The Maple Hill Hop 97

Welcome to 

The Maple Hill Hop.

This is a hop for folks who love the outdoors.

Feel free to post about anything that's going on

OUTSIDE

in your neck of the woods,
no matter the season.

(Please share only outdoor posts.)

*Grab the button above to link back to Maple Hill 101.*

Last week I told you about my superb seed score.
These packs were slashed to 5 cents apiece.
I picked up a few in anticipation of fall planting.
Timing is everything...

This bed is about 8 by 5 and although it isn't a raised bed,
I'm using the square-foot method to plant my fall crops.
This bed had been filled in the spring with a soil mixture
that my farmer friend Lynn uses on all of his container plants.
I divided up the areas according to what I want to grow.
There will be space for 17 crops to grow here.

Here's the plan that I created and printed out for free on Gardener's Supply. 
I love that I can choose where to put my crops
and use my creativity to make a custom garden design.
It's so easy to use even I can figure it out!

Here's how it looks so far.
There is still some tweaking to do.
A couple of basil plants leftover from summer
will be harvested for pesto, and then be removed.
 Cabbage will go in where the "w" for walkway is.
I didn't have any cabbage seeds, so I'll add that in soon.
Cut-up hose and some leftover pieces from a trellis
were used to designate the squares.
Once the crops start popping up, they'll come out
and just let the design show through. 
I like having the center walkway so that I can easily reach the interior plants,
and the outer perimeter allows me access to the rest.
There are peanuts growing toward the back of the plot,
so I didn't want to disturb them before they're ready for harvest.
Baling twine had to be added around the perimeter,
to keep the sandhill cranes from walking all over it.

I have plans for 3 more beds
which will include Asian greens, beets, eggplant, leek, 
several types of lettuce, snap peas and turtle beans. 
Thankfully, we've had abundant rain in the past week,
so these newly planted seeds should be popping up soon.
Isn't it wonderful when Mother Nature 
lends the gardener a hand?


What's happening outside where you are?
Let's HOP!

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