Sunday, April 19, 2009

The Kole Garden

For the benefit of my old hockey teammate Colin Sikon, here's the visual proof that there really is a garden, and that I'm not merely a great fiction writer. Goalies always are a little odd.

The reason I decided to build a raised garden was that when our property was developed, the topsoil was scraped off and sold, rather than stored and replaced. I was planting into clay. The carrots couldn't push through the soil at all.

The framing goes 6' x 14'. Proper drainage, always.

Sifted topsoil, although I added sand at the north end, for the benefit of the cucumbers.


Lettuce, cilantro and basil, after five weeks. The rosemary is crowded out between the lettuce & cilantro.
The big downfall last year was that my work travel schedule was still heavy, and I built the raised bed over several weekends. I didn't plant until July 1! The lettuce was bitter, and the carrots didn't mature until November. I had to water furiously, starting plants in the height of the summer heat.
Having planted on time this year, I'm hopeful for better lettuce. Thing is, I don't know how much better I could hope for anything else to be. That beautiful topsoil made such great produce last year! I had never eaten tomatoes or carrots so delicious. Well, my friend Greg McNair grew awesome tomatoes at his farm up in NW Indiana, and made the most incredible pizza with homemade sauce and sliced several varieties of tomatoes to top it. That was pretty great, too.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

by the way is that shed in a reg drain easement? haha

Mike Kole said...

You mean you don't know? ;-)