SelfSufficiant Gardenventure in eastern Germany

[Grandmother Goose]

Thank you so much 😍
yeah the topsoil isn't that bad even if it contains a lot of sand actually... the bad thing is 60cm (sometimes just 40cm) beneath comes bure clay and waaaaaaay down there is brown coal and some porous stone stuff that I can't name... all in all the topsoil can't hold moisture for long, the second layer beneath can't absorb water that well and waaaaay down below it gets oily from the brown coul or lost due to the porous stone😅 That's why I'm heavily getting into mulching this year, hoping to get the water problem under control on the surface or at least to better the situation and to help get more organic matter into the topsoil to balance the sand better out🤔 because it really isn't that bad. It lives, there're bugs and worms and stuff, which is really good.

And yeah the grid paper is a thing of mine... when we moved last time I mesured all our furniture and planned it out on a drawing of our new flat on grid paper so the day we actually moved the heavy stuff we just placed it once and there it stayed 😁 I find it easier that way. I need a picture in my head, a goal that I want to reach, before I start stuff like that. if later on problems arise i can always still alter my plans as needed...

At least you can dig in your yard. Most plants only need around 30cm of soil to grow in so you should be okay. My yard is full of rock in between pockets of sand. No matter where I put a shovel in the ground, there's rock. Some is broken up and in many smaller pieces that can be removed with some effort, some of it is massive slabs of the stuff that would require mining equipment including explosives to remove, so I'm stuck with all raised bed gardening, but that's okay because I'm not getting younger and healthier, so raised beds are better for my longer-term future anyway. The most painful part is that I have a dog that loves to dig, so I have to fence off all my garden areas to protect them from him, and putting a fence post into the ground can take days of digging around and breaking up whatever rock can be just to find a spot where it can be put in the ground.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Doesn't look too bad at all @Lunai !
Boo on the dead rhubarb though. I think they can spring up again if the roots survive, dad's did. Fingers crossed. ... and I bet the neighbour meant well, even if not executed quite right.

Thankfully cucumber seedlings, and alike, do very well being dug deeper into the soil as the stem can sprout roots. So even if they get a little bit leggy, I wouldn't worry too much.

I can foresee a bountiful garden this year

 

[Lunai]

Hello everyone!

Just a short short mini update on the cucumbers, Zucchini, pumpkin and watermelons: looking great ♥️😍

 

[Lyndiejean]

Hi Luna, your garden looks amazing. From what I understand from way earlier posts, you are in Germany and have an allotment? Great idea for people living in apartments etc and don’t have the area to garden at home. You can grow Rhubarb from seed if you can get your hands on some. Plant it in spring, which, of course is now for you. Here in NZ we are heading into winter and planting winter crops.
Mulch and compost on top of the soil will help with not only improving soil quality but also moisture retention. You’ve done really well in a short time. I mulch heavily to suppress weeds and also help keep moisture in. I use autumn leaves, old animal feed - we call it silage - cut grass that is made into bales and wrapped where it ’cooks’. Makes great compost and mulch.
Anyway, have enjoyed reading through your posts from the first one.
Cheers
Lyndie

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Looks pretty great @Lunai !

 

[Lunai]

Hi Luna, your garden looks amazing. From what I understand from way earlier posts, you are in Germany and have an allotment? Great idea for people living in apartments etc and don’t have the area to garden at home. You can grow Rhubarb from seed if you can get your hands on some. Plant it in spring, which, of course is now for you. Here in NZ we are heading into winter and planting winter crops.
Mulch and compost on top of the soil will help with not only improving soil quality but also moisture retention. You’ve done really well in a short time. I mulch heavily to suppress weeds and also help keep moisture in. I use autumn leaves, old animal feed - we call it silage - cut grass that is made into bales and wrapped where it ’cooks’. Makes great compost and mulch.
Anyway, have enjoyed reading through your posts from the first one.
Cheers
Lyndie

Hi there,
Yes it's an allotment of 600 sqm. I actually have 3 small rhubarb plants thats I grew from seed this february, but they won't be harvestable until in 3 to 4 years... 😵‍💫 that's why I planted a bigger/older one, to be able to harvest some next year already... 😅
And yep, I'm planning on heavy mulching this year. The problem is we also have a root vole investation.... and those little buggers love the mulch as well😵‍💫🤦‍♀️😅 no way to get them out since venom is a no go with 3 small children running around in the garden...
I know silage (actually the same word in german) It's mainly used to feed cows (if it's relatively wet) and sometimes used to feed horses (with a higher dryness, sort of almost hay but then wrapped, perfectly to be stored outside rather then under roof like hay needs to be) Love hearing from the other side😍
Cheers

 

[Lunai]

Hello everyone!

Last thursday we did a big cleanup on our garden pond. I think the pictures tell a tale on their own 😅 😵‍💫

aaaand tada.... finished and freshly filled up again. cleaning and filling up took us about 10 hours... and yes... we forgot to anker thos water lilies down🤣🤦‍♀️

also on thursday I planted some of the cucumbers out. The salad variety is sitting there: and got mulched today. also planted a row of bush beans on the right side, mulched that also.

the pickling variety i planted there, with a smallish tunnel trellis. Under the trellis is still some cale in full bloom and also blooming field salad in between are some onions peeking out.

also got some woodruff new and also some Teemonarde (teamonarde? couldn't find an english translation😅)

The strawberries are doing really great.

Tomatoes looking good too, despite beeing heavily tunneld from those pesky root voles😵‍💫

Potatoes are looking godd too, inbetween a ton of weed and grass, but haven't had time to weed those inbetween all the other stuff goning on. the two rows of snow peas i planted between two rows of potatoes are looking fine too.

another two rows of onions, behind them a row of marigold behind that tharting the potatoes.

