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!

Chickens, anyone?

Chickens. I am obsessed with the idea of incorporating chickens into my mini-farm. (I've started using this term for my garden-to-be, as it seems more accurate, as I'm planning for veggies, fruit plants, bushes, and trees, ornamental plants, flowers, and chickens.) I'm currently researching coop designs. The plan is 4-6 hens, breed TBD. (Maybe Silkies, which are beautiful as well as functional!) Free range won't work, with limited backyard space to work with, so a coop and run it is. The website www.backyardchickens.com is the go to place for sharing designs. And this book has been a wonderful resource as well:

Any chicken advice for me? Designs you've found that work well (or not so much), tricks of the trade, I'll take all the help I can get!

Planting in the fall: berries?

Ooh, being the ever-optimistic planter that I am, I just got an email from Burpee suggesting that I can plant fall fruits! I'm excited to include berries in my mini-farm, so of course I jumped to learn more. I need to figure out a space - I was thinking in the front, since the soil is relatively decent (i.e. amended and not the clay and rock I inherited), it gets decent sun - why not? Of course, my eyes usually being bigger than my stomach, I'm interested in blackberry, strawberry, blueberry to start... but how to decide the right variety?? Ah, the joys of gardening. Wish me luck!