Max is a little concerned about us growing enough food to amount to anything. Based on our track record, I can see his point. But I feel that with a few years of trial and error, we will get there.
Goodness knows how many years we tried to grow tomatoes and only got one tomato. Then to have the birds enjoy it before we could!!!! That was my fault, but I won't go into that now. ;-)
Last summer, we tried again, after a many years had passed. Planted only one plant and had a bumper crop!!! I think it had a lot to do with asking the poor ladies who were next to us at North Haven what seemed to be a million questions. Hey, they were the ones who said they had the golden touch when it came to growing tomatoes.
I figured out how to fix the netting to keep the birds away and still gather the fruit without too much trouble.
I now realize how important it is to keep a planting journal. I almost forgot the steps we took with our one plant last year!
Anyway, that gave us confidence to try potatoes this year. After doing everything the garden center’s advisor suggested and reading all kinds of posts on the internet, we planted one barrel’s worth. Now we are just waiting for the next step.
These are some pretty good links to the method we are using.
http://www.i4at.org/lib2/garden.htm
http://powellriverbooks.blogspot.com/2008/09/growing-potatoes-in-barrel.html
No way were we going to dig in this clay/gumbo soil, especially after all the years of chemical treatments.
I have a couple of heirloom tomato plants and two pepper plants waiting to be transplanted outside. Going back to North Haven Gardens in a couple of weeks to get green bean and okra plants. Get things going outside, while I’m waiting for the seeds I planted indoors to sprout and mature enough for the outdoors. Staggering the plantings.
So begins another step in the Journey to the Cabin. Learning to grow veggies, companion planting, insect control and such.
Wish us luck!