Earlier this year I set a plan for the 2009 garden; I am happy to report the plan has been implemented, the results are another issue all together.

Like planned, I tilled up a sizable portion of the back yard. Before I started tilling I did not realize how crappy the soil around my house was. There was a very thin layer of usable topsoil followed by a thick layer of black Arkansas mud. Under that? You guessed it…shale. In all, I estimated there was about 6 inches of usable dirt. The quality of which would not do either. The only other option I had was to bring in some better dirt.

We brought in 6 yards of a compost/sandy loam mix. The dirt went directly on top of the plot and I mixed it in with the tiller. That mostly fixed the issue with the clay like soil, and gave me a few more inches of good dirt to work with.

Shortly after tilling the ground I put my tomato seeds in the greenhouse that I built. I started them in the jiffy seed starter trays then moved them to 20oz plastic soda bottles when they were a bit bigger. In theory the bottles sounded like a good idea. They were available and seemed large enough. What I did not count on was how it made the tomatoes grow. They grew straight up and did not branch much making them “leggy”. However, they looked healthy and survived several frost covered nights in the greenhouse. Next year I am going to use individual pots with a good quality potting soil.

Before planting I had to figure out how to keep the dog and the kids out of the garden. Fortunately I found some light duty fence at the hardware store. It is about three feet tall and does a good job at restricting access. The fence installation only took a few hours.

We planted most of the garden on Easter weekend. I had planted onions, potatoes, carrots, and lettuce several weeks prior. Everything went down in the ground and looked great, until May came along. Arkansas has received a record amount of rainfall this May. The rain pointed out that I had several low spots in my garden. The primary low spots were where I had planted the potatoes and tomatoes. All but a few of the potatoes rotted before they sprouted. The rain pounded the soil near the tomatoes so hard that it packed it down and has all but suffocated the small plants. The water also pushed my carrot seeds all over the place; I have had carrots coming in throughout the garden.

As it stands now the lettuce, squash, cucumbers, and garbanzo beans are doing well. The tomatoes and green beans are having a rough time. I have removed most of the carrots because they were interfering with the other plants. I have been forced to look at this years garden as an experiment instead of a viable food source.