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Twilight Harvest

Starkraven bringing in the goods. Our little hilltop in the Ouachita Mountains is pretty exposed. The windbreaks on the fencing help protect the garden.



Hopes & Dreams

This is how it looked on May 21st. We use organic methods, and "Gardening by the Square Foot" as a guide. While we have plenty of room, Square Foot Gardening helps conserve water, control weeds, and assists in organic insect control. The previous owner kept a Bull Buffalo corralled here a few years ago. We reused the old timber posts and thick oak planking of the Buffalo Pen to build the garden fence. We backed the fencing with welded wire rolled outward and buried 6" underground to provide protection from rabbits, deer, and other critters.

The soil in the garden location is red clay with lots of sandstone rocks and gravel...not that fertile, but there is an old chicken yard and goat pen on the other side of the hill that contains very rich, black aged compost. We wheel barrowed this soil over the hilltop to fill the boxes.

Visible in the front box are (from L to R) are: Pole Beans, corn, cucumbers, dill, marigolds, lettuce, and garlic.



Don't Go in there without a Gun

This photo was taken yesterday from about the same angle as the one above (2 months later).
The garden exceeded our expectations (!). The poll beans overwhelmed the corn and merged with the cucumbers. Its not unusual to find cucumbers while picking the through the beans. Though overwhelmed, the corn did give us five very tasty ears yesterday.
Next year, we are planning on giving some crops more room.




Maters & Berries

Early Girls on the right, strawberries in front. Behind the scarecrow and in the center of the garden is a flower garden to attract bees and butterflys. We also keep two bee colonies in a more protected location on the backside of the hill. The bees are doing well, and love the garden.
In addition to the Early Girls we also have Rutgers, Amelias, Celebrity, Yellow Plum, Arkansas Travelers, and Romas.




OMG, Its ALIVE

This was an experiment with Watermelons and Cantaloupes. The wooden support structure is faced with 2"X4" welded wire. In theory, the vines would climb up the wire, and we could put little support nets around the fruit and connect the nets to the wire while the fruit ripened. The melon vines quickly overwhelmed everything and are growing wild through the garden, over the fence, and down the hill. Not shown are the pumpkins and gourds which have also jumped the fence and joined the melons in conquering the hillside. It is difficult to walk in that part of the garden, and we have watermelons and cantaloupes everywhere.
Behind the melons is another section of corn planted 3 weeks after the corn we harvested yesterday.



"Oh LOOK! Here's another One"

Most common phrase overheard in that part of the garden, "Oh LOOK! Here's another one!"
OK. How do you tell when they are ripe?



YUM




Kitchen Window



Our Home on the Hill

Garden on the left. The old chicken house and goat yard on the right.
We are currently rebuilding the chicken house and hope to have some free range chickens in a couple of weeks. We love the old weathered wood, and are reusing it when possible.



Wall O Glories

Included this photo because I like it.