Garden Update

I already had 2 beds built and planted before we went to church camp last week.  Bed one contains onions and garlic, lettuce and radish.  My only problem with this bed is that for some reason, one of our labs loves to pull up the garlic.  He doesn't eat them, he just pulled them up, drops them, and pulls up the next one in line.....

Bed 2 contains 16 tomato plants, and 12-16 broccoli, collards and cabbage.  In between there are more radishes.  This works very well, as the radishes are small, and don't interfere with the roots of the other plants.

Yesterday my dad spotted an ad on the Kansas City Craigslist, and called me.  A man in Cameron is selling pre-made raised beds for $5 each.  We went and bought 8.  They are all made out of untreated reclaimed or recycled wood.  The ones I made cost around $14 each.  Even considering the fuel to go get them, it was cheaper to buy them than make them.  I may go get more later.  He had them stacked in numerous piles, so he has plenty more.  That was a real gold mind of a find my dad made!!!  Thanks Dad!!


So, bed 3 has peppers, egg plant, more broccoli and bed 4 has cucumbers.

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Bed 5 has strawberries and bed 6 has watermelon.

3 lonely strawberries-all the store has left..

Watermelon

Bed 7 has cantaloupe.
Bed 8 is only half filled with soil.  I ran out, and it got dark.  Good time to stop!
Beds 9 and 10 are still empty.  But, they will be filled soon.

My potatoes are doing well, in their above ground cube made out of plastic pallets.

It takes me all of 5 minutes a day to weed the gardens.  No tiller to run.  I just mow around the beds and I am done.
Next month when they crop dust, I can easily cover my beds with sheets and plastic.  I have lost several gardens to crop dustings that drifted on to my traditional garden--not this year!  If birds become a problem, I can easily cover these with netting.  If we get an early frost, I can also put hoops over these on either end and in the middle and cover with clear plastic for a green house.   The girls have been helping me, so I am giving them some school credit for helping.