Backyard Garden 2009

For the past 3 years we've planted a traditional type of row garden in a 14' x 40' and 20' x 6' sections of our backyard.  When we bought the house from my parents, there was a large ornamental flower bed that we slowly converted to a full vegetable garden.  Not really knowing what we were doing, we started slow, learned along the way and know there's much more to learn. 

This picture is the only one I could find that showed the entire garden.  Even though it's a bit small you can see the rows and the 2 apple trees in the back that we planed last spring.  The large tree in the top left corner will be moved as this year we want to move towards raised garden beds.  We want to go down that road for a few reasons:

Dogs: We have a 3 year old and an 8mth old pair of black labs.  They are great but the little one is a digger and chewer, so this is one of the main reasons for the change.  She already chewed up my raspberry bushes planted last year, which was my fault for putting her out where she could reach them, what was I thinking??  More on my remedies for this later.

Square Foot Gardening: The last few years we basically bought our seeds on a whim without much planning.  This worked out OK, but we didn't space our our plantings and ended up with too much lettuce or cherry tomatoes all at once, not enough potatoes, beans or carrots to carry us into winter, etc...  This year we are going to plan for preserves and follow intensive square foot gardening practices to increase our yields and maximize the space we have.  Also want to try companion planting of mutual beneficial vegetables and flowers.

Extending Growing Season: I've seen a few articles on using 8' pvc pipe and cover to create nice row covers to extend the growing season here in our Great White North when frost comes earlier then we want, so want to test it this year along with possibly experimenting on a few removable "Cold Frame" cover for the beds.

Ease of Management:I've never worked with raised beds before, but from I've read and feedback I've received from others, they are easier to keep up and work on.  Ours will be hemlock, which will match our fence when it goes up.  Everything is at an arms length away and the paths in between give you ample room to move about, also important for the dogs and kids ;o)

Esthetics's:I honestly find raised beds more neat and esthetically pleasing to the eye.  Since my wife is a photographer, we have a few other backyard projects to create good photo ops, which will tie into the beds as well.

I'm still playing with the design and layout, but we can easily go with eight 4' x 12' raised beds in the main area and another two 4' x 8' in the back.  This year we're going to test growing potatoes in a "potato stack" so that will be in addition to the raised beds and another post all together.

Putting money away for this project already and will purchase the hemlock for the raised beds in end of April or start of May depending on how the thaw goes... can't wait and will do a follow up post including pictures ;o)

Sometimes I feel like I have A.D.D.  When I start researching a topic through books and/or online, one thing leads to another, then to another, and before you know it I have 10 new projects on my to-do list.  I always have a notebook with me to try and keep my overzealous  plans in order and in check. 

I am doing research on winter gardening in my climate for next year.  We live in Eastern Canada just north of Maine, so we get cold snaps and lots of snow.  I got started reading a couple books that touch on the subject: "Intensive Gardening Round the Year" and "Solar Gardening", that I picked up from the Library.  I've done research on Cold Frame Gardening which was the route I was going before I stumbled on a few very inspiring YouTube videos about Dome Greenhouses and people actually using them to grow during the winter months in Northern climates and in the mountains.

One of the sites I'm checking out is Growing Spaces.  There are a few kits out there, but I like theirs so far and they have a lot of information available.  Here is their introduction YouTube video:

Here is another great video by PeakMoment that goes through a large 52ft year round growing dome project 6000 ft above sea level in Colorado.  Pretty sweet, but a bit large for my backyard ;o)

I am building or buying a greenhouse this year for sure, and was leaning towards traditional passive solar ones, but now I'm really liking the dome design.  It has a fluid nature to it and the dome design is perfect for our windy winters and snow loads.  I would love to buy a DIY kit, but cost is an issue and shipping is $$.  If I can find a design to piece it together and find some place local to purchase and cut polycarbonate panels, it is doable... dream dream dream ;o)

If anyone is currently winter gardening in a similar climate I would love to see and hear your experiences.

2010 is here and with it comes new plans and aspirations.  I'm sure everyone has felt that there are just not enough hours in a day to learn all the things you want to learn... at least that's how I feel ;o)  It would seem that every time I start learning one thing I get an idea for another project so I'm trying to come up with a "list" to keep me on track.

