....how does your garden grow?

Gardening should probably be classified as a hobby for me rather than a chore. If I had nothing else to do, I think I could spend every waking hour out in the garden. Now, I must say that I am not the best gardener, not the most productive, but when given a day to do anything I want...I would be outside, in the sunshine, weeding/seeding/watering/picking! There are so many different techniques to gardening...so many methods. How does your garden grow?



We use an organic method of growing. We have NEVER used pesticides/herbicides of any sort on our land. I love the "Ruth Stout's No Work Garden" mulching system to keep weeds down and moisture in. We compost in place...with mulch of hay and grass clippings, decomposed chicken/cow manure and even use the animals to assist in the tilling of the land. Chickens tractors help fertilize and prepare the soil for planting. Pigs till up and fertilize our old corn fields. I use companion planting methods, where some plants actually benefit others when growing nearby...as a natural bug repellent or to encourage certain insects to help with pollination. Read "Carrots Love Tomatoes" for more information on this.



Last Year Dennis built our little cold-frame boxes, which give us a head start on cool weather planting. We already have pea plants approaching 1 foot tall thanks to these boxes.

My least favorite gardening activity is weeding. If I were doing the Ruth Stout method correctly, there would be little to no weeding, but I am sometimes stingy with my hay/mulch! As of today, in the ground are the following: potatoes, cabbage, beets, rutabaga, turnips, kale, lettuce, spinach, snow peas, sugar snap peas, carrots, radishes, swiss chard, mustard greens, sunflowers, dill, cilantro, onions, leeks, shallots! Coming back from last year we have asparagus, mint, oregano, strawberries, rhubarb, sunflowers, bronze fennel, not to mention a mystery squash that is volunteering in our old pig-pen! We need to get our corn in the ground soon!

After Mother's Day we will plant sweet and hot peppers, tomatoes, pumpkin, melons, squash, green beans, lima beans, butter beans, cukes, okra, basil, nasturtium, sweet potatoes...and whatever else we have room for!

It is a very busy time of year for the Bessette family. We will start with farmer's market the first week of May...then try to keep our garden watered and growing in between bread baking and animal care. I wonder how some people could feel bored??? I could fill my days with this farm/garden stuff! Thankfully the sunsets are stunning here on this hill, because otherwise I would feel sad that the sun had to go down...and that another day is finished!