A New Garden

You may be wondering if I dropped off the map again and that would be fair.  I'm surprised to see that several months have gone by and I haven't managed to write a word.  The reality is that I have been obscenely busy!

Turns out starting a new garden is hard work.  Some of you may recall that back in 2010 I started my first vegetable garden here in PEI.  It was just an empty spot of land then, situated between the house and the garage.

It's so funny to look at that empty space now.  It feels like so long ago.  It took me several years to go from an empty bit of lawn to a garden.  I wasn't in a hurry and I wasn't sure about shape, tilling, or raised beds at first.  I took my time trying out various methods and in the end I did both.  Some beds feature perennials, others are dug each year.  Raised beds have proven wonderful for carrots and other root veggies.  I added a plastic hoop tunnel, trellis, and compost bin.  Today it looks like this.

 

I experimented with different plants over the years.  Corn has become a favourite.  Strawberries got the boot for requiring too much effort.  Certain varieties of plants like Queensland Blue Pumpkins and Mexico Midget tomatoes are planted again and again.

 

 

This year has been very different.  The garden you see in the photo above I now refer to as the small garden.  The real work has occurred in the field to the right.

Tractors were brought in back in April.  First they plowed the ground, then they came back and tilled.  And tilled again.... and again.  Leaving me with a beautiful patch of dirt to really work at.

The first plow

Since then I've had to make lots of decisions in short order.  How do you weed this amount of ground?  How do you water?  What should I plant?  Rows or blocks?  Plastic or straw?  It's a lot to take on but I've been enjoying every minute.  Today the field looks like this.

It's been quite the journey but well worth it.  Despite having gardened for many years I'm still learning.  I love that.  Just when you think you know how to do this mother nature throws a curveball.  Some of it's not fun.  I had a cucumber beetle invasion this year.  It decimated my pumpkins and I wanted to cry.  But some is amazing.  Like discovering a watermelon seed that works in my climate!! I can't wait to try delicious fruit in the very near future.  I'm hooked on my new space and thrilled with how much I can grow here.  Like any good gardener, I'm already planning how to rearrange, change and expand next year!