My Boston Mountains Blog

[woodsygardener]

Hi all,

My blog is:
mybostonmountaingarden.blogspot.com/

The header reads:
I'm looking for garden plants that grow well on the thin, heavy, poor soils of the Boston Mountains using minimal fertilizer and no pesticides.

Minimal fertilizer means my urine at a 1:15 ratio.
I practice Tough Love with my plants; plants that don't produce rarely get a second season.
My first gardening book was Ruth Stout's How to Have a Green Thumb Without an Aching Back.
It remains my inspiration to do as little physical work as possible. I believe: The footsteps of the gardener make the best fertilizer.

BTW The Boston Mountains are the highest elevations of the Ozark Plateau. Not really mountains, they would be called foothills anywhere else.

I just joined having gotten here by way of Rebsie Fairholm's blog which I found by searching for info about Lancashire Lad peas. What an inspiring writer! Looking this site over I see many familiar names from idigmygarden.com. There is so much information here; I look forward to enjoying and learning. Perhaps I can make a small contribution after I lurk for awhile.

[mjc]

Howdy and welcome....the coffee is over there...you empty the pot, you make the next one.

Beans are always on...

[Penny]

Welcome.!!

[plantsnobin]

Welcome, don't be afraid to post, everyone here is pretty friendly.

[woodsygardener]

Thanks for the welcome. And a great big Thanks! to mjc.

In trying many, many plants and varieties in my woodland garden I've found 2-3 dozen that are productive, about a dozen that are very productive, and 2 that just blew me away: Tokyo Long White bunch onions and Old West Virginia Heirloom melon.

I've been looking for a muskmelon that would grow in my current garden for years. I started with my favorite from my previous garden, banana melon, and later tried about a dozen others including Pike that grows well on clay soils--except not for me. All of them struggled to get more than 1-2 feet long and rarely had 1-2 flowers, never had any fruit. OWVH was keeping up with my most vigorous squashes, flowering up a storm, and beginning to set some tiny fruit. I was drooling at the prospect of a bountiful harvest. Then the bleeping ground hog struck; wiped out my melons and other things. I found one stem with 2 tiny leaves on it and nursed it back to healthy growing. Lots of yellow flowers making the bumblebees happy now and several small fruits, one large fruit near harvest.

Oh, and the ground hog is DEAD, his bones added to my leaf mulch.

[johno]

Welcome! I've enjoyed your posts at IDig. Looking forward to seeing them here.

I'm in NC Arkansas (Twin Lakes area) and as far as melons go, I've found Honey Rock to be among the most dependable. Hale's Best does okay here also. Really, earliness is a key factor - Dad always said that (about gardening here), but it took me a long time to come to the same conclusion on my own.

A smart groundhog evaded me for a few years before he slipped up and found himself in my sights. Little bugger would follow my scent to all the points of interest in the garden and graze the day before I planned to pick.

I'm also a fan of paying close and routine attention to the garden, but doing as little work as is necessary. Ruth Stout was my hero. That being said... it also pays to deep-dig the beds and amend them with lots of organic matter up front, then switch to no-till. I've had the best results layering old hay, pig manure, and soil about 2' below natural grade to start a new bed.

[baby daddy]

Good to see ya here E.U. lots of good folk here, and a little more freedom of expression. Hope things are well. -Baby Daddy

[ottawagardener]

I love that you fertilize with pee. Going to check out your blog!