Growing New Plants This Year and Thinking about National Garden Stats

Developed a green property this year with a bunch of different plants and foods. The experimental half shade no irrigation raised garden box produced most of what was planted last year so I am doing it again this year. There were a few crops such as pumpkins that didn't grow fully and a few smaller carrots in one row. Small growth on some plants is likely related to how I organized the box. I built another raised grow box out of some lumber I had sitting around and planted that one as well. 

A few things I'm thinking about are, 

1.) Only native hardy plants to MI. 

2.) Planting pattern. Avoid overcrowding or incorrect shading.

3.) Allowing roots to tap beyond the box for more water if needed. I changed the barrier on one to light mulch to see if that will help. I did nothing to the first box because its underground barrier likely doesn't exist this year and is degrading back into the soil. 

A few things I put in the yard are a mini honey crisp apple orchard, raspberries, corn, beats, carrots, lettuce, spinach, onions, and forgot squash (I might put some if I remember). Along my fence I'm putting in grape vines. A few new rose plants where I can't get anything else to grow. 

Ruby Home provides some interesting Garden Stats just in case you want to understand gardening in the U.S.

-55% of U.S. Households have a garden. 

-100-200 square feet can feed a person year round. 

-Average garden is 600 square feet and earns $600.

-US is one of three top gardening places. 

And I got a visitor. Looks like a fox snake. (BTW I was told you could use moth balls and that isn't true. I was going to use them and read somewhere you can't do that so they are being disposed of. Beware of wives tails! I went on the hunt for information and I didn't find much other then they can't be used that way. Not everything people say is true! They also say they don't keep snakes away.)  

Grabbed him by the tail and moved over 
to the woods.