Welcome to my Sustainable Urban Garden

My garden is a work in progress, always growing and changing within itself.

My gardens include many herbal beds, raised vegetable beds, raised "citrus heights" citrus tree bed, berry beds, fruit trees, grape arbor, rose beds and many perennial flower beds with annuals too. My greenhouse is still in the transformation stage,
as well as some planting areas.
Enjoy your journey through my gardens, I do!

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Tool Shed construction continues

The construction is continuing, with the basic framing completed now. This photo was taken while I was standing in front of my potting bench. The door framing is obvious in this picture. The compost pile is visible through the framing in this picture also.




Below the sheathing is on the back. And some of the detail framing is in place.


The progress of the tool shed gets me excited to have an efficient seed production venue.

 

So, I have been planting seeds. In seed packs I have planted bunching onions, pumpkins, zucchini, zinnias and most recently carrots. Here is one of the 6 packs of newly emerging carrot sprouts.They are so cute and delicate. Tomorrow  I want to start some leeks for the garden.

We have been harvesting fruit and vegetables from the garden daily. This is the latest summer garden I have ever had in 30 years of gardening. We haven't harvested one pepper yet. As can be seen in this picture, we have three varieties of zucchini growing. The green and yellow type is new to me this year. Of course we have lemons (they are an all year harvest item in our garden). The tomatoes are so late, but they are coming on nicely and are very delicious!!

We always have plenty of blackberries from our thornless blackberry patches. I pick about a cup or two a day. We have them for breakfast and desert. We had a good raspberry crop this year too and got a few boysenberries on the new plants from my friend Nina.

But the birds (with the help of the rats) have wiped out our entire seedless Thompson grape harvest this year. I was going to bag some of the clusters, but they got to them before I could get the bags up. They were relentless, no matter how many times I would shoo the birds away from the grape arbor. We haven't gotten figs again this year thanks to the wildlife. I am saving a few, that is why we are allowing the fig branches to hang so close to the tool shed and over the whole pepper bed, just hoping to get a few figs.This fig tree was planted in 1920 and every year the figs would drop off or dry up because we just didn't eat that many. I made jam a few years, but ...   We always had way more than we could use or share. The same for the grapes, we always had tons, and now last year and this year we end up with none for ourselves. Really a bummer. No more bird nests in my yard next year.

I just dug up our whole potato 4'X4' bed. I have decided to move the potato bed this year.  It takes constant awareness to track the changing growth/shade patterns of the trees that surround the veggie garden. So, I am making an adjustment this year. I will be planting the onions, leeks and carrots in the old potato bed this year. I am moving the potatoes to a sunnier bed and I think I will get a larger potato harvest next year.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Potting Shed Construction

The potting bench is now completed. Here it is with the new canvas awning. I chose parchment for the color so light would come through and it does. It is also waterproof which will keep the area so much cleaner. Now it is fun to start seed during the hot months of the year, as it is way too hot for starting seed in the greenhouse at this time of the year.
 














So, here it is - completed and a beauty and so very functional.
Started carrot seed in six-packs two days ago because it is too hot out in the garden now and I have way too much mulch on all my beds at this time of the year for a shallow seeder.

















This picture shows where the new tool shed is being built next to my potting bench.




















This next picture shows the roof line of the new tool shed which matches the roof line of the studio on the left (blue shingled structure). The next set of pictures (when it gets sheathing) will really demonstrate how it is going to look. Hopefully this will be in about two days.