Frugal Winter Garden Dreams

While I sit by the woodstove on a bitter cold January night, my thoughts turn to the spring garden.  I can envision the bulb heads appearing, planting pea seed, buds beginning to pop on the trees and bushes, birds returning and looking for new places to nest and warmer longer days.

It is time to look at seed catalogs and make a list of what will be grown this year.  I keep a journal yearly with entries on what was grown, how well things did, what critters bothered the garden and if a way to deter them was found, what plant sets were planted and how well they did and finally what the bounty amounted to.  This year I have vowed to weigh and keep track of the harvest so that I can figure out what impact my garden has made.  I have read about people setting goal weights but since I have no reference point I must start from scratch and record a baseline this season.

This year I plan on only using heirloom seeds and plants so that at the end of the season I can harvest seed for next year.  More and more the only seeds that are readily available in garden centers are hybrid seeds.  Hybrid seed is not sustainable and will not create a good crop the following year.  There is mischief afoot amongst the seed companies and the fertilizer chemical companies and it is my opinion they do not have our best interest at heart.  I will do my best to preserve seed and maintain a garden that is not filled with genetically altered plants.

The backyard garden will be enlarged and within the next couple of years all the grass areas will be removed and turned into either raised garden boxes or open growing areas.  While I dream about what to grow I am designing the layout of the yard.  My yard has a greenbelt of pine trees behind it facing east which block the early morning sun.  I must plan for the sun path carefully to maximize the light.  I have one well established apple tree and two young fruit trees that don't produce yet (plum and pear).  It would be great to put in a grape arbor and get some grape vines going.  We will see how industrious I am this year.

Rug remnants from a rug installer have been placed on some of the areas that will be expanded so that the grass, weeds and moss will begin to die out over the winter.  It is not really sightly but the method works well.  When spring comes I will only have to cover the areas with wet black and white newspaper and then build the raised beds lined with wire mesh on top.  The newspaper will block the sun and kill whatever is left while eventually rotting and mulching.  The wire mesh is needed because my area is prone to moles.  The garden boxes will be filled with compost from my compost pile, composted leaves that have spent the winter in leaf bags, composted manure from a local organic farmer and garden soil that I will purchase.  The compost, leaf bags, manure, wood for the raised boxes and carpet remnants are all from free sources which of course is my favorite word as a Frugalista.

Each year my splurge is putting up a small blow up swimming pool.  The diameter is about 10 feet and the pool is large and deep enough for me to lay on a blow up raft and think I am the Queen of Everything floating on the Riviera.  Only my next door neighbors can see me and since I am not a bathing beauty and since they are away all day at work I feel very comfortable out there lazing away with a good book.  I always invite the kids over for a "swim" and they don't care what I look like.  This year I would like to construct a wooden platform to put the pool on.  This will stop the annual crop circle that magically appears when I take down the pool for the winter.  It really isn't very attractive.

So while I sit with my seed catalogs, my notebook with garden drawings and dream of lazy days floating on the Riviera, I know I will be creating the most beautiful garden yet.  Certainly time not wasted.

Suggested seed companies that offer heirloom seeds

Sustainable Seed Company
Territorial Seed Company
Victory Seeds
Burpee
Southern Exposure
Seedsavers

Urban Homesteading Update

Please watch this video on Urban Homesteading . Called The Power of Growing Your Own Food.  They also have a website called Path to Freedom which is excellent.  I highly recommend you view both the Utube video and  their website.

I would also like to recommend a website called Food Matters .  Food Matters has a free newsletter that I subscribe to for the latest on food issues.

I have written about my urban homestead and my edible front yard.  These are the folks who inspired me.

Now that we are in Fall and Winter is coming fast we are still working on putting the garden to bed.  The plant material has been cleared out and put into the compost pile.  Next step is to get a truck load of mature manure for the garden beds.  I have my eye on an area in town that has large maple trees.  When the leaves have finished falling I will rake them and bring them home in bags.  Again I am doing someone a service in return for getting the rich leaves.  Then the beds will be covered with (gasp) black plastic to keep them from growing weeds during the winter months.  The plastic was given to me and I recycle pieces used last year which makes me feel a bit better.  I am also watching a large road construction site that is using black plastic sheets to keep erosion in control.  I will ask the supervisor if I can have the plastic when the construction is complete. Again I will hopefully get more plastic free and prevent it from going to the landfill for a bit longer.

I know others plant green crops which are turned back into the soil in spring instead of covering the boxes.  I have chose to cover the beds because I am loading them with manure to make more good soil.  We have a substantial amount of rain usually in the winter and I am not confident the green crops would grow.  Maybe next year I will be brave and try that.

We are also collecting all the free wood we can for our wood stove.  It is the plan to only heat with wood this year.  I will be watching the electric bill to make sure it stays very close to what we consume in the Spring and Summer.  Within the past week we have picked up three truck loads of free burnable wood.  The wood included end cuts from a construction site, very large rounds of Doug Fir which will need to be split, plywood which will be used for building projects, pallets and assorted 2x4s, 2x10s and 2x12s.  We have built a relationship with one builder who will call us when he has a scrap pile. Since we have cleaned up when we have picked up free wood from him he is delighted and said he will deal with us only.  Yea!

While collecting free wood we have come across alot of wood that can be used to build more garden boxes.  I plan on adding boxes to the front yard which is now lawn free.  Then the back yard will be tilled and covered with garden boxes.  The boxes will be filled with mushroom compost which is a local byproduct of a mushroom factory, my composte and garden soil. It is a huge undertaking but will bring me step closer to being sovereign.

Check the June postings archive for more articles on Edible Front Yards.