The Back Veggie Garden

The Garden In The Little Valley

I have two veggie gardens that I plant each year. The photos above were taken last year as The Old Girl is still in the shed being repaired. I got the new aftermarket water pump today. I am still going to plant the gardens; I just won't plough them this year. I grew up gardening; Mum and Dad both grew up on the farm and we always had veggie gardens as well as flower gardens. Gardening is in me blood and I will garden for as long as I can.

The first photo shows the back veggie garden. I only got a couple of small tomatoes off of that plot last year. The deer completely destroyed it. When Molly the Deranged was here the deer were not a problem around the house. Molly the Deranged is gone now; she was a crazy mutt but I do miss her not being around the place. I would never get another deranged dog but Molly did have a personality. With Molly gone, the deer feel free to roam closer to the house. I am going to put up a fence around the back veggie garden; I would like a solution that would allow me to continue to plough as I like to turn the soil each year. If you look in the lower right corner of the first photo you can see my fig bush. The cold weather got the fig bush and it is just now starting to put out a few leaves on one branch. I will wait and see before any pruning.

The second photo is of the garden in the little valley. The garden in the little valley has an electric fence around it to keep out the deer. I had to add a wire closer to the ground to keep deer from crawling under the fence. The idea is to shock them on the face or shoulders so they get scared of what is in front of them and jump back away from the fence. I thought I had a wire close enough to the ground but I found deer still getting into the garden so added the lower wire. I planted a few things today in the little valley as they are forecasting rain to move in. I may not have the veggie gardens of the past but I will have them.

Double Ground Hardwood Mulch

I rang the sawmill where I get my mulch from each year and ordered two scoops of double ground hardwood mulch. The woman first told me that they only sold a minimal of four scoops but I told her they sold me two scoops before so the woman was kind enough to do so again this year. I really like ordering from them because they don't cheat me like the mulch supply that is closer to me. They use to sell me two small bobcat loads for the same price and charge me $25.00 to deliver it. My two large scoops of mulch was only $110.00 and that included the delivery fee.

My wheelbarrow has a flat tyre so that will need to be repaired first. However, it is a simple job to remove the tyre and find the hole in the tube. I am getting a lot of stilt grass coming up in the bed along the front of the house, so I need to get the mulch down in that bed first to help control the stilt grass. Mulching beds helps to control weeds and helps to keep the beds from drying out in the summer sun.

I have a guide to using mulch in the gardens located at http://garden.secretcorners.net/2010/05/08/using-mulch-in-the-garden

The nice spring weather has continued and I have been busy catching up on garden work. The amount of leaves that needed to be cleared surprised me. However, we have had a lot of strong winds this winter and they blew a lot of leaves back into the gardens. Last year near the end of summer a strong storm broke off part of a dead locust and deposited it across the road that leads to the garden in the little valley. Since the tree was blocking the road, it had to be removed. Unfortunately this mean using my little hand saw since I don't have an operational chainsaw.

Fallen Tree Blocking Road

I got my little hand saw and starting sawing up near where the fallen tree was wedged in the fork of another tree. The wood was dry and hard and it was not easy to cut. When I grew tired I took a break. When you are sawing a tree the weight of the tree will eventually close the gap and pinch the saw. Since this tree was dead and the wood dry, I could cut longer from the top. However, eventually I had to remove the saw from the top and finish the cut from the bottom. It would have been quick work with a chainsaw but I managed to get the cut made.

On The Ground

Once the tree was on the ground, it was still much to heavy for me to lift. However, I could pick up the smaller end of the tree and drag it around so that the road was clear. Job done but there is a larger dead pine that is blocking the road that leads down to the little valley but that is going to have to wait. The tree had been leaning over the road for some time but I was able to drive under it. I will do the same with the dead pine. Work at it bit by bit and rest when I get tired and eventually get the job done.

Road Cleared

Fallen Pine Blocking Road

A dead tree had also fallen onto the electric fence. It never fails, they always fall on the fence when they could just as easily fall the other way. I used my little hand saw and got it cut in two sections and off the fence. The fence repair will have to wait. While I was working the last few days with the nice weather I thought how nice it would be to have someone to help me. However, I do manager rather well on my own. Still help is nice at times.