A Yard to Feed Everybody
  • Read
  • About
  • Contact
  • Garden Consultations

What the yard looks like late July 2020

7/27/2020

0 Comments

 
Just a few photos. This squash is our favorite thing in the yard right now. We think it's a Trompetta di Albenga but we're not entirely sure because we don't keep great records of where we put things.

I’m not super pleased with the front yard; I tried to plant an annual flower/herb meadow as a temporary thing before installing perennials. Some things have come up and I’m delighted by them, but I was hoping for more. It’s probably mostly due to inadequate watering; I was out there twice a day but seeds really need a lot of love and maybe they needed a third watering. Also, we realized that there was something wrong with the compost we ordered from Grillo. Even weeds won’t grow in it, so getting desirable plants to grow requires a lot of coddling. Online reviews that other people left confirmed that this year’s batch of compost from Grillo was a dud. The pH is balanced, but it’s somehow devoid of nutrients. We will plant cover crops in it to try and revive it. 
I think we also have too many stray wood chips still on the soil, and tree roots in front are intense. Those combined with the poor compost likely made it hard for anything to grow. 

Here’s the moral of this story and the most important lesson I’ve taken away from this: your existing soil is fine. Things are growing happily where we planted them in our natural soil and struggling in places where we attempted to amend it. So, yes, there’s a history of pesticide use and mild lead and arsenic in the soil, but it is perfectly capable of growing things without any amendments at all. 
Have confidence in your soil.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.



    Categories

    All
    Animals
    Butterflies
    Insects
    Lawn
    Logistics
    Maintenance
    Mushrooms
    Native Plants
    Philosophical
    Planning
    Progress Photos
    Recommendations
    Vegetable Gardening
    Water

    Archives

    June 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Read
  • About
  • Contact
  • Garden Consultations