Back at it in 2020

This year I had decided to get back into growing more vegetables and annual food crops. My fruit trees have been doing quite well, providing delicious fruit throughout the summer and fall, for years. The missing parts are things like chard, squash, beans, tomatoes, and the like.

Then the pandemic came, and I feel that I must take my food security more seriously. For my family and my friends. I expanded my plans so that I can grow more than I need, so that I can share my harvest.

Tomato, jalapeños, and tomatillo
plants in the greenhouse.

In California our Stay at Home order came early. I have been making do with materials that I have on hand. Some old plastic fencing I had has come in handy to make two fenced planting areas in the back among the fruit trees. Typically the chickens have had access to all of this area. So I marked out the spaces, cut some bamboo canes for support, and installed the fencing. In one area I transplanted some chard that I had started, and sowed some kale seeds. I am going to use the other area to grow some flour corn that I got from Redwood Seeds. I will interplant some beans and winter squash in that area as well. Unlike that greens bed, this is a space that I will not be going into very much.

In another small area, I cleared the vines growing there and made a teepee for growing pole beans. I used a section of poultry fencing to protect that space. And in a smaller space I plan to grow some cucumbers on a trellis.

In the front yard I cleaned up and expanded small bed that had almost entirely reverted to grass. There I will plant the jalapeños, tomatillos, and tomatoes that I started in the greenhouse.  In other sections around the front yard I sowed seeds of kale and collards. Turns out the sparrows had been eating the cotyledons! So I improvised a covering for one section, and will work on some more for other sections. Very disappointing! But there is still time, and the sparrows will leave soon enough. I am just gong to alter my how I do things, and that is fine.

Feeling grateful for having knowledge and skills to be able to grow food.