ok, so i let the dogs know who is boss. that was six weeks ago and no more damage. they have even been here to sniff around, but no longer bother my garden. it you want to call it that.
the veggies looked pretty much the same as the day i planted them for those same six weeks. zero growth. that is until a couple weeks ago when i saw a sign offering
FREE MULCH. wow, how could i pass that offer? i didn't. i lined my truck with tarp, drove to the mulch pile, looking very dark rich and fertile and loaded up. i spread it about two inches deep on my front yard beds and on my lame looking garden plot. whew, tiring but it looked great and...the next day there was visible growth in my garden. shoot, i got this gardening thing down!
until i emailed pattie at www.foodshedplanet.com. i got an immediate response saying
"DO NOT USE DEKALB COUNTY'S FREE MULCH" in caps yet,"IT'S NOT ORGANIC". so what else is new? i think the name of this blog should have been whatnottodotogrowanorganicgarden.com.
i guess there could have been pesticides sprayed on it, or possibly wood from diseased trees or bug infested, but i ate my first salad from my very own, kind of organic, garden for luch just an hour ago and i feel great! kind of. i'm actually starting to feel a little light headed. maybe even a little shakey, but hey i'm tough. cough cough...i'm ummm... cough...it's a...got
ta go.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
here goes...
it's not that i'm that so much reluctant about reaping,(my personal definition for gardening, but reluctantgardener was already taken. drat!) but more reluctant to be a blogger. after being asked to blog three or four times by my friend pattie who writes the blog, www.foodshedplanet.com, i thought i'd give it a try.
a little about me...my name is david skoke from atlanta, ga. i'm a father, actor, stock trader, vegetarian, community volunteer, big brother, avid music listener/collector, lousy (but i love it) musician and now a participant in the worldwide victory garden movement , taking control of our food, health and future of our planet with my first organic garden.
i live on a tree lined street with lots of shade. great to look at but not ideal for gardening, so after watching the sun on my yard one day, i found the only spot that gets direct sun for about five hours. it's a 4'x10' plot in my front yard next to the driveway. after a few hours of digging up sod, adding fertilizer, soil and manure and turning and turning, i was ready to go. that is until my neighbor told me a garden bed should be about 8" deep. mine was about 3". bummer. finally, a few days later and after a few more hours of digging, sweating and a whole lot more manure and the rest, the bed was ready. hip hip hurray! time to plant. i'm psyched.
i thought i'd start by planting plants rather than seeds because i needed some immediate gratification. so there it was, beautiful rows of a few varieties of early spring veggies. i sat on my front porch that evening, glass of wine in hand, admiring my garden and imagined my future bounty. ok, so i made a mistake but i'm a beginner. what did i expect? no bid deal.
that is until the next morning when i discovered a couple of my neighborhood's stray dogs had dug up all my work. i mean all of the veggies and deep holes everywhere. bigger bummer. but not to be deterred and reenergized after another few days, i got to work again. this time i planted onions around the perimeter of my bed, to keep out pests and sprinkled pepper(couldn't hurt i thought) on the bed. on the porch again, more admination, and more wine, all was well.
yea, right. the next morning i discovered the return of the dogs. this time i caught them red handed. make that, red pawed digging in my garden. again, big holes plants dug up and scattered all over the place. i ran out to the yard and gave them a stern talking to.
to be continued...
a little about me...my name is david skoke from atlanta, ga. i'm a father, actor, stock trader, vegetarian, community volunteer, big brother, avid music listener/collector, lousy (but i love it) musician and now a participant in the worldwide victory garden movement , taking control of our food, health and future of our planet with my first organic garden.
i live on a tree lined street with lots of shade. great to look at but not ideal for gardening, so after watching the sun on my yard one day, i found the only spot that gets direct sun for about five hours. it's a 4'x10' plot in my front yard next to the driveway. after a few hours of digging up sod, adding fertilizer, soil and manure and turning and turning, i was ready to go. that is until my neighbor told me a garden bed should be about 8" deep. mine was about 3". bummer. finally, a few days later and after a few more hours of digging, sweating and a whole lot more manure and the rest, the bed was ready. hip hip hurray! time to plant. i'm psyched.
i thought i'd start by planting plants rather than seeds because i needed some immediate gratification. so there it was, beautiful rows of a few varieties of early spring veggies. i sat on my front porch that evening, glass of wine in hand, admiring my garden and imagined my future bounty. ok, so i made a mistake but i'm a beginner. what did i expect? no bid deal.
that is until the next morning when i discovered a couple of my neighborhood's stray dogs had dug up all my work. i mean all of the veggies and deep holes everywhere. bigger bummer. but not to be deterred and reenergized after another few days, i got to work again. this time i planted onions around the perimeter of my bed, to keep out pests and sprinkled pepper(couldn't hurt i thought) on the bed. on the porch again, more admination, and more wine, all was well.
yea, right. the next morning i discovered the return of the dogs. this time i caught them red handed. make that, red pawed digging in my garden. again, big holes plants dug up and scattered all over the place. i ran out to the yard and gave them a stern talking to.
to be continued...
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