The Front Yard

Earlier this year Solominer and I set off to another state to start a farm together. A lot of the things we planted for our own homestead plot did not survive. I didn't take any pics or video of our beginning failures. On a happier note the garden in my front yard and Solominer's inside grow did very well. So I'll share some happy pics of triumph in my front yard!

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This is a view of most everything my wife and I planted in our front yard. We planted Kale, watermelon, jalapenos, habaneros, strawberries, mint, rosemary, and thornless blackberries.

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I put the watermelons on bricks and cinder blocks to prevent pests and ground rot. Unfortunately I left them too high up and there was a little too much sun. I'm told that's why they have yellow polka dots.

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Most species of watermelon comes from Africa. The Virginia soil was not warm enough on it's own. This called for a mound of mulch and dirt with a trash bag to cover it. This traps in heat to warm the soil and creates a slow release of fertilizer as the mulch is broken down.

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This is vining spinach. It's a little thicker than the bush variety but has the same mild flavor. Those white bulbs eventually turn black and you can actually eat them. I had them raw, they taste like grassy popcorn. Next year I'll put them on a trellis like we did in the homestead garden, which did actually do well. Not EVERYTHING died.

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There are jalapenos. They're not native to Virginia, but do very well. In fact most spicy peppers do very well in southern states in America. The most popular way to consume them is in their green unripen form instead of the bright lipstick red they mature in to.

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Habaneros! These are much hotter than the jalapenos and are much sweeter. This is what Mexicans put in that candy that makes it spicy. You can't see anything from just looking at the bush, but when you lift up the branches it is saturated with peppers. The orange ones will be orange.