Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Garden Plan

Maybe a few gardeners out there could give me some feedback.  Dad, Fred, Helen, Tom, Dave, anyone?!?  We have 3 main garden beds and I am trying to plan the garden.  Some plants are already growing and healthy.  Most of our plants are either not doing well or could be doing much better.  We have FINALLY just about cleared out the trash heap/fire pit/ant hill/compost bin that was our 3rd garden and I am so excited to get planting!!  Food for thought...

*We plant and harvest year round
*My primary focus is strengthening what we have rather than adding more (for now)
*We have very hot days and cool nights
*Bolded plants are established and cannot be quickly moved
* / indicates my attempt and companion gardening to benefit both plants

  • Garden Left:  Afternoon sun, Can handle wet climate (tall tree drips water in wet season)  Moses thinks plants that have long lives do well because they can grow from seeds during the dry season and are strong enough to endure extra water as mature plants. 
Carrot/onion, chives, leeks, date palms, chili, beet, eggplant, butternut squash, pumpkin, yams, african green leaf veggie, cook bananas, sweet bananas
  • Garden Middle:  Lots of hot African sun, minimal birds (high traffic area)
spinach/onion, lettuce, tomatoes/basil, cherry tomatoes, green beans, peas, mung beans, beet, sunflower, passion fruit, strawberry, broccoli, cauliflower
  • Garden Right:  Afternoon shade
sweet melons, watermelon, strawberries, pineapple, papaya, yams, sugar cane, fry bananas, cook bananas

And a little something for Grandma... 
Theo fell asleep while I was working in the garden today.

And Kaia was not going to be outdone so she wants to make sure you know she is getting VERY good at climbing trees.  Here she is trying desperately to climb high enough to pick the lowest yellow guava.  No luck today but there is still tomorrow.
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4 comments:

  1. HelenMarch 16, 2011 at 11:53 AM

    Well good job Kaia ,hope you are able to reach the fruit soon...........but do be careful.
    I really love the gift of a picture with Theo napping,he really looks cute;so peaceful.Playing with all those toys must have tired him out or was it helping you garden?
    The vegie garden sounds great.To be able to grow things all year round would be a gardeners' dream here.The closest we got to that was when we lived in British Columbia.
    My thoughts on growing things in your garden are;
    Lettuce and spinach here are cool weather crops(early spring) and will bolt when it gets too hot.
    Generally speaking I think the root vegies do better in light soil.
    The rest of the plants you have need lots of sun but hopefully receive a good watering weekly.
    Chives grow very well here even when neglected and I intersperse them in the flower garden as their purple flowers are lovely, but take care they can spread easily but not rampantly in a garden.
    Do you have swiss chard there?I found it easier to grow than spinach.
    Is this helpful?
    I wonder what the bug population is like at your place.I would hand pick the bad guys and used dicomitus earth or insecticidal soap(cheaper)which were considered safe, when and if needed.
    Do you have lots of compost to dig in from your kitchen and garden waste?.Does compost break down more easily there?
    Do you have a compost bin outside or are there too many animals it would attract??
    More questions than you need Pamela?

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  2. Under African SkiesMarch 17, 2011 at 9:23 AM

    Helen! Thanks! Every answer breeds more questions. I will look into everything and have a few questions/comments.

    What is light soil?
    Will have to follow up with moses about watering.
    Think our 'spinach' is actually more of a swiss chard
    Cant compare compost since we never did it at home but i think it breaks down pretty quickly here. We don't cut things up small and it takes about a year to get nice soft soil.

    Think there are so many bugs because moses has been making compost and fire pits all over the place and thinks that if he leaves the weeds to grow they will eventually compost themselves back into the soil. Sigh :) I think it will be a long road to get rid of them. I will look into earth friendly sprays. Cleaning the garden has helped immensely.

    Long rains just started. Changes things already.

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  3. Under African SkiesMarch 17, 2011 at 9:36 AM

    Any idea why carrots would 'bulb up' rather than growing long and thin?

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  4. HelenMarch 17, 2011 at 10:30 AM

    THERE ARE CARROTS TYPES LIKE THAT BUT IT MAY BE THAT YOUR EARTH IS TOO HEAVY(LIKE CLAY).
    THIS IS WHAT I MEAN BY LIGHT SOIL, AS IN SANDY SOIL WITH ADDED LOAM OR COMPOST.ROOT VEGIES WILL BENIFIT IF YOU DIG THE BEDS DOWN VERY DEEPLY SO THAT THE ROOTS CAN GROW DOWNWARD BETTER .THIN THEM OUT WHEN THEY ARE SMALL.ALL ROOT VEGETABLES WILL BENIFIT IF YOU DO THIS.
    i GUESS YOU KNOW IF YOU CUT THE DISCARDED KITCHEN WASTE ETC INTO SMALL PIECES AND ADD ALTERNATE LAYERS OF EARTH WHILE IN COMPOST PILE (BIN)IT WILL BREAK DOWN FASTER AND YOU WILL HAVE A WONDERFUL GARDEN AMMENDMENT.
    AN ACCELERENT YOU CAN USE (IF YOU NEED IT) IS NITROGEN FERTILIZER, LIGHTLY SPRINKLED IN NOW AND AGAIN.;HOWEVER DOING WHAT i JUST MENTIONED ABOVE AND TURNING IT PERIODICALY SHOULD BE ENOUGH.
    DO YOU HAVE EARTH WORMS THERE?THEY ARE GREAT TO HAVE IN THE EARTH AND COMPOST.
    ENOUGH ALREADY?

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