Well it's 2013. As I sit here looking out the window, I think I may try and bring our neglected vegetable garden back from the dead so to speak. First a little background...
Flashback..... Ah, the good old days!
In 2004 our daughter had to choose a project for her Agra-science class in high school. One of the options was to make a new garden, and this is what she choose. We had a friend with a fairly large farm tractor and a plethora of implements who offered to help. He sent his son over with the tractor and a PTO hydraulic tiller and in about 10 minutes the section of yard where the garden was to go was light and fluffy to a depth of about 10". This would have taken us forever by hand. If any of you have ever dealt with Georgia red clay, you will fully understand what I mean.
Next, I made 4 raised beds with 2x10" framing material, each 3' wide by 24' long. Bolted it all together and even installed a drip irrigation soaker hose system as we often have hot dry summers. Well, it's sort of a pseudo-install as I have to run the garden hose to the connection point at the beds where it transitions to PVC which is run under ground to each bed, each with it's own cut off valve (I found running all 4 soakers at once gave low pressure at the upper beds due to the slope of the land, the valves let me balance the output or just do a single bed).
So that spring she planted her garden and got an A+ in Agra-science. That year the entire family had a great time in the garden and harvested quite a bit of food.
Here are a few photos from 2004
Even had a watermelon vine climb up the trellis for the pole beans! Used an old pair of pantie hose to keep it from breaking off the vine. We eventually did harvest and eat this one too.
This fellow took up residence between two of the trellis rows. I've always heard these were a good sign of a healthy garden. The kids used to love to catch bugs and watch her snack down on them. My take was any time you can have the kids volunteer to patrol the garden for bugs that's a good thing (less work for us)!
And so it went for the next couple of years. We would rotate the contents of the beds around, augment the soil every spring and had good harvests.
And now flash forward from 2004 to 2013.......
After a few years of hot dry drought conditions, and at least one winter of unusually killing low temps we had lost the yearn for gardening. Last year I was working a ton of overtime and had little time to prep or work in the garden and we just planted a few tomatoes. Even the 4 blueberry bushes we had planted in 2010 succumbed to the uber hard freeze (single digits) one winter. So the ground lay fallow and neglected.
Today it's a sad site compared to it's former bounty. It is a dead space covered in grass and weeds and only a miracle can save it. Hence the title the "Lazarus Project".....
At least the centipede grass filled in the rest of the yard since 2004 (no more bare red clay). Although it's brown and dormant now, that will green up once the weather warms more.
Our weed farm....... (bumper crop from last year)
Yes, somewhere under those predatory carnivorous weeds, there is a 3/4" soaker hose system.
This "was" Lowe's Top Choice pressure treated lumber. Nine years in the weather is taking it's toll. I think we have some crumbling infrastructure here. Can we get a government bailout?
So there you have it. I have confessed my sins...... I am a negligent gardener (Ok, probably don't even deserve to be called a gardener by now at all).
And now for the rest of the story......
Well after 35 years in law enforcement, I retired on December 31, 2012. Like many others out of work, I've been looking for another job as I really am starting to find there is truth to the old saying "it's either time or money". Seems when you work, and work a lot you have money to do things, but no time. Once you retire and have the time, and well.... you have no extra money. Living on a "fixed income" is an adjustment (especially with our youngest daughter still in college). So I've been looking for a new job since December, but I'm starting to think unless you want to flip burgers at McDonald's or clean toilets somewhere all for minimum wage, there is not much interest in hiring old retired guys now days.
So with that preface in mind, I figured since I'm apparently going to have time now, I might as well start working on bringing this poor neglected plot of land back from the dead, only caveat is I will be on a budget.
That's the other thing about having time and internet access. You spend a lot of time seeing what others have accomplished and start to dream..... More on this later.
And so it begins...
Over the coming weeks and months I will update this thread. I figured posting this will help me stay somewhat focused on trying to get this garden back up to snuff although I do have 100 other "honey do" things to take care of. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this but the wife is still working, so doing sitting around the house and doing nothing is totally out of the question. Sounds like I'm going to be working more in retirement than I was for the 35 years I drew a salary as a Lieutenant in law enforcement.
So if I falter and seem to have fallen back into my neglectful ways, please feel free to prod me back to the straight and narrow (as in the straight and narrow planting rows that is....)
