space for two 3-sisters plots. This is where our corn (both Peaches and Cream as well as popcorn) will be interplanted with vine crops and legumes. We also have 8 raised beds which we will make ourselves. And since our soil is essentially beach sand, I will be filling it with a 50/50 soil compost mix from a local landscape supply company up the road.

The details will be in the layout that will be posted of the back yard. I am just on Richard's computer, and he doesn't have all my pictures...

Anyhow, what is going on right now in the garden is that we have built one bed (of the 8) so far. We need to buy more supplies, but I can see it waiting until after the holidays. I don't foresee starting an seeds until mid-January anyway. I put the protective coverings out on the perennials, and am working on preparing the ground where the corn will be going.

I have a feeling I will have to essentially dig a giant hole for the corn and fill it with the purchased soil/compost mix. I am not looking forward to that at all.

The one bed that we have made already will be for the onions. I laid newspaper pretty thick in the bottom, to try to kill the "grass" underneath without digging it up. I think it will be deep enough that even if the "grass" lives, it won't reach up to the roots of the plants in that bed anyway.

What needs to be done here pretty soon:
-I need to finish making the beds and getting them in place.
-I need to get all of our seeds ordered (and take advantage of free shipping promotions)
-I need to get my calendar together so I know exactly what day everything needs to be planted.
-The ground needs to be prepared for Spring (and really the yard needs to be cleaned all together)

**we are trying to expand the patio concurrently with implementing the garden plan, so there are paving stones, patio furniture, and gardening implements (not to mention Zen's toys) strewn all over the yard right now. I hope to have it cleaned up before planting time! ;)**

Next post soon!!
Come back and see what we're up to!