ParkHowell.com

Our Organic Garden

I’ve learned tons in my third attempt at organic gardening. I either had the wrong exposure, the wrong dirt, the wrong watering technique, the wrong varieties, the wrong skills, and/or the wrong combination of the aforementioned organic gardening shortcomings.  Finally, there’s signs of life.

We started in November by re-purposing a half-baked old wood pool deck and built two raised planting beds. Then we brought in a number of yards of a mulch and soil mixture to get things started. We put in a separate watering valve for the micro-tubing drip system so we can be precise with our irrigation. I planted three tiny sprigs of artichokes over the holidays (you can see the now thriving bushes in the back). And the rest of the produce went in in early February (One of the great benefits of living in the desert).

We’ve got everything from lettuce, sunflowers, broccholi, zuchini, carrots, and tomatoes, to basil, spinach, peppers, and some other stuff we haven’t yet identified.  We think it’s edible.

Here’s what I’ve got into my urban “Green Acres:”

• $280 Skil chainsaw (I’ll explain in a later post)
• $450 in mulch/soil
• $325 in irrigation supplies
• $35 in nails/screws

TOTAL: $1,090

With the price of lettuce alone these days, I think our new organic garden will pay itself off in a year or two (We get two great growing seasons here in Phoenix), plus I’ve got a cool new chainsaw out of the deal.

Next up: We’re going to repurpose an old skateboard halfpipe for a chicken coop and composter (two separate structures), which will make room for fruit trees. I’ll bring you progress reports as our ag projects grow. In the meantime, if you have a tip on how to insure it’s – and our – survival, or have a great website to recommend, please let us all know.