Farm Journal - 2025

[Meh]

Hellebore and quince are blooming. 

[sKePTiKal]

OOO thanks Meh! I like hellebore. I'm going to try adding some flowers into my herb bed(s).

So the garden plans. Every year, I plant a decent sized plot for 2 people & a variety of veg. Every year - bugs & excessive heat prevent me keeping up with it. Last year (and other places around the country same) had a very cool (too cold to plant) spring - then we went right to drought.

I'm REAL tired of messing with that & feeling like I MUST have a garden, when physically - it's very much a pain for me. So, I'm thinking.... being blessed with a lot of local produce (and meat)... at my age, do I really WANT to keep up this Sisyphean fight? I need some other sort of growing plan, just to satisfy me need to "know where my food came from and how it was nourished.

Maybe some sort of greenhouse (warm in the cooler temps) with raised beds.... like almost waist high so it's EASY. Most of the things I want to grow are root vegetables or greens - not so many "summer" crops. Hmmmm. (thinking out loud) Maybe that's the point to enter the re-design process. Getting ideas floating along in the brain ... maybe, if I do this... why do things need to be the x,y,z pattern? Try something DIFFERENT.

Meanwhile, I have painting to do in the "birthing" mudroom and trim to add, too. The white primer is bright in the dark corner, but it's glaring bright. Probably just use the khaki paint I used inside the doors. Khaki would be interesting with red & black.....

[Hopalong]

I LOVE the greenhouse idea, and who could do it better? Waist high "table" beds, bravo!
I accepted that I can no longer garden in the raised beds out back, because a 6" "raise" is no help to my back. Had I the resources I'd create what you're contemplating for sure.

How about a mushroom log or two? SO easy. Spores available online, wonderful harvests.

hugs
Hops

[sKePTiKal]

Even 18" tall "raised beds are actually low to the ground. We don't eat many mushrooms.

[Hopalong]

I've seen really cool raised beds made of stock watering troughs perched on sawhorses, or something like that. Actually waist height, which sounds so wonderful to me. Guess I could set up a couple of those for salad stuff, wouldn't mind! (Of course, my helper would do the lifting part.) Might be some of those around second hand, do you think?

Ex BF M and I enjoyed a mushroom kit I got him on Amazon. He loved it, it popped all over with oyster mushrooms and lion's mane (good for ADD) was to be next. When it was spent we tossed the debris (and spores) in his woods to do what they would. He'd add them to omelettes, stir-fries, anything he did with meat...happy boy. But not for y'all, so you'll find something you love better to grow. BTW, if you do anything about a raised-to-waist height bed, I'd really love to hear about it.

This is what I fantasize about (don't ask me if I used AI...aaaack):
 Elevated Trough Planters
If you prefer a standard trough but need the 3-foot height for ergonomics, use a trough with a built-in stand.
Tarter & Behlen: Produce "elevated" planter versions of their stock tanks.
Stands: You can find 2-pack horse troughs with 3-level adjustable height stands that can bring the rim to approximately 3 feet.
Gardeners Edge: Sells a trough-style raised bed on a rustic stand that provides a waist-high gardening experience.

hugs
Hops