2016 Garden Plans

I am finally getting excited to work in my yard this spring. Our snow is gone and it's starting to feel like it is time to get planning. My real, overarching goal this year is to focus on low-maintenance when possible. I have a few new areas to plan out and I don't want to spend my summer weeding anymore than necessary. This will mean a focus on mulching and mulching some more!

Because we don't eat many potatoes, and because my mom always has waaaay too many, I've decided to forgo planting spuds and save that garden space for other edibles. I also want to get my raised beds more productive with more compost and the use of plastic window panes I've acquired and row covers to extend the season. So I am hoping for more productivity without too much more input :)

This is technically our third summer here. I am really pleased with how the yard is shaping up. We have a beautiful view to begin with, so I just want to have a natural flow from what I have planted and built to the natural surroundings. There are three main areas where I grow annual and perennial flowers (focus is going to be on perennials) and two main edible garden areas. This summer I plan to start a bigger garden out by our lane way where the ground is more flat (this really depends on borrowing a tractor and my Husband being here to help). This does add a bit to my work load where weeding is concerned, but for this year my focus is on getting the spot worked up with a rototiller and planting root crops for... (drum roll!)....

2016 pigs

Our three pigs! The pigs certainly deserve a post of their own, and soon, but I'm struggling to find time to write with Husband home and all of the work that we have to do. The focus for the new garden area will be weed control, cover crops and root vegetables for ourselves and the pigs to eat.

In other gardening news, I'm just tickled to see some asparagus shooting up already. I also have chives a few inches tall and some strawberry plants have survived the neglectful conditions they are subjected to. Perennial food gardening is so rewarding in the spring. How delightful to already see some growth and anticipate food grown here--so much tastier than what we can buy in a store :)

Second year of asparagus. Planning to eat some this year!

With my focus on low maintenance/ natural looking landscaping, I plan to put some shrubs and flowering trees near the house (but not too near) to disguise how tall it looks perched on this south-facing slope.

My plan is a flowering plum or two and possibly a variegated dogwood
to the left of the deck stairs to "lower" the deck or at least help it blend
into the surroundings. We also need to finish the deck pillars and install
trellis...work, work, work!

Because it is such a nice micro-climate on that south side, we have built some cold frames and I plan to surround them with stepping stones and perennial herbs. For weed control I also want to have creeping thyme grow among the rocks to (hopefully) prevent unnecessary weeding. Here's hoping!

As you can see, the lawn is sparse as we just got that topsoil hauled in
last summer and I hadn't decided what I was doing in that space.

It will be so handy to come down from the kitchen to grab herbs
while I am cooking :)

I have one rock border to finish. I began work on it in 2013 once the house arrived, but it has me stumped. Perhaps I just can't visualize what I want to see there because we still need to parge the foam basement wall. We plan to get that job done soon so hopefully inspiration will strike once I'm not distracted by the ugly wall. Like the south end of the house, I want to grow things of varied height for visual interest and to draw the eye away from that blank basement wall.

Notice the damage our rescue dog has done to our lawn area. SIGH.
We are trying to teach him that the grass next to the house is not his toilet
area. He's doing better now that the snow is gone but the battle is ongoing!

I feel busy enough with animals and kids that I don't want to expand my yard work if possible. Besides the pigs and us expecting baby lambs any day now we are also getting chickens to butcher in the fall. So I feel like I have enough on my plate! There is a lot to learn, most of which can only be done on the job. It's important to me that our animals and birds are well cared for so that will be highest priority. Also, I want to do a better job with what I have--particularly in watering my trees and edging/mulching in the fall so that I don't end up with so much weeding etc first thing in the spring. On the other hand, I don't want to beat myself up because I know I always try to do my best and there's no point fretting about what didn't get done last year. It's a new year and I'm looking forward to recording our progress here!

Phew!

After a whirlwind few weeks home, Husband has returned to work. This time he took the camper and his nephew and will be about a two hour drive away. We have stayed at the campsite before--it is clean, has a playground and kids' swimming area. The boys are super-excited to go visit Daddy in the camper.

