"A Victory Garden"- my family's site in the States.

Discussion in 'Members' Systems' started by Finchj, Jul 12, 2012.

  1. Finchj

    Finchj Junior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 29, 2010
    Messages:
    330
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Here comes another one!

    A bit longer. 40 minutes. Sorry. But I was trying something new by actually putting some information to describe why in more detail than before- so I talk about our choice of species for cover cropping in depth. Honestly, I think this is the best one so far. They are getting better if I say so myself.

    Ok- here is the link. February 16- March 6 2012.
     
  2. Finchj

    Finchj Junior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 29, 2010
    Messages:
    330
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    So this is the ninth slide show.

    March 11-March 28 2012. Shorter than the last, longer than the others at 36 minutes.

    Early spring in the garden. The cover crop more than doubles in size and we begin to see even more species bolt to provide the emerging insects with a food source and habitat. I talk a bit about how our system, even in its infancy, is able to respond to unexpected weather because of designed resiliency. The only thing facing our garden now is drought and we have yet to build very much organic matter into the soil and set up rainwater harvesting (to do!)
     
  3. Finchj

    Finchj Junior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 29, 2010
    Messages:
    330
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Some pictures.

    These are just some of the stills from the garden slide shows.

    These are from the first slide show. November 2010-January 2011.

    [​IMG]
    November 2010. Looking north into the lawn, you can see we have begun laying out some ideas for pathways. Garlic is growing under the plastic in a double dug bed.

    [​IMG]
    November 2010. Looking east, we have a very gentle slope in our yard that comes down to the berm on the left (north), which then forces water to exit towards the viewer.

    [​IMG]
    January 2011. Earthworks have begun with a small "upper" pond and two swales. The second, lower swale, is off contour (woops) and I talk about that a bit in the slide shows. As you can see, we have heavy clay utisol soils with very little organic matter.
     
  4. Finchj

    Finchj Junior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 29, 2010
    Messages:
    330
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    February-Early March 2011

    A couple images from the second slide show.

    [​IMG]
    February 2011. Double digging commences at the south end of the garden in what will become the 'green guild.' As we double dug, we applied lime and an organic fertilizer to the top layer of soil- which we then covered with unfinished compost. The compost would drain nutrients into the soil and act as a mulch. As the beds progressed, we flipped the compost down the hill and applied mulch to the double dug sections.

    [​IMG]
    February 2011. Along the swales we planted root cuttings of Russian Comfrey Bocking 14. This is the first swale and you can see that I've made a mistake of putting a straight line overflow channel in. I also talk about this quite a bit and actually didn't truly "fix" it until winter 2012.
     
  5. Finchj

    Finchj Junior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 29, 2010
    Messages:
    330
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    From March-May 2011.

    From the third slide show.

    [​IMG]
    April 2011. Hardening off some plants before transplanting. Most of these will find a home in the night shade guild.

    [​IMG]
    April 2011. A view from one of the second story windows. Double digging has been completed in 2/3 of the guilds and the proposed pathways for the third guild are visible. We didn't use keyholes in the last area because we wanted to try the 'four sisters' which need close spacing of the corn plants and keyholes seemed radically reduce the size of the beds.

    I should mention that we were planting such a large annual garden as a stress test. The idea, for me as a new gardener, would be to see how the different micro climates and habitats created by the trees would affect annuals- as they readily show their preferences. I could then infer more about each location in the garden as we transitioned into cover cropping.
     
  6. Finchj

    Finchj Junior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 29, 2010
    Messages:
    330
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    June 2011.

    From the fourth slide show.

    [​IMG]
    June 2011. A transition zone- the green guild (right) is going to seed while the night shade guild (left) is beginning to exhibit strong growth. The night shade guild was the most successful, with tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, basil, oregano, cilantro, parsley, lettuce, onions, cosmos, lemon balm, okra, and some other species co-existing. The spacing of the tomatoes was a bit too close though.