My first raised garden bed is looking good too. Besides one of the two carrot varieties I planted there didn't grow so I planted some endive and yellow beets there instead. peas around the border doing great.

Also planted 3 rows of bell pepers (paprika) today... Mulch will follow as available

the bigger greenhouse is heavily tunneled from the root voles but still going strong. theres some head salad and dill doing really fine. Tomatoes are hanging in and starting to kope with the circumstances... but the sweet pepers are all hanging by a thread this year... also still plenty of pumpkins, zucchini, tomatoes and other stuff left to be planted in there, but frankly I was in no mood for yet another batch of seedlings today... so maybe tomorrow😅

Look at our blueberries! Going strong this year 😍 can't wait for them to ripen...

Our small greenhouse (also heavily tunneled, did I mention the root vole infestation?...) is going good. needed to cut of some of the flower heads from the onions, so all their strength goes into their bulbs instead. Harvested some of the thicker ones... hmmmmm yummy with some salad. Tomatoes are doing great.

I also planted some jerusalem artickoke (sunchoke, topinambur) last year, hoping the would come back and create a sort of not-see throught barrier to the back of our garden where we pall on putting our pool. Well they are going strong. I left the old stems of them purposefully standing to be able to tell what's coming up there in case I forgot what I planted... The azalea and rhododendron are doing well this year after last year beeing to dry for them to flower properly.

Also our raspberry- bramble mix is flowering profusely. these thorns tho are at a whole other level... better than barbwire... maybe I use them next time I cut them as a defence against the vole...

 

[JP 1983]

In Australia we have the giant root vole.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Looks like it was a lot of work, but definitely looks like it paid off! It looks amazing 😍
Loving all the pictures!

 

[Lunai]

In Australia we have the giant root vole.
View attachment 9469

🤣🤣🤣 oh he'll no I'm glad ours are not that big... more the size of a big mouse 🐁 🤣🤣🤣

 

[Lunai]

Got 6 thick stems of Rhubarb gifted the day before. And finally decided to make jam out of it. Added a bit of woodruff taste to it, that greatly accomplishes the rhubarb taste and balances it out. The taste test was really yummy 😋

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Never seen anyone make rhubarb jam before, interesting!
Dad always boiled the rhubarb with some sugar (maybe more, I cannot recall) and we would have it for dessert over some vanilla custard.

 

[Lunai]

@Mandy Onderwater maybe I'll have the jam with (yeast) dumplings and vanilla sauce 🤔 or maybe pancakes (the german variety which is more like a thicker version of a crepe)

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Ooh yum! Let me know how that tastes

 

[Lunai]

Hello everyone!

Had my first lettuce and second harvest of dill 3 days ago. Two good sized portions.

finally put the last pickling cucumbers into the ground. They certaily waited a tad bit too long to get planted... still have to place all the pumpkins tho... Besides that the first batch of pickling cucumbers are doung fine.

And I finally had time and enough motivation to tackle the drip hose I planned as a drip irrigation system. And my fiancé helped put it together, which probably helped with the motivation boost too. All in all I have now 50m drip hose that still does not cover all of the beds, but at least all of the looong flower beds with the roses got covered as well as both greenhouses and the stone raised bed. now we can just start to run the drip irrigation system while arriving at the garden. do something else and after finishing that we only need to water what's left. This way we save up to 2h time...

Also planted almost all of the tomatoes only three are still waiting to get planted.

And finally I planted the zucchini and pole/runner beans. 2 rows of beans in the back, 3 yellow zucchini on the front left and two green ones on the front right. Next to my little stick contraption there is the wild cherry tomato "post office spoonfull".

and a final impression of our pond with the shading, which is needed otherwise we have too much algae growth.

 

[Grandmother Goose]

That's a lot of work, I'm exhausted just looking at it all. Well done.

 

[Lyndiejean]

Wow. You have a very impressive garden. It is great to see everyone’s spring gardens starting to flourish, while our, now winter gardens quieten down, with mostly brassicas, broadbeans, parsnips and carrots and winter greens in the garden and onions and shallots waiting for me to prick them out tomorrow.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

I have been very busy, but seeing this makes me very excited for you!
And I always love, LOVE, the way you give descriptions with the photos 😍

 

[Lunai]

Good day everyone 😃👋

you're right. It is a ton of work and I'm glad that I'm not alone with it. My fiancè is slowly starting to do things too, like mowing, repairing stuff and carrying heavy objects.... Our friends also doing stuff like weeding and fixing the pumps (water and pond).
pic: fiancè carrying heavy object aka banana from February

the finished reüair produkt: one of the arms broke 4 days ago, yeasterday we figuered out that the VA-wire my fiancè uses at work for lightning protection fits almost perfectly inside the old broken tube.... just had to shorten it 2cm and voila.... sunshade repaired and works perfectly fine, just like before 😍

We finally decided to cut the top of our last peach tree because it also started again with the curly top desease.... We'll give it another chance and have a look if it comes back healthy next year... until then the banana tree will stand in it's place. It wil get a bigger pot and We'll put it inside one of the huts over the frost period. also netted our blueberries, because I'm afraid that they'll get picked as soon as they ripen otherwise. there are so many this year, it would be a shame to loose them all to the birds 😅

Look at this rose flower😍 finally the climbing rose is starting to show her potential... the flowers can reach a diameter of 12-15cm for these roses.😍😍😍 and yes they should be a bit darker, but... well they are standing in full sun... so they get bleached a bit... but that color is beautifull as it is

and finally some impressions of us and our favorite pasttimes when we're not digging around😁🤣

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Those pictures are so cute!