Pole Barn Garden

I met my uncle Kenny at my family's property on Friday afternoon. He had already rototilled the area we were going to plant with a large tractor. Even though there tends to be a lot of clay on our property, the plot we planted was actually quite sandy. This meant that it wasn't too wet, so hopefully something grows! We staked out a couple of rows and planted yukon gold potatoes, sugar snap peas, green beens, and sunflowers. My uncle has never planted peas before and he didn't know whether or not his green beens would need a trellis, but I think if any of those two come up we will need to create some kind of support system.

I tried to share my tidbits of knowledge with him, mentioning the possibility of raised beds ("That sounds like a lot of work.") and the problems with soil compaction. To my surprise, after I carefully placed the seeds (or tubers) in the ground and covered them with dirt, he proceeded to show me his traditional method, which included stepping on the seeds we'd just planted. Needless to say I was cringing a bit at that point, as well as when he told me he'd spread chemical fertilizer over the whole plot before we started. I think I'm going to have to balance sharing my knowledge and learning from his experience throughout this process, but so far it's been really good to have my own area to plant and to spend time with an older member of my family in the sunshine.

If any of you would ever like to come with me for a visit, just let me know!