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Winter Raised Bed Garden
My harvest today was collards, lettuce, and cilantro. I live near Tulsa, Oklahoma, located in the southern midwest of North America.
I have black gumbo clay dirt, which is awful for gardening. It dries rock hard and acts like pudding when wet. I installed eight 8 x 4 x 1 foot galvanized beds. I installed frost and bug netting with support made from 1/2 inch PVC pipes and 1-inch x 8-foot wood. I screwed the wood slats to the PVC pipes and attached the piping to the beds using 3/4 inch water pipe brackets. The hard part was hauling all my dirt delivered by Gem garden dirt company from my front yard to my backyard using my Gorilla dump wheelbarrow. I love that wheelbarrow; it's super tough!
My chicken house is to the left; I have eight hens and get three to four eggs a day in the winter. The Hens slow down from limited sunlight and go on a vacation. The neighbors don't seem to mind the hens fighting over the nesting box. They all want to nest in the same box at the same time. Silly hens!
I grew winter crops that are easy to care for, like collards and kale, which have a high mineral content and are essential vitamins.
From September through October, I planted winter lettuce, all-season, and red lettuce. I pick the bottom leaves until the plants start to develop seed heads. I let the best plants go to seed for my next round of plantings. Lettuce grown in quality dirt has a high nutritional content too. I was surprised by how many vitamins are in a serving of lettuce.
- Vitamin C: It helps in supporting the immune system. Being high in antioxidants, it keeps bones and teeth strong.
- Calcium helps in the healthy development of bones and muscles, nerve functioning, and blood clotting.
- Vitamin K again is necessary for blood clotting. It also prevents bone mineral loss and fractures caused due to osteoporosis.
- Vitamin A supports cell growth and reproductive health. It is also important to maintain the health of the eyes, heart, kidneys, and lungs.
- Folate to support cell division, production of DNA, and genetic material.
- Phosphorus works with calcium to support healthy bones and teeth.
- Magnesium relaxes the muscles and promotes the functioning of enzymes.
- Potassium regulates the negative impact of sodium on your body and support nerve function. It also helps in the normal contraction of your muscles.
The small dark green leaf plant is called the Japanese mustard plant. It has a subtly sweet taste and doesn't taste like mustard. You can steam, stir-fry, or use the leaves in salads. The plant sprouts quickly either through starting in a tray or direct planting. It grows year-round in my garden if I start it before freezing temperatures. We can have a month's worth of days below freezing in Oklahoma. But extended freezes last a couple of weeks, usually after January through March.
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Replies (6)
Wow, that is quite the garden,. You've done a great job making all those! That's very inspiring. And looks like they have given you quite a good harvest. Thats great!
Thank you, gardening is my gym workout 😂😂😂❤️🍀
All the plants look super fresh and in excellent condition, just what I was thinking was that most of them are excellent for our organism, I think you have double benefit there, the gardening hobby and also many vitamins/nutrients at your disposal. It is clear that you have a lot of knowledge!
Thank you, I don't have to shop for vegetables😂😂❤️
That's a very interesting to watch your garden farming about lettuce and consumption nutrients fact description, have a nice day with healthier vegetables wnd more.
Even we have tried keeping a lot many plants in the garden of our home. Some of them grows well while some do not. But we still try. Thanks for sharing your part of the story! :)