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[Alice_Bee]

I grew up all over the country, but my grandparents farmed 44 acres, sold it when I was 10. I didn't garden until I had kids, and I could never raise enough to provide all my groceries just for myself, but I don't do badly. I don't try to raise potatoes in winter, mainly because I don't eat very many, with only the 1/6 acre lot for garden, and only the front half has decent dirt, my actual garden space is pretty small. And water is very expensive in Fort Worth. I can't afford to water the upper garden at all, so I put my compost on one side and wildflowers for the bees on the other, then asparagus next to the wildflowers, and in Hugelkultur beds this winter I have garlic and onions, Broccoli and spinach in the raised bed, swiss chard just downhill from the hugelkultur. And a peach tree that squirrels planted (from my other peach I daresay) next to the fence so a major chunk of garden has become peach tree. I have a moonglow pear just downhill from that but with a swale to keep it from getting flooding, my answer to black leaves from fungus.

We painted the fence together on Mother's day 2018, daughters and I, grandkids painted flowerpots. There are blackberries up on the split rail fence and in the wildflowers too.

 

[j.w]

Very nice job on the pretty painted fence!

 

[Alice_Bee]

thank you. girls did most of it, my flower beds provided models

 

[Tula]

Love your fence !!

 

[Alice_Bee]

Love your fence !!

Thank you!

 

[sissy]

love the fence it brightens up the whole garden and sure would make me smile .Here clay soil and bad soil is not good .In NJ I added leaf mulch every winter to my gardens and would lay a tarp overtop of it .My neighbors little girls would pick the grapes and blueberries growing on my fence .The new owners ripped the garden out and neglected most of my gardens

 

[Alice_Bee]

Thank you Sissy. I do understand the lost gardens. It's sad. My ex kept my old house, and dug up all my asparagus and piled it on the front porch in a freeze for me to pick up. I picked it up, lost 2/3 but I do have asparagus here finally. He managed to kill a lot of stuff off or just dug it up and tossed it

I have better soil here than my old place, on the front of the lot. Back of the lot is septic drain field and they brought in sand. Just sand. When I bought the house they had sodded st augustine on top of the sand, that didn't last that long. That spot is where I put my big round above ground pond, because nothing grows there. The chickens keep the weeds short back there, and I have pond liner under my beehives to keep weeds from giving ants a path in to the honey... The back side of the painted fence.
After the big wind blew the gate open and dumped all my bees in puddles in March 2019. Pic is after the bees were set back up, chickens and a rabbit moved. Bunny is still in the house, but I need to build her a nice big run again.

 

[j.w]

Oh @Alice_Bee you have something in common w/@addy
She has several hives of bees.

 

[sissy]

here the soil is all red clay and I have been mulching all my grass when I mow and just mulch over the eaves and let them there .I have gotten lots of manure from the farm across the road and buy up all the fish emulsion at the end of the season at Walmart .But summer heat and drought do a lot of damage here .Good gosh you have really had your fair share of disasters .So far all big storms have missed us and snow only lasts a day or two and trees and shrubs are already getting leaves and next week into the mid 60's all week

 

[Alice_Bee]

it's really cold here this morning, but will be nice this weekend, nothing is sprouting leaves yet, I've got pollen substitute out for the bees, in their feeder, because only dandelions and henbit for them right now. I've got to fertilize my onions and garlic this morning - blood meal does the best, every 2 weeks from now until harvest

Drought alternates with flooding now. Will go a few months without rain then get 10 inches, I installed french drains after my back yard was flooded for 3 weeks, passive on the downhill side, sump driven on the uphill side. Haven't had a multiple day flooded yard since. But I only water the garden area and the flower beds and trees, my water bill would be horrendous if I tried to keep the lawn alive. Unfortunately that means mud when it rains in my back yard, where the dogs track it in.