Purple Rocks

Yup those really are purple rocks.  Nature made them that color by putting Iron in them.  It is Baraboo Quartzite which is a micro-crystalline quartz which means that water won't be getting into any pores in the rock and it will be around long after I am gone from this earth.  Other rocks, granite especially will break up over time due to water/ice breaking them up.

I have begun bordering my garden boxes with the 1 1/2 inch pieces seen on the far side of the pile, and the smaller bits are being placed in the paths themselves between the boxes.  I promise to take several pictures once I have it done later this summer.

Rock On!

Playing in the Dirt & Making Newspaper Pots

Yup, that really was all the supplies I needed to make my pots.  Thanks to Ben and Sheri who gifted me with the wooden pot maker shown above.  I made 30 pots today in two hours.  Tomorrow, I begin mixing up my version of "Mel's Mix" from the New Square Foot Garden book.  I have to say, I add a few more ingredients, and I kind of wing it, but so far that has worked.

 The main thing is to start with organic compost, and in my case the main compost I get is from the local Organic Mushroom farm.  They appear to use Spaghum Moss/Peat, chalk, cow manure and of course there are still mushrooms and the fungal mycelia.  I also mix in Sphagnum moss, leaf mold compost, vermicompost, vermiculite (no asbestos), perlite, blood meal, greensand.

The only downside to using the fresh spent mushroom medium is that it decomposes quite a bit each year, and so right now I am having to add new mix each spring.  Eventually though, the beds should be full and I will just need to mix in some compost as I harvest and put in the next batch of seeds.

Annual Organic Mushroom Farm Run - 2x in 2012

So the last few years, I have set out on an adventure with Truck & Chicken.  Chicken is my wingman.   Near Jim is a certified organic mushroom farm, and they graciously sell their spent mushroom growing medium to gardeners, cities, and landscape companies. This year I went the Monday of holy week, and the Monday after Easter, because last year I purchased three livestock water tanks and I did not have enough "Mel's Mix" soil to fill them.

This year, I will be growing tomatoes, bell peppers and sweet peas in the tanks. I also added another raised planting bed for lettuces, spinach, mustard greens, and carrots, and around memorial weekend I plan on placing an A-frame over this bed, so that I can grow Zucchini and Cucumbers over them in order to provide shade during summer and maximize my growing space.

I would like to be able to start an asparagus bed closer to the house later this year, otherwise next spring for sure.  I love asparagus, and the boyz like it too!