    [​IMG]
    June 2011. The upper pond covered with a trellis for cucumbers, the idea was to shade the pond, reducing evaporation and protecting the gold fish from birds. Just beyond you can see the four sisters beginning to take off. The whole guild was torn apart by very strong storms with winds exeeding 60mph/ 96kph/ 26m/s on more than one occasion.

    I talk about the four sisters guild and our implementation of it in the slide shows. Although I botched the job on the planting order (which is the main determinant of outcome), the storms would have destroyed the plants regardless.
     
  7. Finchj

    Finchj Junior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 29, 2010
    Messages:
    330
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    July 2011.

    First summer in the garden, from the fifth slide show.

    [​IMG]
    July 7, 2011. Same transition zone between the green and night shade guilds. The diversity begins to show itself not only in vegetation types, but also forms and fruits- the sheer number of tomatoes that are growing was a pleasant surprise.

    [​IMG]
    July 17, 2011. While the four sisters has taken a beating, the vining crops of melons still grew well- although they didn't fruit as well as they should have. The whole guild devolved into a mess of green vines, but at least some sunflowers remained above the fray.

    [​IMG]
    July 30, 2011. My last harvest before heading off to Finland for August, not bad for a first year garden by a first time gardener!
     
  8. Finchj

    Finchj Junior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 29, 2010
    Messages:
    330
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    September-November 2011.

    From the sixth slide show. This is after I return to NC from Finland.

    [​IMG]
    September 7, 2011. Part of the four sisters guild- no more melons, no ground cover, and morning glories doing their thing. On a positive note- the bed still has its cover of mulch so the soil wasn't exposed to the sun! Note, the decomposing, dead plants are left for a reason- they died a natural death and are safe to remain as overwintering sites and bulky mulch.

    [​IMG]
    September 18, 2011. After a few weeks of painstakingly removing morning glory seed pods, we've managed to remove a lot of the grass and other opportunistic plants.

    [​IMG]
    November 9, 2011. November and we are still harvesting tomatoes- this time from volunteer tomatoes that came in the mulch. These tomatoes were almost never watered- they were left to fend for themselves and fruited into the fall. And just look at all of those peppers.

    [​IMG]
    November 9, 2011. Cover cropping in autumn. Common vetch in this guild for nitrogen fixing along with plenty of fall/winter crops for diversity.

    Thats all I have uploaded for now, I'll see about selecting more pictures from slide shows 7-9 later.
     
  9. eco4560

    eco4560 New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2009
    Messages:
    5,925
    Likes Received:
    9
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Nice to see how quickly it evolves!
     
  10. Tildesam

    Tildesam Junior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 13, 2012
    Messages:
    80
    Likes Received:
    5
    Trophy Points:
    8
    Gender:
    Female
    Occupation:
    Web Developer
    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    Home Page:
    Climate:
    Warm Temperate (Diggers Cold Zone 10, Hot Zone 4-6)
    I love looking at these transitional photo-stories, and seeing the sorts of harvests you can get year round are very encouraging. Thanks for sharing, keep them coming! :)
     
  11. Finchj

    Finchj Junior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 29, 2010
    Messages:
    330
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Eco- we were very pleased with the growth as well. I did do a lot of double digging, so I'm glad it has paid off!

    Sammy- I'll keep them coming. Unfortunately they will end in June 2012, with some extras from July. That is until I get sent more photos from the family!
     
  12. Finchj

    Finchj Junior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 29, 2010
    Messages:
    330
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    January-Feb 6 2012

    Start of the new year and the winter is still crazy mild. Almost everything continues to grow, although a frost in late January/early Feb will kill off a lot of the vetch.

    [​IMG]
    January 10, 2012. Common vetch, mustard, arugula, daikon radish, two kinds of spinach, cabbages, and other plants continue to grow throughout the winter.

    [​IMG]
    January 25, 2012. Looking from my favorite vantage point, most of the garden is visible to some extent. As the cover cropping of the next few years continues, we will be adding a shrub layer to the garden. This will help quite a bit in adding structural diversity to the garden. The trees are already large enough to be home to birds in spring, but we want to add some thicket like areas either inside the fence our in our "zone4/5" as over wintering for birds.

    [​IMG]
    February 6, 2012. I finally have the time and inclination to move the giant mound of clay left from my brother's pond digging last summer. The mounds could have used a lot more wood to make them true hugel beds, but we didn't have any more wood I wanted to spare. I only had enough spare mulch to do the southern faces a little bit.
     
  13. Finchj

    Finchj Junior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 29, 2010
    Messages:
    330
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    February 16- March 6 2012

    The pace quickens towards the "end" of winter. Our last frost date is supposed to be May 1st. Didn't happen.

    [​IMG]
    February 16, 2012. Blueberries are already leafing out. Second year after being transplanted into a mini-hugel mound.

    [​IMG]
    February 16, 2012. Finally decided to block off the overflow channels for both swales with elbows of soil (hah, soil... its clay). Now the water will exit out the opposite end and disperse through vegetation rather than running down and causing a gully.

    [​IMG]
    February 17, 2012. Cabbages beginning to flower in February- I think this was a combination of temperature and maturity. Either way, pretty surprising to see when everyone else's landscape is quite dormant. We did have quite a few bugs moving around, so good to offer them more energy sources besides the usual chickweed/henbit/dead nettles

    [​IMG]
    February 20, 2012. Then it snowed! Just a light dusting, but you can see how the southern facing berms and anything near standing water is too warm for the snow to remain. This is about 10am.

    [​IMG]
    February 20, 2012. By noon the snow has melted- except the heavy shaded areas caused by the fence and house.

    [​IMG]
    March 1, 2012. The same blueberry less than a month later in the early stages of flowering, there is another blueberry bush next to it beginning to leaf out (red, behind).

    [​IMG]
    March 2, 2012. The second swale very full- nearing a bursting point since it has no way to overflow as of yet. I took this just before putting in a 'monk' to take excess water down to the upper pond to prevent a blowout. Now the second swale will finally fill across its entire length (remember due to a type one error it was off contour) and have a safety valve.
     
  14. Finchj

    Finchj Junior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 29, 2010
    Messages:
    330
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    March 2012

    It seemed that the weather was a month a head of schedule, but we still tried to keep to May as being the last frost date. I didn't want to put out seed and see the seedlings die off early, so I'm glad we had a cover crop growing that could respond to the changing weather.

    [​IMG]
    March 11, 2012. The fist honey bees are spotted and if you look closely at the same flower head, you can see another insect burying its face in some nectar :D

    [​IMG]
    March 13, 2012. These cabbages received little to no full shade in the winter, so they were the first to begin flower. But by the end of March, most of the garden has a fair bit of nectar available.

    [​IMG]
    March 13, 2012. First bumble bees arrive as well. Same as the other bee photo, you can see what looks like a weevil soaking up the sun. So the insect community is appreciating our choice of plants.

    [​IMG]
    Sometime March 13-20. Love is in the... air? I had to eventually net out the females out of fear that the overzealous males would chase them to exhaustion. I put the females into the other pond with some younger fish.

    [​IMG]
    Sometime March 13-20. The legumes and everything else are almost doubling in size from the end of February, while grasses are still dormant. Satisfying results from our first cover crop.

    [​IMG]
    Sometime March 13-20. I could check the actual dates but too lazy. Anyway, even outside the temporary dog fence we have growth in unamended soils. Under the ornamental plum, crimson clover is returning from seeds dropped last spring.

    [​IMG]
    Sometime March 13-20. So warm that the comfrey is full size already, a full month before the last frost date. I shied away from cutting them until May just to play it safe. These plants had been trying to grow all winter but kept getting frost bite, but obviously we haven't had cold enough temperatures in a while.

    [​IMG]
    March 13-20. I'm really not sure why other people don't plant a cover crop in the winter. We were kind of speechless as the plants did what they did...

    [​IMG]
    March 13-20. Probably the 20th. Anyway, the blueberry is now in full flower and the few bumble bees we have made sure to pollinate each and every one of these blooms.

    [​IMG]
    March 28, 2012. I know I haven't put any pictures of the willow from last year, that are clear anyway (if you look at July's pics, you can spot it), but take my word- its never filled out like that before. Ever. But these techniques don't work, do they? :think:

    Ok, now the pictures are caught up with the slide shows I've completed. Now to go and make another video. Cheers.
     
  15. Finchj

    Finchj Junior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 29, 2010
    Messages:
    330
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    May 2012

    Slide shows complete for May 2012. I had too many photos for just one, so it is split in half.

    Part 1: May 1-22. 32 minutes 5 seconds.

    May is for maintenance- continued coverage of our dynamic accumulating, nitrogen fixing, nectary sharing perennial ground cover.

    We are focused on observation and increased fertility through "chop and drop" of comfrey, the brewing of compost tea, and better care of our worm farm.

    Through the first part of May we plant out some more natives from the Baptisia line of indigos, Amorpha fruticosa (false indigo), Thermopsis caroliniana, Robinia psuedoacacia. Some squash, zucchini, tomatoes, and other summer favorites either sprout on their own (volunteers) or are planted into the new sheet mulched bed.

    Part 2: May 22-30. 29 minutes 56 seconds. (Alright under 30 min!)

    Mostly more of the same from the first part, more bird visitors. As building soil is our main goal for the next few years, nothing will get too exciting. However, it is still useful for us to revisit these photos to see just how dramatic the changes have been to our landscape. There is a palpable sense of satisfaction as the diversity increases, the soil retains more water (and seems to "want" less).

    Individual photographs will be posted later, I want to finish out June and perhaps July before uploading pictures.
     
  16. eco4560

    eco4560 New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2009
    Messages:
    5,925
    Likes Received:
    9
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Nice to see you score a shot on the front page of the website!
     
  17. Finchj

    Finchj Junior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 29, 2010
    Messages:
    330
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    I was surprised myself! All I did was repost something I wrote for another website on permacultureglobal and there it went. Makes me feel honored that even a humble garden like ours can be put in the limelight.
     
  18. Finchj

    Finchj Junior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 29, 2010
    Messages:
    330
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Last slide show with pictures that I have taken. I may be able to put one together for July. We will see.

    So really not all that much changes- the dramatic changes from the first year cannot be easily replicated when we are trying to grow biomass. Again, by 2015 we'll be putting in more woody shrubs and such and we'll be seeing a much different landscape. Too exciting.

    Anyway, here is the link to the last slide show----

    June 1-16 2012. 27:01

    Of course, cover cropping continues. Our addition of some vegetables does well in the new sheet mulched bed. Rapid growth of seeds from the seed bank (ragweed, etc.). Echinacea flowers put on a display and a rose is added to the garden.

    Edit- I forgot to include the link to April 2012. Odd. Here it is. 32:48.
     
  19. Finchj

    Finchj Junior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 29, 2010
    Messages:
    330
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    April 2012 Photos

    Pictures from April 2012's slide show.

    [​IMG]
    April 1, 2012. Looking south into the garden. Cabbages are on their way out, but the rest of the ground covers are coming along. First leaves on the birches emerge- after the willow and willow oak.

    [​IMG]
    April 1, 2012. Horsetails emerging in great numbers. This is their first full year in their correct niche. Combined with nitrogen fixing white clover and a fellow dynamic accumulator of comfrey, they will expand in the "bog" area between the two ponds to act as a super nutrient sponge.

    [​IMG]
    April 2, 2012. Looking north into the main area of the garden. Our red maple has yet to leaf out, but the red clover and alfalfa aren't waiting. Already over a foot high, it only takes a couple of weeks for these cover crops to grow to an appreciative size.

    [​IMG]
    April 2, 2012. As the sun's trajectory moves overhead, our little beds under the pines on the berm begin to lose light. Since the garlic was planted in late winter rather than in the fall, they never had the time to grow very large. But they will go dormant in a month or two and re emerge in the fall- then they'll grow to a harvest size.

    [​IMG]
    April 2, 2012. The white clover in the old green guild forms a very thick carpet early on, making it an ideal candidate for chop and drop.

