Old Stone Patio Becomes New Organic Garden

David and Natalie Secrest’s home in Eastover has been a busy place in the past year. Teams of craftsmen added a second storey and modern amenities to their bungalow’s historic charm.  The entire landscape was recreated, and artistic blends of turf, pathways and ornamentals seamlessly wrap around the home and the outdoor living area adjacent to the guesthouse in the back.

“ We’ve really been looking forward to having an organic garden mixed into our new landscape,  and I made sure the architect saved the really sunny area behind the garage for you guys”, smiles David.

Indeed the area behind the Secrests’ Garage/Guesthouse beams with sunlight from mid morning through late afternoon, and was a perfect site for an edible garden. After reviewing some initial designs incorporating cedar raised beds, David and Natalie had a question :

Could we build the beds with the stacks and stacks of stone pieces that had been salvaged from the old patio that had been taken up?

No problem.

There were more than enough 12”x12” stone pieces to work with, and because a foot is a little wide for the side of a garden bed, we carefully broke the stone pieces in half to get a wall thickness of closer to 6”.

After a little site prep, we began setting stones in the footprint of the two long L shaped beds separated by a 4’ space where their cedar potting bench would later be placed.  This layout allowed for plenty of room to navigate between the closet storage at the back of the garage and the garden beds, which were situated right alongside the chain link fence at the back of the property.

Since a central irrigation system had just been installed for the rest of the landscape, it was fairly simple to install drip irrigation in the garden, and connect it to the main system on a new zone.

We also installed an 80 gallon rain barrel at the back of the garage so that they’ll have the ability to give their plants rainwater during dry periods.

With the help of a chisel in some places, the two L shaped beds took shape, and topped out at about 12”. They were filled with our soil blend of pine bark fines, mushroom compost and PermaTill, and planted with cool season varieties including Brussels Sprouts, Broccoli, beets, carrots, kale, and sugar snap peas.

Last but not least, the potting bench that we crafted from locally cut and milled eastern red cedar timber fit in between the beds perfectly.

“We love it,” Natalie says, leaning against the bench, surveying their completed garden.

“The wildlife here is pretty persistent, though”, continues David, looking over the new seedlings a little concerned. “The neighbors’ entire vegetable garden was annihilated by rabbits and squirrels.”

“Can you guys install one of those electric fences designed to keep wildlife and pets out of the garden?”

No problem.

Fall Planting Guide

 

“What can you plant this time of year?” asked more than a few shoppers recently at Atherton Market. Fortunately I didn’t have to repeat the same ‘intro to fall gardening’ spiel  for six hours, and could simply point to our display rack packed with kale, collard greens, beet, Swiss chard, snap pea, spinach, and lettuce seedlings.  Once folks find out that there are lots of things to plant this time of year, then come the inevitable questions about spacing,  soil, and sunlight. Since the only information on the plain wooden plant labels we use is the handwritten name of the plant variety, here are some useful tips for growing a successful fall garden…

And since your garden is probably depleted of nutrients from the summer growing season, you might use this organic amendmend blend to replenish the soil before you plant...

McGeary Organics ; Time Tested Quality

In a world where the word organic is now heard in the same sentence as “only $19.95” and “order now!”, it’s refreshing to have a trusted, genuine resource for high quality organic flour, grain, feed and fertilizers. 

When our customers who raise backyard chickens ask what kind of organic feed we suggest, the answer is simple:

McGeary Organics

McGeary Grain, Inc. was founded in 1952 - Long before the pesky infomercial, and actually just a few years after TV itself was invented.  The company has built a solid reputation on decades of producing premium feed for farm livestock including chickens, pigs, goats, turkeys, sheep, and cattle.

McGeary Organics  also operates the Annville Flouring Mill, the oldest continually operating flour mill in the U.S. (circa 1741), where they produce Daisy Organic pastry, bread wheat, and spelt flours.

Want to create living organic garden soil where vegetables thrive, or win the neighborhood lawn of the month award without toxic chemicals? Check out McGeary’s line of organic fertilizers.

Create Something Special with Local Trees

So you’ve decided to roll up your sleeves, dust off the tools, and tackle that backyard chicken coop, garden bed, or your child’s heirloom toy box by yourself.  Of course, you know not to use pressure treated pine, but what if this project requires something more memorable than the perfectly milled red cedar boards at the local lumber store? What if you want a little bark and saw marks on your lumber, or maybe even know the history of the trees that went into your project?

Ken Hagans sawmill in Kings Mtn. can help.  While four wheel drive isn’t essential on the dirt road that winds through thick tree canopy up to the sawmill, it sure might come in handy on wet days. The mill has been in Ken’s family for three generations, sawing locally felled trees into timber for builders, craftsmen, and woodworkers.

Sawdust collects in heaps like snow drifts alongside the giant diesel truck engine that powers the enormous saw blade.  While Ken does have stacks of commonly used board sizes ready for sale, like the 1”x4” eastern red cedar pieces we used for the Secrests’ potting bench, much of his business is special orders.

“Now remember, when you get a 2”x4” from me, it’s really two inches by four inches,” he explains, leaning against pile of yellow pine boards. He makes this distinction between lumber from his sawmill, and boards from a lumber store, where the actual measurements are smaller than the nominal measurements. A 2”x4” at a big box store, for example, really only measures about 1.5”x3.5”

So what kind of wood can you get at Ken Hagans Sawmill? A little bit of everything. “It just depends on what got cut down that week,” Ken continues. “ I work with a lot of tree companies, so we’ve always got a variety of new logs coming in…eastern red cedar, yellow pine, all sorts of varieties of hardwood.”

Want a raised garden bed with a unique look and a special story? Want a cool garden table or potting bench that doesn’t look like it came out of a cardboard box? Is it important to you to buy local?

Check out Ken Hagans sawmill, and maybe take the 4WD if it’s raining.

Ken Hagans Sawmill
158 Zanes Ln.
Kings Mtn.,  NC 28086

704.862.8259

kenhaganssawmill@gmail.com

Meet the Fortress : Our Answer to Pesky Varmints

The Brown family is serious about organic gardening. JB and Sara love the time outside and fresh produce almost as much as their two kids, Cameron and Grace. Problem is the critters in their backyard are more persistent than a door to door salesman. Every fat, green tomato went missing just days from turning red. Half eaten cucumbers littered the ground around the garden like peanut shells at a football game. Entire rows of bush bean plants were cut down to sad little stubs peeking up through the soil.

“We tried some deterrents,” explains JB, nodding toward a plastic owl sitting on the edge of one of the raised beds we installed back in May. “They left some stuff alone, like the peppers and eggplant, but we didn’t get to eat one single tomato. And I’m a tomato guy. “

A tomato guy with no tomatoes? That’s as bad as a theme park with no roller coasters.

Our solution?

The Fortress ;  An 8’x8’x7’Tall enclosed garden.

The fortress is made by connecting panels framed with cedar 2”x4” lumber, and wrapped with ½” galvanized hardware cloth to create an enclosed space that will keep out birds, squirrels, rabbits and other meddlesome varmints, while still allowing pollinating insects easy access to the plants. Once the cage was in place, we then installed a horseshoe shaped raised bed made with 4”x4” cedar timbers.

The area inside the beds was finished with small brown pea gravel, which has a warm, natural appearance, and won’t become discolored from mud and foot traffic like a lighter color stone. The beds were filled with our blend of pine bark fines, mushroom compost, and PermaTill, and we planted an assortment of heirloom carrots, turnips, radishes and peas.

As for JB’s tomatoes?

“Spring will be here in no time.” He smiles, locking the bolt on the door.