Moving the tractor out to start flattening an area to expand the garden into. Photo by J&J
I want more food growing on the property. That’s not much to ask, is it?
Here in Mississippi we are already preparing our garden for the 2014 growing season.
The first order of business? Expansion!
Choosing a Garden Size
Last year we chose to make a small garden for several reasons:
- It was our first year growing
- We wanted to try Back to Eden
- We did not have very many wood chips to use as cover
- You should always start small!
This year it is time to spread out and try for bigger and better!
Expanding a Garden
Our original garden patch was rectangular in shape, with the length going from East to West. We have more room to keep expanding on the East side (making the rectangle longer).
However, there is also some room to expand more to the North (making the rectangle longer). One catch – the ground is hilly and has old rotten stumps in the way.
Clearing land for a Garden
Thankfully, we invested in a tractor earlier in the year – so this should be an easy task.
Unfortunately, I need to replace a pin that is used for the lift arm on the 3-point hitch. So, rather than being able to switch out my implements and use a box blade, I am stuck using my front end loader (or putting off this chore for another week!).
I accomplished this by digging into the hills and moving the dirt to other needed areas on the property. I also dragged the bucket while driving in reverse to help spread out dirt and “level” the land as best as my skill would allow.
Planning for Planting
My thoughts right now are that something such as corn or sunflowers will go in this new expansion. But I am not set on that yet.
Either way, I do not plan to turn this new section into a Back to Eden Garden. I still may, but I do not plan to. As mentioned in other Back to Eden posts of ours, we have to make our own wood chips, and that is a lot of wood chips.
That said, something needs to be done to provide a cover against more invasive plants so that my vegetables or fruits will grow well, so who knows what will happen.
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You can see the video of me Preparing our 2014 Garden by clicking the link, or by watching below:
Interesting, is the work with the wood chips you have, the only thing that would hold you back from doing a back to eden garden? Just curious, since I really like the method, but have not been able to use it much myself.
Pretty much. There is a mulch company 1 mile from us – as such, the power company contractor takes all of the free clippings there. (There is not enough work by tree trimming companies near me to get any other company to come either). One day I saw the contractor chipping tree clippings and I stopped. One guy followed me to my house so they knew where to deliver them. Said he could bring me loads and loads… They never came. Why? They had to drive past the mulch company first.
So, we have to produce all of our own wood chips, and unless you can shell out a lot of $ for huge, huge machines, it takes a lot of time to chip a lot of wood. Not because each piece takes a lot of time, but because it takes a LOT of pieces to make a decent amount of wood chips.
That said – I will probably do a good bit of chipping, but I do not know if I will be able to chip enough wood to cover this whole area.
Another option would be straw. Paul used straw in the past and simply settled on the fact that wood chips work better.
Fact is, I do not know which way we will go right now. Will it rain every chance I get to chip wood? Will I find enough saplings to chip? Who knows.
One thing that I haven’t mentioned yet is that we will be digging out our duck pen soon, and placing it all in the garden. Just like Paul does with is chicken manure.
This soil is rich and chock full of worms. So it should be a great addition.
Sorry for the long reply. Thanks so much for stopping by!
Thank you, it is very helpful! We are starting a new garden, and I would like at least to try the back to Eden method. Happy gardening!