    [​IMG]
    April 3, 2012. Fungi begin to reproduce as well in the warmer temperatures. We expect to begin seeing more varieties of fungi since we have begun to inoculate with ectomycorrhizal fungi in addition to endomycorrhizal species. Remember what our soils looked like and you'll know why we needed to bring them in at this early stage.

    [​IMG]
    April 8, 2012. Mixed cultivation of mustard, arugula, radishes, common vetch, crimson clover, Russian comfrey, garlic, spinach, and chickweed (among others).

    [​IMG]
    April 8, 2012. Sheet mulching completed on the south facing berm! This will be our main focus sa the rest of the garden is being stewarded by the cover crop. We can focus our efforts on expanding the garden.

    [​IMG]
    April 12, 2012. View from upstairs windows. The red maple is finally leafing out.

    [​IMG]
    April 12, 2012. Same, but looking further to the west.

    [​IMG]
    April 17, 2012. The willow, surrounded by support species, has recovered to a healthy state in just one year. We have to prune some this fall to make accessing the beds it "weeps" over easier- as well as remove some water sprouts- but all in all we are happy with its recovery.

    [​IMG]
    April 17, 2012. The red maple looking rather healthy as well. Not quite as full as the others, yet, but a long way from last year when it was stricken by disease on the trunk. With access to a mulch layer and organic fertilizer (along with healthy organisms), it'll live a longer healthier life.

    [​IMG]
    April 17, 2012. One of the river birches. These were always healthy trees, but will be happier now with access to carbon and the ability to grow feeder roots in the absence of grass competition.

    [​IMG]
    April 17, 2012. Crimson clover playing host to new spider species (that we notice). The diversity of life seemed to increase by the week as more nectar and niches were available.

    [​IMG]
    April 17, 2012. Having bested the competition, this frog remains queen of the larger pond!

    [​IMG]
    April 17, 2012. A comparison photo of our neighbor's property. Her slope has a wonderful aspect and if only one day she could begin to manage it in an ecological way- not necessarily even a food forest- our property would benefit as well
     
  20. Finchj

    Finchj Junior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 29, 2010
    Messages:
    330
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    May 2012

    Photos from May 2012.

    [​IMG]
    May 1, 2012. Harvesting three comfrey plants. One has been cut and can be seen on the right, with the other two still standing. We use comfrey for mulch, for bedding in the worm bins, and for making compost tea.

    [​IMG]
    May 1, 2012. Biomass from three Russian comfrey plants- cut on the last frost date! What a mild winter.

    [​IMG]
    May 1, 2012. Gone! But not for long...

    [​IMG]
    May 2, 2012. A cardinal, robin, and sparrow (?) visit the lower, larger pond at the same time. The local watering hole!

    [​IMG]
    May 2, 2012. I believe this is a sparrow as well. This is why we leave things standing- they can be used as perches as well as habitat for insects.

    [​IMG]
    May 2, 2012. Just before leaving for a long weekend, I put down a loose layer white clover to mulch the seedlings in the south facing berm. What I didn't know is that they would rot down so quickly and smother most of them. Woops.

    [​IMG]
    May 2, 2012. Same, but closer.

    [​IMG]
    May 2, 2012. Snap shot before leaving. The red clover is now flowering, so it is almost time to chop and drop the cover crop.

    [​IMG]
    May 2, 2012. Little closer, quite a bit of generalist nectar available. Which is a good thing.

    [​IMG]
    May 2, 2012. Cilantro provides an early abundance of food for specialist insects.

    [​IMG]
    May 9, 2012. On return from our trip the garden has held up very well. This is the transition zone between the old green and nightshade guilds.

    [​IMG]
    May 9, 2012. The sunflowers and peas we sowed along the fence are growing very well in this location as it receives more sun and water (due to being on contour) than some of the other mounds.

    [​IMG]
    May 9, 2012. One of the blueberry mounds. Tomatoes, black eyed susans, comfrey, and garlic are our desired species here- of course there are others too :)
     

Share This Page

-->