Welcome to Humbleville, USA!! August has presented us a normal summer thus far, with high heat and enough rain. Finally the front lawn is green again. The purple plastic snakes we have placed in our Square Foot Garden appear to keep the deer away, but the deer has still struck in other areas (he ate my pumpkin! he ate my pumpkin!). We will be considering putting up fencing at some point if this continues to be an issue.

Yes, that is 10 full yards of FREE wood chips you see. Although it’ll take quite a bit of human energy to get them placed where we desire, you can’t beat the price. The project will include us laying down cardboard from reclaimed cardboard boxes to kill any weeds or grass, and then heaping a minimum of six inches of mulch on top. Not only will this help us keep the weeds and grass from growing in our gardening area, but as these wood chips break down over time it will actually recondition the soil beneath it, potentially increasing our usable and viable garden space!

Here are some thoughts on wood chips from our blog: https://humblevilleusa.com?p=162

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Psalm 107:9
For He has satisfied the thirsty soul, And the hungry soul He has filled with what is good.

Looks like we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us in Humbleville, USA!  But at least we got all of this organic material for free!  That’s right, free.  We probably won’t use these in our flower beds right up next to the house, preferring cedar or cypress wood for its bug repellent properties.  However, I am itching to get the space between the SFG raised beds covered.

First we will want to acquire some free cardboard from local stores to lay upon the grass between the gardening beds to help kill the grass and weeds, and then pile on a half a dozen inches or more of these wood chips.  Not only will this create a nice look by keeping the grass and weeds from growing in that area, but as it breaks down over time, it will actually recondition the soil around it.  Perhaps in a couple of years the soil will be such that planting in between the beds will become a viable option.

How did we get all of these wood chips for free?  As luck would have it, I spotted a tree removal company working just down the street from where we live.  I pulled over and found the main guy and asked him if he’d like a free place to dump the wood chips made in their tree clean up job.  It is true what I heard about tree removal companies wanting places near the job site to dump their waste product so they don’t have to pay for dumping.  He had me write down my address and phone number, and I left them with instructions as to where in the yard to dump the wood chips, identifying it further with my bright orange wheelbarrow.  By the time I got home from my day job, I was the proud owner of 10 yards of free wood chips!!

One potential downside to getting free wood chips this way is that you get the WHOLE LOAD.  That is a lot of wood chips.  Perhaps your need isn’t as great as mine was.  If that’s the case, talk to your neighbors who may want to take some for themselves.  The other potential downside is all the work you’ll get to do spreading the wood chips on your property.  My girls have been a big help so far in this.  They stand at the ready with rakes in hand to help spread the wood chips when I dump a load from the wheelbarrow.  When they get board with that, they come help me move the chips in the white 4 gallon buckets (also gotten for free from a local ice cream shop) that they load up with plastic snow shovels from Dollar Tree.

It’s a priceless and proud sight to see these girls helping out their old man.  It’s how we do things in Humbleville, USA.

GOD BLESS !!!!

Welcome to Humbleville, USA!! Well, we got a late start on the garden this year because early spring was so cold for so long, and then June was extremely dry (only one half inch of rain for the whole month). I really feel a bit behind. The late start was exacerbated by “Munchie” the deer eating the tops off most of my beans, some of the peas, and several tomatoes and pepper plants. Urrggh. We are hoping the fake snakes we put into the garden might help deter Munchie. We shall see!

I reference building out a sturdy and inexpensive garden trellis, and I want to provide a link to a previous video we did (warning: the first third of the video is out of focus, so sorry about that, but it does clear up during the meat of the construction):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylD11bYqI-w

Please continue to join us on our journey by SUBSCRIBING to this Youtube channel. It really helps. Thank you and God Bless !!

1 Kings 21:2

Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, “Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden because it is close beside my house, and I will give you a better vineyard than it in its place; if you like, I will give you the price of it in money.”

Welcome to Humbleville, USA!! Well, we got a late start on the garden this year because early spring was so cold for so long. I really feel a bit behind. Due to my personal salsa consumption, we will try to step up our tomato and pepper production (sorry onion, we’ll set our sites on you for next year). Also, I feel like the yield from our 2015 garden could be improved.

