Gardenopolis

Hello friends!

I have made some serious progress this week in my little slice of Cleveland...

I deviated drastically from the original plan with the exception of what is being planted in the beds. Our biggest reason for originally designing all raised beds was the potential for lead in the soil; at my Permaculture Design Course we learned that the lead will not be taken up into fruiting plants and that the major concern is with green leafy veggies. We decided, therefore, to plant some gardens in-ground, and some in raised beds. We will also have some tests done to determine the level of lead (if any) in the two areas of in-ground gardens.

This deviation from the original plan allowed us an extra row of plantings in both the front and back gardens; the square footage of the back rows went down a bit though.

I also planted two more trees this week, so we now have two peaches and two plums. The strawberries are looking lovely, and we got to eat our first one of the year yesterday!

I have planted one vertical garden so far; I made it a bit too big around, and as a result it leans on the house :o) I'm going to plant ano ther one this week, but will make it a smaller diameter. It is growing potatoes, squash, and radishes for sure, and may pop out some other interesting foods as I sprinkled misc. seeds that had fallen out of their packets into the top couple layers of planting.

I still have to plant the second raised bed (behind the chicken coop), but need to buy some more topsoil first.

The grapes and hardy kiwi are doing really well, and I am excited about the size of our raspberry bushes this year! Yum!

So, that's it for now... off to work in the garden!