We worked hard while he was home, and we also all came down with a cold. Despite being under the weather we accomplished much of what I had hoped:

• 3 raised garden beds built, soil amended with compost, and planted
• all excess lumber stacked and mess from garage-build tidied 
• topsoil leveled behind garage and small garden area tilled
• countless hours picking rocks, twigs, glass and metal out of the topsoil so we could seed lawn. We got over half done and seeded. I still have a patch to finish. Which I dread.
• apple tree bed built (ringed with rock)
• planted 2 apple trees, hydrangea, hazelnut, pear and pollinator trees, flowering crabapple, raspberries, moved hedge rose
• planted sunflowers and potatoes
• harrowed the road to smooth out winter's ruts
• seeded blossoming clover as cover crop on the west half of the yard to keep down weeds and add organic matter to the soil
• new 3 compartment compost bin 
• planted out chokecherry trees and cedar from my mom
• watered 120 blue spruce along our road
• flowerbed alongside the shed, planted 1 mugo pine, a peony, reed grass, phlox, burning bush, and other things from seed packets which I forget

We have finally had some warm weather and the leaves are back, our lawn is growing grass and weeds, and some of the garden is up. We spotted sunflowers, onion tops, radishes and a few potatoes. It was a real relief to see that things are going to grow (it would be my luck to have a gardening blog and a garden that doesn't grow)!

Yesterday I was able to sneak off to the greenhouse with my mom, where I bought some annuals and my tomato and pepper plants. I've never had much luck starting tomatoes, but I have a small indoor greenhouse and a heated tray so next year I would like to try. We had a bit of rain last night so I will plant the tomatoes, peppers and herbs when it is dry. Until then I think we can stay busy doing up flower pots. 

What is growing in your garden?

One (Lonely) Swale

I began to read Toby Hemenway's Gaia's Garden in the winter of 2012/13, when we still lived in our old house an hour's drive south of here. It is a very practical guide to planning one's yard, and one that impressed upon me the importance of water conservation (among other things).

In the book, Hemenway illustrates the usefulness of swales in reducing water runoff on slopes. The idea is to dig a trough of one to two feet deep (in my case, much closer to ONE backbreaking foot deep!):

Although it looks like I have put the swale running downhill, the actual slope that we lose most of the runoff from is to the left of the trench I dug.

See what I mean? This is facing uphill, where snow melt and rain runoff had actually worn deep gullies into the soil before we harrowed (carrying away my valuable topsoil). But back to the swale. Into the bottom my helpers and I deposited first, gravel. We topped that with sand because, hey, they had loaded their John Deere trailer and I hated to disappoint ;)

The next layer was straw (or rather long dead grass out of the bushes). It was straw-like and more plentiful than the bit of straw I swiped from the farm for my compost. We quickly covered it before the wind blew it away. Looks like the helpers are conspiring...

Ah, yes, they moved on to more exciting adventures and left mommy to finish the job. As usual ;)

The point of the swale is to catch water as it moves down the slope and give it somewhere to go (rather than gushing downhill in soil depleting rivers). When the water hits the swale (and the slight berm that is on the downhill side of the swale...difficult to photograph...) it should soak in and travel along the gravel bottom before soaking slowly and more deeply below-ground--the width of the swale.

I had high hopes that we might get three or even four swales installed because our yard is sloping in every direction. Alas, I managed only this one poor lonely swale by the sweat of my own brow. We are short on time and very short on horse power, but if there is a chance this fall after my cover crops get turned under I hope to try another.

Have you any water conservation strategies in place in your garden? Or is the rainfall plentiful enough that you haven't the need?

Tree Planting

Well, perhaps I have a lot on my mind. I left a loaf of bread in the oven for over two hours the other day (it was well done!) and I used facial cleanser as toothpaste the other morning (I noticed in the nick of time!). So it doesn't surprise me that I forgot I had used my parents' address on our tree application (in case we had already moved when the letter came out). So for two months I've been assuming that we didn't get trees from the shelterbelt program which is finished this year. Instead, the letter has been riding around in my mom's vehicle and she forgot to give it to me (she probably has a lot on her mind too, this can't be hereditary!). At any rate, the letter was delivered to me yesterday and I was tickled to find that we will receive free trees after all. The program ran out of trees so I didn't get all of the types I requested, but beggars can't be choosers. I'm happy to get any at all.

Including the trees that I purchased, we will have to plant:

150 Hedge Rose
250 Scots Pine
300 Mix Poplar Cuttings
50 Mix Willow Cuttings

120 Colorado Spruce
200 Northwest Poplar
180 Manitoba Maple

I will have to pull out the drawings I made this winter to decide where everything will go...we are going to be busy! As we go, I'd like to get into more detail regarding the use of trees in wildlife habitat and as part of an overall permaculture approach to yard design (as my very beginner perspective understands it!). For now, back to the drawing board as we get nearer to beginning work in the new yard!

