e4 and sons gardening

Project #1: Gutter garden

2012-01-06T05:34:00.000-08:00

Somewhere around mid-Decmeber, I saw this idea: Mounting gutters on a sunny wall, filling them with dirt, and growing herbs and greens in them. I loved the idea, but couldn't think of a practical way to do it without my autistic daughter turning it into her own personal sandbox.

I showed the photo to my wife, and she suggested using the south wall of our little unused shed, which for some reason, hadn't occurred to me. Perfect.

Having some time off around the holidays, and unseasonably beautiful weather, the boys and I decided to make it happen. On December 24th, we installed our first prototype, and on December 25th, we planted some seeds in it.

The following weekend, we installed three more gutters and on January 1st, we planted more seeds.

Top row, planted 1/1:
Rainbow Swiss chard, kale (Russian Red), cress (Wrinkled Crinkled), arugula, chicory, endive, tatsoi, feverfew, soapword, wormwood

2nd row, planted 12/25:
Rainbow Swiss chard, lettuce (Tom Thumb), spinach (Bloomsdale long standing), lettuce (Rouge D'Hiver), Rainbow Swiss chard

3rd row, planted 1/1:
Rainbow Swiss chard, lettuce (Buttercrunch), lettuce (Bibb), parsley (Moss Curled), radish (Early Scarlet Globe)
[The soil in this row has been amended with crushed charcoal. Let's see if this biochar thing has any effect...]
Bottom row: future expansion

Foreground planter: dwarf blueberries

I intentionally planted Swiss chard in the same spot at the beginning of each row, just for comparison.

I should mention that even here in North Carolina, this is not really the time to be planting seeds. But I have tons of seed packets that aren't getting any younger. And it's been such a mild winter so far that I didn't see any reason not to give it a shot. We'll replant for real in early spring as needed.

What I may try to do is create a frame that curves from above the top row out and down to the ground, using a cattle panel. This could be covered with plastic in the winter to create a mini-greenhouse, and we could grow clematis or some other quick growing vine in summer (or just cover with shade cloth) to keep the greens from bolting for as long as possible.

E5 helped me with drilling and mounting the brackets, and planting seeds. And both boys helped by crushing charcoal on a brick with a small hammer.

It was a very nice way to spend the first day of the year...

--

An Adventure Begins

2012-01-01T13:08:00.000-08:00

I didn't set out to start a new blog on the first day of the year. It just happened to work out that way. A memorable start to what looks to be a memorable year.

So.... A couple weeks ago, my eight-year-old son and I were reading Farmer Boy at bedtime. He was fascinated by the milk-fed pumpkin, and wanted to know if we could try that. (He then went on to detail various elaborate schemes to keep the cat from drinking the milk, but that's another story.) We talked about pumpkins, about gardens, about Deanna Duke's next book, and a great many other things.

By the end of the discussion, I was proposing to him that he become my gardening partner. I really do need some help in the garden, and I think he's old enough, mature enough, and responsible enough to really make a difference.

Like many eight-year-olds, e5 is fickle and has a short attention span, but he can also become very passionate about the things he cares about. He seems genuinely interested in nature, plants and animals, and how the world works.

The kids have always helped in the garden from time to time, but the idea here is to take this involvement a step further this year. To really get him into the day-to-day, the week-to-week, and the projects and experiments.

I suggested that we document our progress on a blog, and he really liked that idea. So here we are.You may even hear directly from him at times.

Last year's garden (like many recent gardens) was a disaster. I did not tend it nearly as well as I had hoped. It was new soil, new sunshine, new temperatures, new everything, so I didn't go in with high expectations.

The good news is, I learned some things about our location. So this year we'll be taking a different approach. We'll try some new locations, new techniques, and new crops & varieties. And some creativity.

I'm really looking forward to teaching my kid what I know, and hopefully getting the occasional inspiration from him. (I'm sure his little brother will be chipping in as well.)

I know it's supposed to be the dead of winter, but it's been unseasonably warm, even by North Carolina standards. It's 4pm, and it's 66F right now. So we decided to take a chance and try our first garden experiment.

More on that in the next post....

And by the way, feel free to follow our lead. Tell us what you're doing in the comments. Or better yet, start a blog and let us know.