We didn’t do a great job of keeping up with the watering. I’m hoping the drip irrigation system I’m installing will help us out. In addition, I will be using wood chips and other organic material as mulch to help the moisture retention. I’ve run into an issue with our rain catchment system, but that’s for another video.

God Bless !!!!!!!

Welcome to Humbleville !!!  In this video we will give you an update on the progress of our six 4×4 SFG raised bed gardens from August 2015. The peas are browning but still producing at the beginning of August.  The green beans and wax beans have seemed to have paused.  The dill is truly devine and the cucumbers are starting to grow.  Peppers and tomatoes are coming online nicely and we are already enjoying some of the small ripe ones.  The heirloom watermelon has started to fruit as well.  The spinach and other greens have bolted in the summer heat, but the kale and swiss chard are holding up well.   And the marigold we started from seed are looking great.  Please continue to join us on our journey by SUBSCRIBING to this channel.  It really helps.  Thank you and God Bless !!

Deuteronomy 32:2

“Let my teaching drop as the rain, My speech distill as the dew, As the droplets on the fresh grass And as the showers on the herb.

Welcome to Humbleville !!  In this video we will show you how to build your own trellis for your Square Foot Garden (SFG).  Going vertical can help you grow more food in less space, and that’s one of the objectives of this gardening method.  Make your trellis using two pieces of rebar, 3 sections of electrical conduit, 2 90 degree connectors and some nylon trellis netting.  Train up your vining peas, cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini, watermelons and other vining vegetables.  It’s relatively inexpensive, durable, stable and easy.  If you have any comments or questions, please do so in the comment section.  Thank you and God Bless !!!

Isaiah 61:11

For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, And as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up, So the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise To spring up before all the nations.

Welcome to Humbleville !!  In this video we will give you an update on the progress of our six 4×4 SFG raised bed gardens from last June 2015.  We just got back from a week’s vacation in Texas.  How did our garden beds hold up?  Have a visit to Humbleville to find out.  In this update we can see that “Muchie” has been back and enjoying the Swiss Chard this time.  Also see what bolting spinach looks like.  We have ripening raspberries that my twins seem to enjoy along with pretty large amount of snap peas.  The green beans are starting to come in nicely.  But our cilantro is going to seed which could provide us some decent coriander seeds, although we would rather have fist fulls of cilantro.  The dill is coming in nicely as is several varieties of lettuce.  I’ll show you how I do a quick wash on the greens to get the dirt and dust off of the leaves in addition to helping them crisp up and rehydrate a bit.  Please continue to join us on our journey by SUBSCRIBING to this channel.  It really helps.  Thank you and God Bless !!

1 Corinthians 3:6

I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.

On of our new additions to our gardening projects is this relatively inexpensive 15′ greenhouse.  This will be our first experience with using a greenhouse to try to extend our growing season.  The assembly of the frame wasn’t too difficult, especially when I had Cassie’s help.  Now the next trick will be to slip the greenhouse fabric over the frame, and then secure it all down so the wind won’t topple it.  I may also reorient the directional placing of this small greenhouse.  I can’t wait to get a jump on the tomatoes and peppers this season.  Better late than never.

Welcome to Humbleville !! We continue to share with you the steps and progress we made in the 2015 growing season.  In this video we will give you an update on the progress of our six 4×4 SFG raised bed gardens. The grape tomato plant has nearly a dozen early green tomatoes. See how we responded with mosquito netting to combat “Munchie” the unidentified animal who seems to like our kale, brussels sprouts, cabbage and broccoli. We have been eating quite a bit of spinach, arugula and lettuce along with some nice looking radishes. We are looking to leave on a week’s vacation and this is our pre-trip documentation. Will our square foot garden survive? Will my girls eat spinach? How do we train up our peas? Have a visit to Humbleville to find out. We are so excited that the 2016 growing season is just around the corner (it’s actually NOW if you are taking advantage of greenhouses, hoop houses or using other microclimate strategies).  Please continue to join us on our journey by SUBSCRIBING to this channel. It really helps. Thank you and God Bless !!

Genesis 9:3

“Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant.”