We're still working on getting driveway access and water service to the property. In the meantime, we're taking our backyard garden up a few notches. We'll be doing quite a bit in this small plot.
We'll be using it as a testbed. Every farm is an experiment, ours even more so. A lot of our crops are unusual, even the reasonably well-known ones like Meyer Lemons aren't typically grown in this area. Finding the right amount of heat, water, and nutrients in the soil is going to take a while.
We need to find the exact varieties of many of our crops. There are hundreds of types of garlic. We need to find the best four or five that work with our climate. We're also going to be testing irrigation systems, row covers for season extension, mulching techniques for weed control, and planting techniques for best density without crowding.
Another use for the backyard garden is propagation. Citrus trees and plant starts are not cheap. As we transition to full production we're going to need lots of plants and buying from commercial sources is just not practical. Two of those beds are going to be planted with garlic next week so we've got plenty of seed garlic for next year's crop.
And maybe the most exciting part of this actual production. By next spring we should have annual herbs and garlic chives ready to sell.
It's been a busy, eventful few months. Getting the new beds ready for planting was hard work. [Fun fact: 150 feet of bed prep takes about 4 days of work, and 1 ton of mulch.] Our backs are getting stronger, and our hands are getting rougher, but the satisfaction of having this become real makes it worth it.