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Desperate for sunshine!

Category: Productive Backyard | Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 9:06 pm

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Another rainy/gloomy day today here in Virginia, the temperature is going to dip down to 28F in mid April unbelievable! Poor kids are stuck at home during their Spring Break. This is the most depressing Spring ever; I have already raided the snack(junk food) drawer many times. However, few minutes back I noticed something strange; bush beans that were flowering indoors have little beans on them. Guess they could not wait any longer to go in the garden and produce. Feeling much better now :)


spotted a little bean on the plants indoors ( photo / image / picture from Green Fingers's Garden )





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A new beginning - 2014

Category: Productive Backyard | Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2014 2:22 pm

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This year we decided to expand our gardening area and added four little raised beds to our garden. They are not identical in size since my husband built them from the wooden pallets and he tried to salvage as much wood as he could before throwing them in trash. They turned out to be really cute and each box has its own personality (imo) :D .

We also tilled the soil in our old raised beds and found that the neighbor's tree has invaded them completely yet again! the roots itself are quite thick but they extend to fine root system that has matted entire beds. The whole Saturday was gone in digging that fine mesh of roots out and then filling the beds with new soil/compost. We dug out two big trash bag full of roots out of our three 8'x4' raised beds. So, this year my husband dug a trench along the fence line behind our garden area and cut the main roots that were invading our garden. Next season we will re-dig the trench again and cut all the roots that try to sneak back in, hope this will save us all the labor involve in removing the roots from each bed individually. My husband also build some vertical trellises for the beans/cucumber wines and I am super pleased with the results. Now we have to put up a rabbit/groundhog fence and our veggie garden should be safe from under and over the soil invaders and ready to produce!
I also transplanted the spinach seedlings outside in the little area right behind the the house mostly shady. Very tiring weekend but hopeful for a successful new beginning for my garden this year.


Spinach transplants ( photo / image / picture from Green Fingers's Garden )






( photo / image / picture from Green Fingers's Garden )






( photo / image / picture from Green Fingers's Garden )





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Going Organic

Category: Productive Backyard | Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 6:24 pm

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Hello and welcome to my space in gardenstew! I am growing a few vegetables in my backyard for past five years now. I have had success with beans, tomatoes, okra, corn, eggplants, peppers, zucchini and squash; However, the journey was quite challenging because I had no one to turn to for my questions except internet search. In our neighborhood all the people have big backyards but everyone except me is growing grass on it. The taste of fresh veggies inspires me to try and grow new vegetables each year and as a result I end up adding one more raised bed in my garden every Spring. So far I have three 8'x 4' raised beds (due to the clay soil) and one 8'x 9'(my first garden) planting area in my backyard.

When I started at first I had no idea how much soil type plays role on gardening. It took me years to add the organic matter and condition the soil as per my plants' liking. Last year I got the best yield from my first garden with just water only! This year I am trying my hand in potatoes and onions and I do not want to waste my time in trial and error when I know there is help available. So, I am here to share my experience and learn from your experiences and looking forward to grow more organic vegetables for my family and friends. My husband is building three little raised bed for my garden from the recycled wood pallets and I can hardly wait to plant in them. I shall post the pictures soon. Happy Gardening Everyone! :)

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