Atlantic Gardener: Years Two and Three

Year Two (2011) doesn't really warrant its own post. More earwigs, more destruction. I grew a lot of things in pots on our deck, but I was working a lot and didn't tend to it enough. In short, 2011 was a total bust. But then...

On April 16, 2012 we moved out of the crappy mobile home we were living in and bought our dream home. 1001 square feet, 1 1/2 story on 4/5 of an acre of land.

I loved the house and so many things about it (bathroom on each level, main level laundry, lots of kitchen cabinets, dishwasher, high counters, 9' ceilings, deck and more), but what I really loved was THE YARD!!!

See what I mean? Isn't that amazing? Plus we have a small lot next to us that we own as well. The only downside is the front yard...there is none. Well, not none, but not much...maybe 10' from the highway, but the back yard TOTALLY makes up for it.

So as soon as we closed and moved in, I sussed out the best location for the garden. Much to my wife's dismay I decided that the best spot for it was underneath the clothesline. That area got by far the best light though and one of my gardening friends agreed, so I won that one. Erin's uncle came over and tilled up a spot for us; originally it was 24' x 36'. We picked out a zillion rocks, added a couple dozen bags of manure, hoed up rows and we planted everything in. I didn't take a lot of pictures that summer, but the ones that I did take were beautiful.

The first garden here saw no real pest or disease problems. I did get powdery mildew on the spinach due to planting it too close and not thinning it, but that was it. Overall a huge success, though we agreed the next year we would have to figure out how to preserve and use more of our harvest.