The (Little) Big Easy

Square Foot Garden - May Update

2009-05-04T12:09:00.006-05:00

The two square foot gardens are doing well, all things considered. So far, we've harvested radishes, crookneck squash, strawberries, and green onions. We are battling the spring/summer bugs as well as a nasty case of powdery mildew on the squash. Below are some pictures of the updated look. It's amazing what they look like compared to 60 days ago...

Left side

Right side

Onion flower from a confused-by-the-always-changing-weather red onion

The Birds and the Bees

2009-05-03T21:41:00.006-05:00

Pictures of some garden visitors:

Cardinal

Red Wing Blackbird

~~Texas Pigeon~~ Dove

Bees on the hummingbird feeder

First Harvest!

2009-04-14T11:45:00.007-05:00

We have harvested from the new garden for the first time. Our first item up for bid is a bunch of radishes. We chose a combination of Cherry Bell and Sparkler seeds. These were done growing around 30 days after sowing. A total of around 25 were had from a thinned-out planting of 32. The losses were due to plants with great top foliage but little root and some that went too long and cracked. Not bad! These are a little "hot", but we don't mind.

Spring Goodness

2009-04-10T11:29:00.014-05:00

Some pictures from the garden:

Citronella Plant blossom Osteospermum - Proven Winners Elephant's Foot or Spekboom

Square Foot Garden - The Beginning

2009-04-04T13:50:00.021-05:00

In early March, we built a couple of square foot gardens based on Mel Bartholomew's books and system. We decided on two beds: one is 8' x 4', and the other is 6' x 4'. The original plan called for just one raised bed, but as with most things gardening, some just wasn't enough. Construction was easy enough using untreated lumber, L-brackets, and outdoor wood screws. The bottoms are lined with black landscaping fabric. For the dirt mix, we followed "Mel's Mix" in the beds pretty closely. There is about a one-third portion of each of the following: perlite or vermiculite (we did one kind in each bed), peat moss, and a compost/manure mixture.

Both beds around a week after planting: The first bed contains radishes, bell and jalapeno peppers, cabbage, okra, squash, eggplant, tomatoes, carrots, red and yellow onions, and watermelon. The marigolds are for show and some pest resistance (allegedly):
The second bed contains more peppers, tomatoes, squash, and onions. There is some color added with snapdragons, osteospurmum, and petunias:
Overall, some cold snaps and downright nasty weather have been a pain. A stack of blankets stood at the ready for month of March for a couple of impromptu coverings. Some 30 degree nights loom yet, but hopefully the stunted production is over!

Property Pictures, Summer 2008

2009-04-03T12:31:00.005-05:00

Here are some pictures taken of The Property in the late summer last year.

The front of the land is a bit higher than the rest; some gentle slopes take you down. Some established trees that we'll likely keep line paths created by vehicles and/or cattle (not ours): Prickly pear cacti can be found just about everywhere. This one was in bloom. This tree grove lines the creek. As you make your way to it, you pass a pretty nice open and clear pasture. And finally - the creek! The water level was pretty low during the 2008 central Texas drought. But, knock on wood, we've never seen it totally dry. We have a ton of ideas about what to do with the area near the creek. It is amazingly peaceful and serene with some neat natural landscapes.

"The Property"

2009-04-03T12:13:00.004-05:00

One of the reasons for the creation of this blog is to share the progress on a nine acre tract of land we've purchased. It's in Elgin, Texas, and is located about 25 miles due east of Austin proper. Here's the tract survey (click for larger view):
The purple colored area is the entire tract. It's somewhere around 200 feet wide at the north end near the road. The rest shotguns to the southwest. A creek that runs through on the south end is colored in blue . It's probably around 20-25 feet across at it's widest point and a few feet deep.

"The Property" had almost all of the things we were looking for when searching for a nice land tract:

Water feature
Lots of trees (but not a forest) and other plant life
Reasonable access to municipal utilities
Isolation from city life but close enough to civilization
Goldilocks size: not too small, but not too big

We were able to close on it in September of '08. So far, we haven't changed it at all. We're looking to pay down the land loan and hopefully begin building within 18-24 months.