Filed under: Omaha, Permaculture, Sustainable Farming | Tags: cover crops, green manure, Kitchen gardens, raised beds, square foot gardening
Winter Rye Grass
To provide some green manure for the raised beds in the kitchen garden, I sowed some winter rye grass on October 4th. I watered and waited and nothing happened (I was told it would germinate in a few days), so I quit watering and waiting and decided to read up on cover crops for next year. It snowed 3 inches on October 11th and then an inch the next day…weather turned cold and it looked like fall was over before it started.
I happened to look out on Halloween and got a real treat…the winter rye was finally coming up! Although it is sparse and may not develop much of a root system before it is killed by a hard frost, I am thrilled.
Here it is, November 10th and Indian summer has descended upon us!
Filed under: Permaculture, Sustainable Farming | Tags: Attracting wildlife, wind power, windbreaks
South windbreak
So it is very windy here. 40 mile an hour gusts are common throughout the year, especially spring, summer, fall and winter. I had not done much about it until I met a wonderful local gardener at the farmer’s market last weekend. She offered me some shrubs to attract wildlife. I thought that might translate into 5 or 6 plants, tops…actually it was more like 30! Mostly a viburnum species called lantana which has beautiful red berries that birds love,
Viburnum lantana
another viburnum, arrowwood, which has blue berries,
Viburnum arrowwood
and one high bush cranberry. What a good neighbor! Of course, I brought her some tomatoes.
It took me 3 days to plant everything, plus I was inspired to dig up about 5 redtwig dogwoods from the northeast corner of my property and put them in where I will see them this winter. Gorgeous red bark late summer to fall on the new growth.
I used 15 bags of mulch and remulched the pines, ninebark, yews, and big crabapple. Next will be to rabbit proof them (I have not seen one yet, but…) with paper trunk wraps.
The weather was amazingly cooperative, 60s for the first two days (with a plague of ladybugs), then the temp dropped to the 40s on the third day and rained, but held off until I was done, luckily. Snow is predicted in the next day or too.
Birds are already hopping from bush to bush! Something new for them and something that will make being outside more pleasant for humans during the windy times. Here is a great link for windbreak design.
I am seriously considering a windmill…Nebraska has netmetering! And just this month, two residential windmills went up nearby…
The last of the tomatoes...finally
I am beginning to feel like the Bubba Gump of tomatoes. This week alone we had a tomato onion tart, crab salad stuffed tomatoes, pizza margherita, and gazpacho, all made with tomatoes from our kitchen garden. I am contemplating learning how to can…
And still have basil 
And the sweet red italian peppers are ripe now. Could never grow those in San Francisco; now it is possible. And quite delicious.
The trumpet vines have bloomed a little, the butterfly milkweeds flowered and have pods now. The surprise of the garden are the big beautiful sunflower volunteers that found their way into the perimter garden beds. Many butterfly sightings including monarchs, swallowtails, painted ladies, frittlaries, and sulfurs. One hummingbird (where the heck did he come from?) and lots of bluebirds and sparrows frequent our garden.
I bought some winter rye to sow the beds for winter. Thinking about asking the neighbors for some manure, too.
Filed under: Omaha, Permaculture, Sustainable Farming | Tags: Kitchen gardens, Nebraska, raised beds, square foot gardening
So it’s July and the tomato plants are bushy and starting to fruit. Some red peppers are starting to fruit also. The fence, arbor, and two raised beds have been installed. About a third of the interior perimeter beds were dug. 8 cubic yards of topsoil/compost mix were delivered and all ready beds were filled, with some left over for more beds. We have been enjoying basil, lettuce, and snapdragons. Planted perennials in the perimeter beds, including butterfly milkweed, irises, fern leaf peony, echinacea, and red husker, some of which attract beneficial insects. Trumpet vines were planted on either side of the arbor.
Plans for next year include more raised beds (so easy to maintain once filled), pea gravel pathways, and the rest of the perimeter beds. Maybe a tunnel green house to harden the plants off before transplanting (also we ran out of space inside). Surpisingly, the heavy winds of May did not kill anything, and we were able to control June’s onslaught of black vine weevils. It took so long for them to climb up the 2 foot high boxes, we were able to squash them before they got in and ate anything. They sure love basil!
Filed under: Sustainable Farming | Tags: Kitchen gardens, Nebraska, raised beds, square foot gardening
This week I will order topsoil, compost, and gravel to finish this first year’s version of the kitchen garden. The seedlings have mostly been thinned and transplanted and are bursting out of our kitchen.
Kitchen garden day 43
Everything has done well, except the penstemon, which did not survive transplanting.
Last week, I had a 30′ x 30′ patch of sod removed from the backyard and, tomorrow, four raised beds and a picket fence will be installed. Future plans include four more raised beds, a sundial or other ornament in the center, and a 1′ foot border of whatever we feel like growing all along the interior of the fence. Funny thing is this future border garden will amount to almost the same square footage of our raised beds.
About the fence: it will be white PVC pickets 1″ apart, which I hope will keep out the bunnies and provide a little wind protection. Acreage Fences is installing it along with four raised bed boxes of the same material. No painting, no rotting, virtually maintenance-free, is our intention. Will see how it looks tomorrow!
Filed under: Sustainable Farming | Tags: Kitchen gardens, Nebraska, raised beds, square foot gardening
Penstemon
I am about to embark on my first kitchen garden in Nebraska. Actually, I have embarked, if you count the seedlings that have sprouted under my grow light. It is on an automatic timer 6am-12 midnight. Everything is coming up, quickly, if you look at sprouting times on the seed packets. I had to move the mesclun and pumpkins out as they had outgrown their dome. They now live in a mini greenhouse in our eat-in kitchen so we can keep an eye on them. I am sure they will be soon joined by the Bonnie Best tomatoes. Still under the domes and light are some prairie natives (penstemon, echinecea, little bluestem), some sweet peppers, Italian basil, watermelon, and snapdragons.
The plan is to thin the seedlings and transplant them into 3-6″ pots as needed, then plant them in raised beds in early May, square foot garden style . This year I will plant four 4′x4′ boxes, 2′ high, with ledges for comfortable sitting. Each box will be separated from its neighbor by a 3′ crushed gravel walkway for ease of movement. Drip irrigated. The watermelons and pumpkins will be trellised on rebar and slinged when needed. I hope to have a nice center feature like a sun dial or statue. Maybe some benches. Ultimately, there will be 9 or so boxes in a 30′x30′ fenced area with a metal arbor entrance and an adjoining greenhouse.
Currently, I am thinking about what to make the fence and the raised bed boxes out of. The fence needs to withstand the wind and look nice. Wood or metal with a reinforcing hedge of some sort might do the trick. The boxes need to look pretty, but be durable. Cypress, cedar, or even stone are possibilities.
For more inspiration and information on kitchen gardens, check this link or this or this.
