Folk that have spent time in the Army or Marines, particularly those in combat arms, know that the term ‘bracketing’ has to do with adjusting indirect fire onto a target or registration point. Essentially this means that as you make corrections to where you want the next round to land, you don’t adjust the second round in a very precise way, you move it enough so that it hits on the other side of the target. That is where I’m at on my second year of the garden. Last year I put it in too early and had frost damage. This year it’s not so much late as it is behind where it could have been. I’m pleased with the way it’s progressing but not all things will time out the way they need to.
Here are a couple of picks to show how its going.
I’ve placed the garden a couple of hundred yards to the south and east of the cabin. It sits on a hill top near the small light colored trees
A closer view. I used 8; wood posts spaced about every 30 feet and sunk them two feet into the ground using concrete. The trees on the right of the photo were planted this last winter. They are peach and plum.
Here are several of the 27 raised beds I’ve made. The first two have ever-bearing strawberries, the next is Bonny Best tomatoes, then jalapeno peppers, followed by Besser cherry tomatoes. Of the three big containers (repurposed molasses tubs for the cattle) have dill and chives, the two in the background have bunching green onions. Smaller pots have rosemary, sage, and oregano. I laid down 4 mil plastic liner and then covered that with ‘crusher run’ to keep the walkways weed free (mostly).
In the center of this bed are the jalapeno’s and that’s basil near the edge. Other beds have thyme, parsley, and onions along the edging. I used 1/2 schedule 40 PVC to irrigate the beds. I drilled the piping with a 3/64th inch drill so that each plant is watered at its roots.This is one of the Brandywine tomatoes in bloom. I used wire mesh (used to reinforce concrete) to create a framework for all of the indeterminate tomatoes (Brandywine, Besser, Bonny Best, Katina Cherry). I drove ‘T’ Posts in at each end, and the middle of the 12 foot beds and lashed the mesh to the posts. I used twine and 32 inch posts on the determinate tomatoes (Roma and Mellany’s Ballet). I went heavy on the Roma’s and put in 20 plants .
