Year in Review

2013...a year in review

Time flies

So much has happened since my last posting...last year.  I am officially a teacher now.  Well, substitute teacher, but I am almost done obtaining my teaching certificate.  Needless to say, I have been a slacker when it comes to my garden and this blog.  Teaching has dominated my time...grading, lesson plans, professional development, grading, lesson plans.  Well, you get the idea.  Anyway, last year was pretty awesome when it came to my garden.  I added a new 4'x8' raised bed that I built with bamboo harvested from my property.  BAMBOO (running bamboo) is a BAD choice for a landscape because it is unstoppable!  Technically a grass, it has a voracious growing habit and will grow horizontally 8-12' underground on a bad year.  So, my tree line is ripe with bamboo. 

As you can see, I harvested some rather tall bamboo stalks from my tree line. I embarked on a mission of stripping the stalks of leaves, and after several hours this was the result. 

They were ready to become my new raised bed.  Organic Gardening has a great article on building 5 different varieties of raised bed gardens.  The Wattle method was my choice for the bamboo stalks.  It was harder than I expected and not quite what was described in the article, but the finished product speaks for itself.  The bed was filled with a mix of bagged top soil (probably be more selective next time on this one) and local municipal compost.  Lawrence Township has a WONDERFUL municipal compost site and they produce BLACK GOLD!  It is yard waste compost, primarily fall leaves collected from all over the township.  If you live in the township, it is free for the taking (a fee to out-of-towners).  

This guy was my tomato patch this year.  The bed was home to cherry tomatoes, 2 varieties of heirloom tomatoes, bell peppers, banana peppers, basil, viola and Elijah Blue Fescue I was nursing back to health from my front landscape.  Early in the season, the production was good, but blight struck again and "Down went Frasier!"  Another season cut short by airborn traveling disease.  

The season was better than the last, again.  I am learning more and more every year and 2014 was on the horizon.