Like everyone else, we have a lot going on in our family while still working on living a more sustainable lifestyle and making the right choices for the environment and our future.  The following list is a transcription of my notepad I drafted up today and expanded on... daunting at first glance, but nice to have a starting point and some ideas.

Things to Learn & Research

• Custom Glassware:  This is a small hobby project for my wife and I to possibly make custom jewelry from scavenged sea glass.  Also looking into small kiln to fire glass jewelry.
• Sewing:  Have the sewing machine, just need to learn how to use it.  My mom will teach me ;o)  She is an awesome quilter and I can only hope to be half as good.
• Soap Making:  Want to learn to do this with my son so he can make is own special soap (incentive to bath nightly..lol)
• Beekeeping:  Always was interested in beekeeping and can watch/photograph bees being bees all day long. 
• Chickens:  Want to learn all I can about keeping chickens for eggs so when the time comes that I convince my wife I can jump at the opportunity. 
• Plan Garden for Preserves:  We don't have the luxury of gardening year round and have a short growing season.  Although we eat fresh all summer, we run out by the Thanksgiving so this year want to focus on expanding the garden and planning for preserves for the winter months.

Building/Fabrication Plans

• Old School Chalk Board: We want a large old school chalk board in our kitchen to mark down notes.  I want to scavenge some old weathered window frames or something to frame the actual board to give it an old country look.
• Soil Seedling Pot Maker:  This is a must for this year.  I have plans in my head on how to build this and am a hobbyist metal fabricator with tools so this should be easy right?
• Compost Grinder: Currently have a homemade pallet composing bin I'd like to throw into high gear and multiply.
• Wood Caddy: Going to fabricate a wood caddy to bring in my 3 cords of wood for winter heating that will also double as a gardening wagon.  I am not doing 284 hand loads down a flight of stairs again next year!
• Design & Fabricate Garden Ornaments:  I've been asked to do some metal sculptures so going to start with scare crow, bean poles, tomato posts and other functional garden ornaments that come to mind.
• Seedling Starter Rack/Lighting:  This is a must this year and probably the first project as planting season is coming soon!
• Cellar Cold Room:  Want to transform one corner of our cellar into a cold room for storing food during the winter.

Yard/Garden Plans

• Potato Stack:  I read up on this last year and will give it a try this year in a 4x4 bin.  Still have to work out the details as I'm not using old tires, but am curious to see how this method will work out.
• Plan Raised Beds:  This is the biggest change as we transition our conventional row garden to square foot/raised garden beds.  This is mostly due to having dogs and not having a fence around our current garden, plus it will really give character to the backyard along with other design changes.
• Water Catching/Watering System:  Currently have 2 x 55gal water barrels used to water the garden, but have a design in mind to use a 250gal container (think old school western water tower style).  Excited about this one if i can pull it off.

Well that list is a bit daunting and I know some items will drop and others will be added as priorities are shifted and everyday life events occur, but it's nice to have a list and starting point.  Time to start reading and designing plans for the Seedling Starter Rack/Lighting... can't wait to start!

Well we're already a few days into 2010 and I thought the best way to kick things off would be with a theme redesign.  I really liked the old theme but it was my first shot and I have many new ideas to bring to the site this year, including more dedication.

I wanted a clean display, quick loading and have the ability to customize.   The features I wanted to start with was to have a Twitter feature displaying my latest Tweet and a Picasa feature to display images.  I have other features in mind, but those are the 2 I wanted to start with and get the ball rolling.

Although the site is not 100% the look and feel I want yet, it was good enough to be live and give me incentive to wrap up the loose ends and then give it some personality.  We plan on giving more attention to the blog to document our ideas and progress throughout 2010.  2009 was more about research, 2010 will hopefully be more about application and learning by doing.  We found there are many excellent sites out there, but they are primarily in warmer, longer growing climates.  We look forward to sharing our experiences, good and bad, from our point of view in Eastern Canada where if you don't like the weather you just wait 5 mins.

