All things evolve, and often take unexpected paths. Our gardens evolve with us as we grow older, learn new things, suffer through our mistakes, and adjust our lives to follow new priorities. My own garden has gone through several evolutions, the first of which was driven by the purchase of a good power tiller. There was no longer a direct correlation between the size of my garden, and the ache in my back - so it got larger. It was suddenly easy to grow more kinds of vegetables, and multiple varieties. With the luxury of space, I did more trials, and began experimenting to find optimal plant spacing. Somewhere/somewhen after purchasing the tiller, because I really wanted to grow corn & squash in meaningful quantities, it occurred to me that the size of my garden was not restricted to the size of my yard. There is always unused land somewhere, and if you are willing to negotiate, you can often work out an arrangement that is mutually beneficial. I've gardened on OPP (other people's property) for over 25 years... on a military base during my Service days, on a utility easement, behind a former employer, and now on a friend's property. All of those sites had water provided, often with power and/or lights as well. While my gardens were large, they were strictly monoculture. All tomatoes went together in one place, all beans in adjacent rows, etc. I bought new seed each year, and purchased whatever plants were for sale at the local nursery. Had a lot of bad years, especially for insects & disease, and just assumed that was a natural consequence of gardening organically. Then while taking a Master Gardener course, I was introduced to the Seed Savers Exchange, and to the concept (revolutionary to me at the time) of saving my own seed. Embracing that philosophy has had a profound influence on how I garden... not just what I grow, but how, and why. I had to learn a lot more about botany, and learn to think in terms of species. When growing plants for seed, you can't plant different varieties of a species in close proximity; too much risk of crossing. So the tomatoes were spread out, as were the beans and peas; and squashes were limited to one per species. The end result was the dispersal of different species throughout the garden - and the end of monoculture. Even sweet corn was broken up into 2-3 smaller blocks, as opposed to one very large one. I had always allowed a few flowers in the garden, but began using them to fill in places where germination was poor, or where I had removed a plant for disease or signs of crossing. It occurred to me that bees might rather feed on flowers than on bean or tomato blossoms, so I spread them between different varieties to reduce crossing. When I came across Dr. Jeff McCormack's recommendations on the use of barrier crops, I further refined the process. A lot of flowers volunteer in the garden now; I try to make room for them when I can, and let them re-seed within reason. A little chaos - or natural order? - can be a good thing. This elaborate planting scheme had unintended benefits. Insects and disease were not the problem they once were (other than the thrice-cursed SVB). The one drawback: the garden now required planning. :-( When I go out to plant, I need to take the "blueprint" with me. Also unintended was the effect that saving heirloom beans would have on my garden - it forced me to go vertical. So many great heirloom beans are pole varieties, especially for shellies. Once I had found an efficient trellising system, I found that I liked the method... and now trellis anything which will climb. I'll choose pole over bush, and indeterminate over determinate, nearly every time. I found trellises to be good windbreaks, to protect the heat lovers (like okra) in the center of the garden. With over 400 feet of trellis, the garden looks like a maze when everything is full grown. In recent years, as the primary focus of my gardening has shifted to preservation, the garden has undergone one more change. There aren't many commercial varieties left in it, other than a few stand-out favorites like Fortex bean, Green Arrow pea, and King of the Garden lima. Most vegetables are grown on a rotation; I might grow 10 tomatoes each year, just not the same 10. When I retire, I'll probably turn the garden into a farm for a few years, growing seed crops, and introducing heirlooms to the local farmers market. If, that is, I don't find myself growing food out of necessity. 'Night all.

"So? Do you need my address, Lloyd?" I thought "Compost Queen Somewhere in Maine" would work. I assumed everyone in the postal service would know you by now what with getting all those samples being sent in for testing. Although there does seem to be a dearth of certificates being sent out from said address from what I can gather. ;-) Lloyd

Oh, Cyn427, no teacher bashing, no no no. I'm so sorry that my messages have come across like that. I've always respected teachers (my dad was a teacher) and since working at DS's school, I've gained even MORE respect for them. From correcting school papers and tutoring, I've learned so much. How tough is it to have a class of 25 or more individuals, each with their own learning style and speed? I can't even fathom it! Add into that mix the 25 or 30 different home and family lives that these kids have and it's mind-boggling. The sheer amount of paperwork generated by the students is amazing. It takes a minimal amount of time to grade math assignments where each problem has one correct answer. Of course, that's if you can get all 25 kids to actually turn in their work. To correct reading papers takes a huge amount of time, since each answer is written in sentences by the student and the teacher has to gauge the ability of the student to understand what was read and to make assumptions from the material. Multiply that by 25 kids and you get a headache. Now that you've corrected the homework, you have to explain to the individuals what was wrong and then figure out how to re-teach it to them. Then the Principal is breathing down your neck because some of the kids haven't returned some form that their parents were supposed to sign. It never ends! I have so much respect for the work that the teachers do and I want to make that very clear!

Thank you. I have been shy posting here because I kill more than I buy these days. Bad winter , bad wet years. I guess I might have posted in the wrong thread since I did not get rid of a lawn, but started out with raw hill country marl. I guess I was supposed to put a lawn in but I never got the memo. I wondered why I was supposed to make my beautiful hill country look like some place in North Carolina or Pennsylvania when I moved out here, because I thought it was beautiful the way it was. Things have to live in my conditions.. I had no choice with the water use and me living on Rainwater. Texas is a hard place to garden . It is either TOO hot TOO cold, TOO dry, TOO wet and it can go from too dry (right now my cistern is 1/4 full) to TOO wet (please I need the water ). Don't get me started on the soil. I have no soil so I have been bringing yards of Decomposed granite sand , gravel and compost in . The limey marl is about 1" under the soil in the area of this garden. Nothing really grew here very tall. It is ongoing. We are too hot for northern opuntias , too cold for southern cactus. I have learned to collect from southern New mexico and the northern Big bend area. I like their Eastern grasslands over the dryer points to the west, but mountainous Arizona has plants I can use. I also look for limestone soiled lands and not sandstone based lands. It isn't totally hill country. I guess I am not a purist about anything.