So, in the time I lived here, I’ve noticed that the ground is basically a solid piece of water-holding clay with a nice underlayment of rock. Not the best place for root veg, etc, and whenever I want something to survive I am basically left trying to till the top few feet just so the ground moves and is aerated, and mixing in a bit of homemade compost and garden soil (soil a la Miracle Grow – also not ideal). Not the cheapest or most natural method, but I feel a bit like we are rehabilitating some sun compacted soil, so I do what I do.

That being said, I started using raised beds and containers to grow some of the veg, and that has been much easier. Additionally, I LOVE elevated beds. They don’t hurt my back like working in the ground.

This year I’d been listening to people talk about no till gardening, and quite honestly I figured it was a bunch of goofiness. How am I going to break up my soil if I plant right in it? How do I get rid of the weeds? Etc?

Once I researched it more, I realized that by tilling, I am really hurting our soil more than helping. I thought I was doing it a favor by introducing air, but apparently I’m also destroying little bug and microbe cities worse than King Kong during a temper tantrum. YIKES.

Additionally and sort of in parallel to this research, I wanted to grow corn this year, and I thought I’d till up a regular garden plot. Well, I did, and I failed. Our poor little Amazon tiller barely made a dent in our concrete dirt, and my chickens picked over what was left…at this point, frustrated, I thought there had to be a better way, and that led me to dig deeper (pun not intended) into the whole no till thing, because I now hate my tiller (sorry, tiller).

Come to find out, I’ve been no till gardening for a while for our garlic, lettuce, etc (lettuce because slugs are GROSS), and I found this great article that I am going to try to use for my 3 Sisters garden, which is basically a Native American inspired garden that uses corn for the trellis, beans to add nitrogen, and squash in a companion-like arrangement.

No Till Gardening: https://donotdisturbgardening.com/how-to-start-a-no-till-garden-a-complete-step-by-step-guide/

The article above, from Donotdisturbgardening.com, has an option to use bagged dirt on top of compacted dirt, and then to basically remove the bags at season’s end and start building compost layers to rehab the dirt. I LOVE THIS. No tiller needed, and it makes measuring super easy. Seeing as I’m spending a lot of money on dirt (funny enough, my biggest expense this year for the garden), I would love to be able to add compost amendments and not have to keep adding dirt long term.

Side note: bulk dirt is cheaper than bagged (in theory), but we can’t use bulk because I’m fighting a years’ long war against fire ants, which LOVE when I get new dirt (fresh meat, they say). I’ve been trying not to use more chemicals than necessary, so I use a mound treatment with a short half-life. Since I’m not using broadcast pesticide, it has been a long battle, but I’m getting there!

One of the no till options was a container garden. I started with grow bags, raised beds, and elevated planters a few years ago, and have been adding to them as I can.

It has been my experience that the grow bags dry out faster, but on the flip side they don’t hold water, and if you add perlite or keep them out of blasting sun you should be fine. That’s why mine are next to the workshop. They are shielded from late afternoon sun.

In any case, I’m waiting on a shipment of soil to do my 3 Sisters garden, and I fully plan to reuse my Amazon boxes to add compost layers and paper mulch. I’m trying to taper off what I buy commercially, so one of my challenges is to be more self-sustainable. I’ll keep you posted on the 3 Sisters progress.

If you have ideas on the fire ant situation or on sourcing cheap/better dirt, holler.

-Katie

It’s a short one. It’s Friday, and this week has been brutal!

Wanted to drop this pretty cloud on the blog for y’all to see. TGIF and stay safe!

North Carolina is a heck of a state in the summer. We live on the southern edge, four miles from the South Carolina border. As I was sending a friend yet another do you have any idea how my garden punished me today picture I thought it might be fun to do a storyboard, of sorts, for the blog. These photos are all me, and are compiled from the last few years.

No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden.

Thomas Jefferson

Working on the fall garden planning, I realized that on my humble little homestead I have grown over 70 different varieties of plant this year. From apple trees to peaches to corn and bell pepper, I’ve tried it all. Saying that, it hasn’t been without its challenges. Squash bugs and vine borers got into my squash patch, and I had to pull the plants this weekend and burn them. Thankfully, I was able to harvest quite a bit of squash before it got bad, but I had been hoping to be able to preserve more than I did.

Next year I have my game plan ready – rotate the squash to a new area, watch more closely (they were full harvest before I really knew I had a problem), and I’m going to try a roof shingle/board trick I learned about online. I will make another post about that soon.

Last night I was looking on Etsy for seeds for the fall crop, and got a little excited. I ended up ordering 12 or so seed packets, and I expect to have quite a few extra. The thought crossed my mind that I could possibly get a farmer’s market booth or find a local store to sell the extra plants, but the thought terrified me. I’m an accountant by trade. My farming skill is less than three years’ old (except for the odd patch or flower garden), and I was today years’ old before I even KNEW what a vine borer was.

Saying that, I give away quite a few eggs, and I’m always hocking off some plant experiment to family, so… maybe, why not?

I used to be a painter/artist as well, and quit when my kids were little.

The more I think about it, the more I wonder if it might be worth a shot to set up a small booth and learn on the fly. What do you think?

PS – sorry for the quiet. I have been spending 6 hours a day on the homestead, but I feel like I’m getting a handle on it. Definitely room to improve!

We have had a quiet few years. I’ve added on to the front and the back of the house with fence for the dogs, added some raised beds, and we still have chickens. I wasn’t able to work on the blog much, due to work and other projects, but the recent quiet and social distancing has brought our family to a place where we miss seeing our friends and neighbors.

I only see my parents when I deliver supplies. Worrying about my father, mother and other family members and friends catching this super flu was stressful at first, but my husband dove into a short story project (silver lining – he is finally writing, as I have been begging him to for years), and I’ve whole heartedly dove into our garden and raising our food this year.

Somehow, returning even more to self sufficiency has helped me stay resilient and focus on our family as a priority. I will post some of our projects here, and hopefully they can give other families ideas if they want to also “baby step” into homesteading.

I will start posting some of our projects tomorrow. I can’t wait to share our progress, and hopefully our family can keep up with us as well!

Katie

PS – God bless all, and we will get through this. Return to victory gardens and our neighbors. I feel like this has been a massive reset for many of us, and a reminder of what is truly important. Praying for everyone.