This adventure really started for us when we bought this house in a 30 year old subdivision in Moncton, New Brunswick.  That's in the East Coast of Canada for those of you who don't know.  Starting with a small vegetable garden it eventually grew and expanded beyond just a garden, but looking at our lives in a different way.  Reducing energy consumption, planning the garden for canning & preserves, composting, recycling, doing away with gas mower and replaced with reel mower while reducing the amount of "lawn" with edible flower beds, planting dwarf apple trees, raspberries and black berries are just a few things we've done in the past couple years. 

Alright, so now that is done I guess I need to put the darn Veseys Seeds Catalog away and start finishing the posts I have started up in draft!!  I'd love to hear your comments and/or suggestions to make the site better and usable so don't be shy ;o) 

PS: If you are from Eastern Canada we'd love to hear from you as well to share experiences.

Thank you,

Henri aka SimpleLivingbyChoice

Researching how to naturally control insects around our urban homestead I came across BATS!  OK.. bats have a bad rap and treated unfairly by misconceptions and "wives tails".  One of the best things you can do for your garden and the struggling bat population is to build a few bat houses or roosts.

Bats are extremely beneficial and will help keep you and your garden insect pest free.  Bats will eat between 30 and 50 percent of it's body weight in insects nightly.  Ya that's a lot of mosquitoes, June beetles, cutworms, moths, leafhoppers and many other flying insects.  Bats will NOT get caught in your hair and will NOT attach your small dog or turn into a vampire ;o)  Due to loss of habitat and encroachment of urban sprawl, bats are on the loosing end of the battle for survival.  Building a bat house gives them the safe roosting site they need and in turn they will help keep you insect pest free... win/win

Some important line items I've learned while researching:

• Bat houses should face south and receive about 6-8 hours of daylight a day
• Bat houses should be mounted on a pole or building 10 to 12 ft high
• If building on a pole you can mount 2 bat houses back to back facing east/west and the bats can rotate to help regulate temperature
• Bat houses need to be somewhat close to a water source, approx a 1/4 mile from a small stream, river or lake
• Bat houses need to be mounted in a location without bright lights at night and free of obstructions at entry
• Paint or stain Bat house in black or dark brown colors to help heat inside the roost

My son (6yrs old) and I built our Bat House based on a design we saw online and was easy to adapt to scrap wood I had laying around (measurements approx).  We cut and stained all the pieces and spent a rainy Sunday afternoon putting it together:

1 piece of 1/4" plywood (18 wide x 52 long)
1 piece of 1/4" plywood (18 wide x 36 long)
1 piece of 1/4" plywood (18 wide x 10 long)
2 pieces of 3/4" plywood cut (2 wide x 34 long)
1 piece of 3/4" plywood cut (2 wide x 18 long)
1 piece of leftover plastic screen cut (18 wide x 52 long)
Left over bathroom caulk
1 1/4 finishing nails

Staple the plastic screen on the large piece of plywood (18 x 52).  Staple along the edges and make sure the staples are in all the way.  Tap them with a hammer if you need to and bend the back ends in if the staples are too long and go through your wood sheet. Cut the plastic screen to length.

Leaving about an inch from the top, lay down some caulk along the 2 sides and top and mount the 3/4 plywood strips.  Leaving an inch from the top is required so you can have a slanted roof.  We didn't nail them just yet.  Then lay a bead of caulk on the two long sides and top of the (18 wide x 36 long) piece of 1/4 plywood.  Place this piece on top of the 3/4 plywood strips so that you have an air tight 3/4 inch pocket.

Take the last piece of 1/4" plywood, caulk and place just below the top piece leaving about a half inch between.  This space is the vent.

At this point I used the finishing nails front and back to make sure everything stays together.  Caulk the top where we left the 1 inch space so no water or wind can come in and nail the roof.  Since we left that 1 inch space the roof will be slanted allowing water to drip off.  Make sure the roof has an overhang front, back and sides.

I hope the following pictures make sense of the descriptions... either way there are TONS of great writeup online from actual bat preservation and wildlife foundations.  Find one you like, build and enjoy.  I'll post updates when we finally have a bat colony move in!

Hope this was informative and would love to hear if others have implemented bat houses on their urban homestead and how it worked for you.