what a week we had! we were out in the garden just about every day for two weeks solid to prepare for our big gardening a to z event. the garden has never looked better and the list of people responsible for making it happen is too long to post here. since so much was going on, i didn't take many photos of the event but i did take photos leading up to it over the course of 2 weeks and i have broken them down into subjects and will post them individually.
if you have been anywhere near the garden lately, you have heard us mention the tomato plant trial that we are doing with a professor from trevecca university. getting the bed ready was tough and it almost didn't happen; our tiller died and we were almost in panic mode. luckily, dcmg member mary w. came through and let us borrow hers! here is the bed, tilled, hilled and fenced in.
we are experimenting with a simple deer fence to prevent them from eating the plants. i was visiting another garden and it was explained to me that deer have limited depth perception. as a result, they will hesitate to jump over objects if they cannot determine how far they have to jump. our fence is a series of irregularly spaced rows of ribbons placed at different heights with streamers to hopefully, prevent them from jumping into the garden as well as walking into the garden-keep your fingers crossed, ours sure are!
made from 6 ft stakes and pink caution tape, the fence is rather inexpensive and quick to install. the only tools needed were a mallet and a scissor.
it may not be the prettiest fence, but if it stops bambi from snacking-it is worth every cent of ugly!
different heights, different spacing and lots of streamers-so far, so good...
with all of the plants in place, the entire garden was mulched with a layer of wet newspaper and covered with straw. wood chips were placed around it for weed control on the walkways.
and since this is a demonstration garden, we will use several methods of supporting the tomatoes. first in place is a nice wooden trellis. while wasting time on the internet, i came across a
great article on trellising tomatoes . it resembles a swing set and will help 4 plants grow up by using strings attached to both the top bar and a bottom bar. to see the complete plans, click
here.
check back to see the progress of the garden and in the mean time, happy gardening!
honeybees like chive nectar-who's a thunk it? i would imagine it tastes like chives, but they don't seem to mind
fig upside-down cake-i needed help eating this one-too much for just myself, come on out and prevent me from eating too much cake!! and if you would like to bake one for yourself, the recipe can be found here
