Continuation of natural gardening experiments in 2009

In February I moved out to Brooklyn to jumpstart my artistic career. It was and still is my belief that a career in the arts, or any other profession for that matter, would be worthless if there were not the opportunity to practice natural gardening on a scale that would allow for sufficient experimentation to learn enough to produce a substantial portion of food in the next season. The community garden plots of Brooklyn offered little in the way of space and presented waiting lists that eliminated the certainty of securing enough land to attempt a wide enough variety of experiments. As a last resort, I posted to craig's list an ad seeking some form of sharecropping. The first response came from Jeff and Amy Pecchio who allowed me to use 1 acre of their Wappingers Falls property. From late March onwards, we have made trips up to the property. By the end of April, I had planted a few rows of cool season vegetables by clearing the surface vegetation and setting seeds atop the soil. The no-till approach would prove fruitless, and by mid-May I would begin double digging small beds. By the first week of June, all planting for the summer growing season was complete in 3.5 beds each measuring about 3 feet wide and 27 feet long. In addition, 2 rows of corn survived the weeds and are growing strong. The trip to the garden takes just under 3 hours beginning with a 28 minutes bike ride from Brooklyn to Grand Central Station, then an hour and 45 minute train ride on the Metro North to New Hamburg, ending in a 30 minutes bike ride from the station to the field.

Varieties Planted:

Winter Squash: Acorn
Winter Squash: Butternut
Winter Squash: Seminole
Summer Squash: Yellow Straight Neck
Summer Squash: Yellow Crookedneck
Basil
Tomato: Heirloom Mixture
Swiss Chard
Melon: Cantaloupe - Hale's Best
Melon: Cantaloupe - Unknown
Bean: Pinto
Bean: Cow Pea
Bean: Black Turtle
Bean: Black Tepary
Corn: Black Aztec
Corn: Blue Hopi
Corn: Bloody Butcher
Corn: Peruvian Purple
Marigold
Red Noodle Bean
Eggplant
Pepper Red Bell
Lettuce
Arugula
Turnip
Beets
Radishes
Amaranth: Giant Orange
Amaranth: Burgundy
Watermelon: Moon and Stars
Okra

Images:

Mid Summer 2009

Early Summer 2009 (more to come soon)