Ordering Trees

Well, I've ordered several hundred trees, in addition to any that I might receive from the shelterbelt program. (Unfortunately, the program is almost out of trees and I'm sure my application is getting there late to be considered for trees. I'll be lucky to get a few hedges methinks. So sad about that!) Alas, my purchased trees should arrive just before May Long Weekend so that we can toil away Husband's days off. He just doesn't know it yet ;)

I ordered:

120 (3yr old) Colorado Spruce
200 (1yr old) NorthWest Poplar
180 (1yr old) Manitoba Maple

That quantity is for shelterbelt on the 200 or so metres into our yard from the grid road. For some colour and visual interest in the yard, I also ordered:

10 Siberian Larch
5 (3yr old) Amur Maple
5 Paper Birch

I plan on posting once the trees arrive, and doing several posts on tree planting and care once they are in the ground. I can't wait to update on how they are growing! I so look forward to the brilliant spectacle of yellowing larch against birch and blue spruce. The reds of the amur maple are going to be a show for miles around, now to be patient and watch them grow (and water, water, water!) I am going to give the yard a year to take shape and then order more trees, possibly a flowering crab for spring colour and a weeping willow or two. Even placing the order has made the February blahs dissipate somewhat....I can almost feel the sun on my back and the dirt under my nails!

Before and After: The Garden

It's February and if I can't be in the garden, I find myself thinking about the garden! We will be leaving this one before planting time this year, and will have to break new ground for a garden at our acreage. As a sort of send off to this yard and house, I'm going to do a small series of before and afters to show off some of the work we did in our four years here.

This was taken the day we made an offer on the property, 2009

While going through pictures I came across one of our first garden. I was pregnant with baby number one and didn't end up working in it as much as I wanted. I was also working shiftwork and the overnights were very hard. But I do remember eating beets almost everyday, and green beans by the pail, so the garden was a success and I have a healthy little boy to prove it.

The first thing we did was build a compost bin (you can glimpse the blue tarp to the right rear of the garden). When we had a little extra money we made the garden just a bit bigger and edged it. That sure helped to keep the grass from invading, but we do still dig out a bit of encroaching lawn every year.

Two years ago we added a second compost bin

As far as yield goes, I would end up with enough potatoes for a couple months when it was just the two of us. I would blanch and freeze beans, make a couple batches of pickles, and we would eat onions and beets to our heart's content. The potatoes and onions were small and the carrots especially started out a failure. After adding compost each year I noticed a great improvement in the carrots and onions this past year. The garden is partially shaded most of the day and the spruce trees steal moisture and shed needles and cones everywhere. Attempting to make more room for vegetables at the "good" end, we cut the raspberry bush back to the point that we didn't get any fruit from it last year. From this little garden I have learned that placement is everything. In the new yard I won't put raspberries or spruce trees so close that they compete for moisture and nutrients. 

Do you have competing interests in your garden and, if so, how have you managed?  



Making Plans

As I've mentioned, my family and I are making a move back to where I was raised. There are so many posts I could write on the subject, and I intend to, but for today my focus is what I've been working on in spare moments recently.

Western Canada (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Peace River Region of British Columbia) has a prairie shelterbelt program available for rural landowners of 5 acres (2 hectares) or more. More information on the program (along with excellent planting and care resources) is available on the website www.agr.gc.ca/agroforestry 

Seedlings are provided free of charge (landowner pays shipping) for the following planting purposes:

Farmyard: for protection of a yard, residence or other buildings
Field: for soil erosion control of cultivated fields or protection of crops
Roadside: primarily for snow control along roads or lanes
Livestock: primarily for protection of livestock or livestock facilities
Wildlife: for improvement of wildlife habitat, including enhancement of shelterbelts
Riparian: to buffer between agricultural land and bodies of water, including flood plains and wetlands
Replacements: stock ordered as replacements to seedlings planted in recent years

The application requires a sketch of where the trees will go, including spacing and distance from roadways, buildings etc. I've put alot of time into the application and my drawing and it has helped me visualize what I want our yard to look like, and what we hope to accomplish for wildlife and shelter on our land. The effort of applying (not to mention the work of planting and watering!) will be well worth it in years to come when, hopefully, the trees protect our yardsite and provide food and shelter to wildlife in the area.

Is there a shelterbelt program in your area, and have you accessed it? Have you planted trees for wildlife habitat and shelter?