Clearing out the Brush

I'm starting the process of clearing out all the brush and weeds in my garden plot. I bought some heavy duty plastic sheeting (essentially just black tarp) and some little garden stakes to cover the area and kill all the weeds until planting season.

I was hoping I could just simply tarp the area and call it a day, but there are too many little bushes and weeds. So, I've borrowed a neighbor's machete and I'm going to go at it again tomorrow.

If I were smart, I'd get a scythe and go to town on that brush.

What was dubya's enthrallment with all the brush clearing? Hmmm, he'll be out of a job soon, maybe I could get him to come do it for me.

Garden Plan Notes

I've found some excellent resources on the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences at UGA, including this guide I've linked in the links section of this blog: Vegetable Garden Guide and this leaflet: Home Vegetable Garden.

Both are semi-specific to Georgia growing, and easy to read.

So, here's my first crack at the list of the things I'd like to grow:

Beans, bush
Carrots
Collards
Cucumber
Lettuce
Okra
Potatoes, Irish
Radish
Spinach
Squash
Tomato
Turnip

I don't think I want to grow any corn, as it's too tall for my guerrilla garden.

A lot of these plants have planting times starting Jan 15 for the Spring Planting. I better get cracking trying to determine how much and where these plants will all fit!

Picking the Right Spot

Here are couple of different spots I've found, and the upsides/downsides to each:

Here's my building on Google Maps (annotated):

On Patio
+ easy access
- need to use pots for everything, can't compost (will smell bad, I think)
- no direct sunlight - faces West and is covered
- small, not a lot of space

Outside Below Patio
+ semi-easy access (have to go around building to access, but can water from balcony)
- can plant easy, can also compost easy (just toss off the balcony into my compost pile?)
- better sunlight, but still not direct, might not be enough
- medium sized

On Abandoned Lot
- not easy to access (have go all the way around building and up hill)
+ direct sunlight
+ big, can plant lots
+ wild, untamed land, not owned by me or my building!

I'm leaning toward the abandoned lot, and I won't lie -- it seems more guerilla-garden like -- to use this lot for a useful purpose. Our building has had several complaints about the kudzu and weeds that grow there. That's good and bad news for me -- it means plants can grow there, but it also means that lots of plants already grow there.

I'm going to start a garden

I've never had a garden, nor have I ever been good at keeping plants alive.

There's a good chance this will be a miserable failure. You see, I'm definitely a wanna-be-gardener. I've read the Omnivore's Dilemma, I've researched this whole "urban gardening" trend, and I think I can do it, but the odds are against me.

As a software developer and techno-gadget enthusiast, I'm way out of my league. I've been surrounded by computers and technology my entire life. I'm pretty sure Nature is not like a Computer -- at all.

Now that I've jinxed myself, it's time to start. I'll be documenting as much as I can, for better or worse. Wish me luck. I'm going to need it.