The Village Garden

Welcome to the garden of Clovelly Wood. The music you hear playing is Vivaldi's Four Seasons--Summer. I'll put gardening hints and ideas on this page, and share my own small experience with it. In our front yard, we have dug up the grass on one side and put a rock/flower garden. Unfortunately, we are lazy and don't take care of it, so it doesn't look as nice as we had hoped. But my mother and I have a great idea for it - we want to make a little village with tiny, tiny houses in the flower garden - like a woodland fairy village. I have pictures of it (the rock garden, I mean, not the village that doesn't exist) from several years ago, I try to scan them in ASAP so you can see.
In our back yard, we have a vegetable garden every summer, and we are just as lazy with it as with the flowers! But I do believe that it is very important for families to grow their own food as much as possible, and to store a surplus in case of emergency. And home grown, organically grown produce is so much nicer than store bought, chemically "enhanced" stuff that costs ten times more.
Some gardening hints: 1-pick and eat or can the vegetables when they are young - don't let them grow too big because they won't be as nice.
2-Every year, rotate the places where you grow certain vegetables - eg - if one year you plant corn in the northeast corner, then plant it in another corner the next year. This is because it is a 'heavy feeder' and takes a lot out of the soil.
3-make compost by letting waste plant materials (vegetable & fruit peelings, egg shells etc..NO meat or dairy) rot and form dirt--do this preferably in a big box to help keep the smell from the neighbours, and every year before you plant, put the compost you produced on the garden to fertilize it.
4-Weed the garden regularly, and make sure it gets enough water. Usually, we just trust that it will rain enough, and the rain usually is enough, but if it is a dry year and you do have to water it yourself, don't water it around noon, in the hot sun, as this can damage the plants, but water it early in the morning or in the evening. And wear mosquito repellant
5- Planning your Garden: Plan out what you want to grow where, and how much. for instance, you would probably want a vegetable garden at the back of your house and you should plan it out. Vegetable require plenty of sun - at least 6 hrs of filtered sun each day.
Herbs can be grown with vegetables or flowers, or on their own. You can grow them in containers and bring them in the house over the winter, or plant them straight into the soil. Most herbs do better in sunny locations, but you should find out specifics for each one.
For flower gardens, choose the location you would like, and then choose the plants according to the amount of light the spot gets. Perennials live for over 2 years, while annuals need to be replanted every year. It is a good idea to intersperse the annuals with the perennials, to provide colour while you are waiting for the perennials to bloom. Choose a variety of different bloom periods so you will have blooms all summer.
You can start seeds indoors, several weeks before planting time, and transplant them to the garden after the risk of frost is over, or plant the seeds straight into the garden. Or, you can purchase plants from a greenhouse (tomato, cucumbers, herbs, flowers, etc). If you buy seeds, it should give directions on the back of the envelope. If you start the seeds indoors, use potting soil, not soil from the garden (it may have bugs and other undesirables). Make a mini-greenhouse by covering the tray with plastic wrap, and keep it moist.
6- Preparing the Soil: Clear and turn the soil, removing large clumps so it will be well drained. (to test drainage, wet the soil, take a handful, and make a ball. If it comes apart when prodded, it's fine, if not, add organic material and work it in.) If you are planting in a container, put small stones or something on the bottom of the pot, under the soil. Make sure the soil is moist before you--
7- Plant the seeds or plants.
8- Keep the soil moist, and weed daily as the seeds germinate. Thin plants as require, and water regularly. If the soil is dry 1.25 - 5 cm below the surface, it needs to be watered. do not soak the soil, however - do not overwater.
9- Harvest: Some herbs can be picked, and then used immediately (eg-basil), others (sage, thyme) should be dried before use. Don't ask me why, I haven't the foggiest idea. The harvest time for vegetables varies - the information on the seed packet should tell you when to expect the first batch.

Ideas to use unusual items
When we bought the house we live in now, there was a shrine in the back yard that was built by the person who made some additions to the house a few years back. In it was a statue of Mary. To us, that was very unusual, because in our religion we do not worship Mary, though we do admire her greatly. Anyway, we took the statue out, but left the shrine because it is beautiful just as a thing to look at and add character. Recently, I had an idea how we could make it even more beautiful--we could grow flowers and vines in it and all over it. Unfortunately, because we are lazy, as mentioned above, we haven't done it. But when we do, I will take a picture and post it up. At the moment, we just keep our gardening tools in there. I don't know where we would put them if we did carry out the flower idea.
Another idea I have seen on TV or somewhere, is: using old rubber boots/other old shoes as planters, or any usable object you might otherwise throw away, such as tin cans or whatever.

As on any of my pages, you are perfectly welcome to send me any comments, ideas, or contributions. My e-mail address is: ra_pun_zelle@yahoo.ca