New garden; Raspberry bush update

Monday, May 26, 2008

I moved a month ago to a house with a partially dirt back yard. If you are familiar with South Philly backyards, you’ll know how unusual this is. The plantable ground practically sold me on the house. It’s small (14’ x 7’), but large enough for some of the plants I’ve been longing to grow. Top of the list: raspberries. If you look back to April 16, I posted when my bareroot plants began to show signs of life. This is the plant now:

And the other finally woke up, too, about a month after this one.
Here’s the garden, Seamus’s favorite lounging spot. (He’s sitting near the dwarf sour cherry tree I bought with the raspberries.)


Most of the plants came from Greensgrow, a wonderland I’m embarassed to say that I learned about just this year. From the mushroom soil to the leaf compost to the flowers to the fresh produce (I bought wonderful asparagus on my last trip), I can’t say enough about the place. Over time, I’m hoping the improve the clay back there with compost from Greensgrow, my own over fall and winter, and worm castings. (The worm bin is temporarily out of commission. More about that in another post.) Among the Greensgrow plant purchases: Sungold, Yellow Pear, Brandywine, Mortgage Lifter, and Patio tomatoes; Yarrow; Stock; Swiss Chard; Sorrel; Catnip (for Seamus as well as for its spikes of purple flowers); Peppermint (in a container b/c I know from experience that mints will take over); Verbena; Bell Peppers; and French Marigolds. I still have plenty of room, but I’m committed to starting all my seeds from the Seed Savers Exchange. (More about that when they begin to do their thing.)

I’m a little behind with the garden this year, in part because of the actual move, but mostly due to the vast number of bricks I dug out. I’m talking 100+ whole or partial bricks. And I dug down only about 18-24 inches. There also was a layer of coal/charcoal-like stuff at one end. I pitched most of it along with about half the bricks. (Remaining bricks have been useful for “terracing” the containers.) Happily, I didn’t find much construction debris or glass or garbage, and I did find a lot of worms. Still, I mixed in several bags of leaf mulch, mushroom soil, and vermiculite before planting. (I think the space could take about 5 times that, but I am reminding myself to be patient.) Today, I tested the soil pH in several places, and all came in at about 6.5, thank goodness. I might acidify around the raspberries a teeny bit, but 6.5 should be comfortable for everything else.