Fall planting

I planted 3 apple trees this past weekend. A Macintosh, Honey Crisp, and Granny Smith. We have a great local farm stand and nursery, and lucky me, trees and shrubs were half off! We went apple picking this weekend also (Macintosh), and a) boy were the delicious right off the tree and b) boy were there a ton of apples on each tree! Probably hundreds on each tree. My husband is trying to temper my expectations of our mini orchard (he's right!) but a girl can dream, can't she?!

I also planted a blueberry bush, mint, daisies, and a Hydrangea bush that my 8 year old wanted. How do I say know to a boy asking for plants? I don't! We need to get some mulch, but otherwise they look pretty good, as they hunker down in anticipation of winter. But first, we must all get through a summer surge: temps in the 90's are expected tomorrow.

We have beds!!

This past weekend was a busy one, as we planned to put in the raised beds. My husband's friends and brother were supportive, but I was downright giddy, filled with anticipation. The weather forecast was not spectacular, and for once, unfortunately, that was an accurate prediction. On Saturday, my husband and his brother took a reconnaissance trip to Lowe's to learn what materials they had in stock, so we could plan appropriately. I knew I wanted 4 foot wide beds, though length didn't matter (8, 10, or 12 would all have been fine). We also decided on fir for the material. I looked into cedar and Trex as well, but in the end, price and flexibility won out. If I didn't like the bed location, or decided to make any other changes, I decided it would be easier to do so with a bed material that wasn't so permanent. In a couple of years when it's time for new beds, I can then choose a heartier material.

Anyway, Lowe's had 12 foot lengths, so we ended up planning for 12 foot beds. More veggies for all of us! The first trip secured materials for 3 beds. In the rain, i mapped and marked (with landscape paint) where i wanted the beds to go. My husband and I then started digging and leveling the soil while his brother and friend assembled in the garage. So far so good. We were set to dry set the first bed, so down the slope and into place it went. As we adjusted and dug to get the bed level, we encountered a rock. Not just any rock it turns out, but a boulder. Sigh. I knew the soil was tough (clay and rock), so this was not a surprise, but was certainly still a surprise - an unlucky one. We debated what to,do: move the bed, just plant around it, try and excavate? Excavate won out in the end, so another trip to the hardware store was a must to get tools to help remove (the thing was about 5 feet wide, way too much - and too dangerous- for even my very strong husband and 3 friends to move on their own.

We finally got bed #1 in place, and as we started digging for #2, discovered another boulder. This time we just adjusted the bed distance from 3 feet to 4 1/2 feet to just avoid it. Wider bed paths never hurt anyone anyways. In the end, we had 2 beds installed, a third set in place, a fourth fully constructed but sitting in the garage, and materials for a fifth a sixth ready and waiting. It was a great start, and so satisfying to look out and admire!

Corn!

When we moved into our new house 3 months ago, I knew I wanted to get something - anything - in the ground. Because I finally could. It was to be a celebration of finally having a home with enough land to plant a productive garden. By the time we moved in and were quasi-settled, it was late June - late for planting, but buying and planting seeds were to be my reward for the stressful, rough 6 months that we endured to get where we were. So, I though, corn! We had this crazy 3-sided stockade fence in the backyard, so I thought that would be a good place to plant the corn. In the ground it went. I wasn't optimistic, with the clay and rock we have for "soil." But green shoots started coming up, and lo and behold, we might actually get a few ears!

I'm still not optimistic, however, because I did it all wrong. First, I planted 2 different varieties. After some research, I found that you should only plant one variety, as if the corn cross-pollinates, then they end up tough. Tough corn is not my ideal. Next, I found out that because corn is wind-pollinated, you should plant in blocks, for the best chance of the flowers (ears) being pollinated. No pollination = no corn. My rows and widely spaced corn didn't stand much of a chance by itself, so I've been hand pollinating. One variety has a possibility of all of 3 ears (!) and the other just one. Oh well. I'm excited that something came up that even resembles corn. And the good thing is, now I know much better ways to set up for success next year!

Progress

It's been a busy few days. We had the tree guys come last week, and they took down two enormous trees, so as to let light into my garden area. One was an ash, the other an oak, and both were about 60 feet tall. I got to see the oak being felled, and it was a sight! Actually the sound was just as impressive - a loud cracking thunder. Quite amazingly actually, as they had to drive down our (most agreeable) neighbor's side yard (aka rock gully) in order to hook up the truck to the tree to ensure the tree fell where intended. 

The tree guys suggested we might be able to sell our felled trees to a lumber yard or similar, which might finance the cost of the tree removal. Sounded good to us! Unfortunately it didn't pan out, as all the places wanted several trees, not just two, in order to make it worth their while to get their trucks and equipment out to do said removal. On well. We were connected with the Wood Turners Association of Massachusetts - a group who might be able to at least take the wood out of our yard. We were agreeable to this for the ash, but decided to keep the oak for perhaps cutting I to planks next year, or, at the very least, for use as firewood. Anyway, one guy came to our door Saturday morning to discuss this with my husband. He said great, as discussed, half of the ash tree is all yours. My husband then left to run some errands, and I took my boys to the playground to get some much needed exercise. I had a funny feeling, so hurried us all home, and when we returned, I found seven trucks, eleven people, lots of chainsaw noise, the entire ash tree gone, and the oak cut into chunks. To their credit, our new friends stopped immediately when asked, and were gracious about our generosity with the ash. Needless to say, the oak has now been designated for the firewood pile. 

A cucumber!

As I was "going to my gemba" yesterday (checking out where the work is done, i.e. the garden), I noticed... Drum roll please... a cucumber! Because I planted so late, and in such poor soil conditions, I had low (no) expectations. As of late I've had lots of show - plenty of foliage, and even some flowers on the squash and eggplant, but no fruit. So imagine my surprise when I discovered a sweet little cucumber tucked away under its foliage, partially covered by a hosta. It was cause for celebration! I CAN grow! I even noticed tiny, tiny fruits behind some flowers on other plants. Calculating for my lateness in getting things in the ground, I'd say my plants are growing right on schedule.

Action... Finally!

Finally we have action on the garden! The tree guys came yesterday to start the project of removing two large oaks from my garden-to-be area. These puppies are probably 60+ feet tall, so it's no small task. They were able to fell one tree, with only one minor mishap. The first major branch fell onto a soft-top gazebo we have on our deck. Thankfully no one was hurt, and it really just dented one side of the frame. It's not really noticeable, and it still functions, so no harm done. To their credit, the tree guys did offer to pay for it, so I appreciate them doing the right thing.

Today's activities will include bringing down the other tree and to start getting the branches out of the way. We were advised to let the wood sit for a year before splitting, so it will just need to be off to the side. Thankfully we have plenty of room on our property to do that without interfering with the rest of the garden and backyard plans. Here's hoping today is successful!

BEFORE - notice the tree on the right

AFTER - no more tree!

Trees Are Coming Down!

This is a big week - my husband has made arrangements to have the 2 trees that are shadowing my garden-to-be removed this week. Yeah! And he has arranged help over Memorial Day weekend to help build the raised beds. Another yeah! I was scoping out the space this morning with my 8-year old, and I think I'll be updating my original plan of 8x4 beds to 10x4. Eight feet just didn't seem very large  when we were standing out there! We should have more than enough room for four beds, which I think is a good number to start with, with room to expand. So it looks like I'll be leveling the slope next weekend. I can't wait!