A snapshot of my back garden, look at the beautiful strawberries! The strawberries have thrown out runners all around the base of the pot and we've decided to let them go as they will. It's funny to see the little plants popping up through the mulch at random with a strawberry or two that seem to be coming out of nowhere.
I started adding mulch all around the pots and planted areas. It's really helped cut down on the weeding and tracking dirt all around. Dirt was splashing up onto the buckets and they just looked terrible. Also, I have a confession to make: I have applied visual management (as in, LEAN principles) to my garden. For you non-LEAN followers, that means I am the biggest dork you know. Anyway, I color-coded the mulch to distinguish between walk-ways and garden beds. Seriously, it has actually helped by keeping the boys from running through the garden at full-tilt and squashing my poor little seedlings. I plan to just keep adding a few bags here and there over time until the whole area is finished.
The first bucket is home to the carrots. This is the one that always seems dry. Once the seedlings are a bit bigger and I've thinned them out, I will add some black mulch on top to help lock in the moisture and keep the weeds at bay.
Next you can see the two squash buckets. One houses the summer squash, zucchini in the other. Last year, I lost all of my squash to squash bugs. I really, REALLY, don't want to use chemicals in my garden. Therefore, I am trying out a few natural methods of control. The first is the buckets... supposedly the bugs have a hard time finding the plants if you have them up off the ground. I've also moved the location across the yard from last year's site. Finally, I've planted Nasturtium near by and I will plant some Dill right in the container with the squash. Wish me luck!
The large raised bed is where I've got the beans and cucs. Amazingly, every single seed I have put in this bed has sprouted. Unfortunately, it's also where the fire ants decided to make their home this year. I hear that you can kill fire ants with Sweet&Low so I'm trying that method and hoping for the best. I am growing all bush varieties so I don't need to trellis any of them. I'm also planting at intervals to extend the harvest.
Behind the raised bed, you can barely see the trellis... Carson's kidney bean and a vine-variety of cucs will live there.
Way in the back - that's the onion/garlic/shallot bucket. I'm excited about cooking with some fresh onions and garlic!
Off to the side live the peppers and broccoli. Last year, my broccoli bolted. This year, I direct-sowed seeds instead of transplanting seedlings. I don't know if it will be better, but I'm happy so far. I replaced the dead bell pepper with a random new variety from Lowe's. It's called 'Gypsy' and it should be a sweet pepper. I am worried that the peppers may not be getting enough sun. I'm also worried the ants may be eating the leaves.