Flashback..... Ah, the good old days!
In 2004 our daughter had to choose a project for her Agra-science class in high school. One of the options was to make a new garden, and this is what she choose. We had a friend with a fairly large farm tractor and a plethora of implements who offered to help. He sent his son over with the tractor and a PTO hydraulic tiller and in about 10 minutes the section of yard where the garden was to go was light and fluffy to a depth of about 10". This would have taken us forever by hand. If any of you have ever dealt with Georgia red clay, you will fully understand what I mean.
Next, I made 4 raised beds with 2x10" framing material, each 3' wide by 24' long. Bolted it all together and even installed a drip irrigation soaker hose system as we often have hot dry summers. Well, it's sort of a pseudo-install as I have to run the garden hose to the connection point at the beds where it transitions to PVC which is run under ground to each bed, each with it's own cut off valve (I found running all 4 soakers at once gave low pressure at the upper beds due to the slope of the land, the valves let me balance the output or just do a single bed).
So that spring she planted her garden and got an A+ in Agra-science. That year the entire family had a great time in the garden and harvested quite a bit of food.
Here are a few photos from 2004
Even had a watermelon vine climb up the trellis for the pole beans! Used an old pair of pantie hose to keep it from breaking off the vine. We eventually did harvest and eat this one too.
This fellow took up residence between two of the trellis rows. I've always heard these were a good sign of a healthy garden. The kids used to love to catch bugs and watch her snack down on them. My take was any time you can have the kids volunteer to patrol the garden for bugs that's a good thing (less work for us)!
And so it went for the next couple of years. We would rotate the contents of the beds around, augment the soil every spring and had good harvests.
And now flash forward from 2004 to 2013.......
After a few years of hot dry drought conditions, and at least one winter of unusually killing low temps we had lost the yearn for gardening. Last year I was working a ton of overtime and had little time to prep or work in the garden and we just planted a few tomatoes. Even the 4 blueberry bushes we had planted in 2010 succumbed to the uber hard freeze (single digits) one winter. So the ground lay fallow and neglected.
Today it's a sad site compared to it's former bounty. It is a dead space covered in grass and weeds and only a miracle can save it. Hence the title the "Lazarus Project".....
At least the centipede grass filled in the rest of the yard since 2004 (no more bare red clay). Although it's brown and dormant now, that will green up once the weather warms more.
Our weed farm....... (bumper crop from last year)
Yes, somewhere under those predatory carnivorous weeds, there is a 3/4" soaker hose system.
This "was" Lowe's Top Choice pressure treated lumber. Nine years in the weather is taking it's toll. I think we have some crumbling infrastructure here. Can we get a government bailout?
So there you have it. I have confessed my sins...... I am a negligent gardener (Ok, probably don't even deserve to be called a gardener by now at all).
And now for the rest of the story......
Well after 35 years in law enforcement, I retired on December 31, 2012. Like many others out of work, I've been looking for another job as I really am starting to find there is truth to the old saying "it's either time or money". Seems when you work, and work a lot you have money to do things, but no time. Once you retire and have the time, and well.... you have no extra money. Living on a "fixed income" is an adjustment (especially with our youngest daughter still in college). So I've been looking for a new job since December, but I'm starting to think unless you want to flip burgers at McDonald's or clean toilets somewhere all for minimum wage, there is not much interest in hiring old retired guys now days.
So with that preface in mind, I figured since I'm apparently going to have time now, I might as well start working on bringing this poor neglected plot of land back from the dead, only caveat is I will be on a budget.
That's the other thing about having time and internet access. You spend a lot of time seeing what others have accomplished and start to dream..... More on this later.
And so it begins...
Over the coming weeks and months I will update this thread. I figured posting this will help me stay somewhat focused on trying to get this garden back up to snuff although I do have 100 other "honey do" things to take care of. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this but the wife is still working, so doing sitting around the house and doing nothing is totally out of the question. Sounds like I'm going to be working more in retirement than I was for the 35 years I drew a salary as a Lieutenant in law enforcement.
So if I falter and seem to have fallen back into my neglectful ways, please feel free to prod me back to the straight and narrow (as in the straight and narrow planting rows that is....)
Last edited:
