Garden Chronology of Colt Mazeau

1999 (Year 1)

This was the first year of my garden. I leased a plot from the city which had previously been maintained by another resident. Started working the soil in April. As 1999 was an unusually dry year on the East coast, I attempted to water plants by carting water from a nearby stream in a pair of plastic gallon-sized milk jugs. Analysis: monotonous labor, but a good way to garnish ticks! Because of its doubtful practical value, I decided to refrain from this practice in the future.

INVESTMENTS:: Leased plot, $30; miscellaneous seeds and supplies, $8; spade, $9; chicken wire fence, $10; annual ryegrass, $7. Total: $64
WEEDS:: Overrun with weeds. My general strategy for weed reduction was to scrape the soil crust and thereby allow the sun to "burn out" the weeds. While this did prove effective for preventative weed maintenance, it also deplenished the soil of nutrients.
RODENTS:: Although I had purposely chosen a plot with a fence around it, I soon discovered that rodents (namely groundhogs and rabbits) could fit through the 2"-diameter spacing in the fence. As these rascally mammals were causing heavy damage to my beans, I was forced to put up a 50' strand of 1"-diameter spacing chicken fencing (a.k.a. "poultry netting") to form a 10' x 10' security zone. Proved effective.
WINTER CROP RESULTS:: Not applicable.
SUMMER CROPS PLANTED:: Tomatoes, carrots, peppers, dill, Egyptian onions, black beans, black-eyed peas, lentils, lettuce, peas, navy beans, pinto beans, pink beans, green and yellow split peas, popcorn, grapefruit, and barley. Except for the Egyptian onions, which were mature plants from a co-worker, I planted seeds directly in the soil in close proximity and then transplanted young plants to separate them. Lots of work. Some plants suffered during transplanting. Read in gardening book that beans do well in "wide rows" so I decided to use this method in the future and refrain from transplanting. The peas did not come up at all, and the lettuce was decimated by the rodents. Seeds had low germination rates and were very slow to germinate as well -- probably planted seeds too deeply. The grapefruit sprouted, but I deleted it before it became a plant. No go on the popcorn, barley, or the split peas, but the other beans grew nicely.
WINTER CROPS PLANTED:: Annual ryegrass.
PERENNIALS:: Among the weeds I recognized asparagus, blackberries, and strawberries.