North and South

[WantonWoodsman]

I don't know how to write a journal or even a blog....but this will be my rambling spot. I apologize if any or all of the pics have been posted before. I just thought I'd like to have them all in one spot.

North and South? My wife and I live in South Africa. We purchased land in the Northwestern Province. A nice spot.....filled with weeds, rocks, snakes, spiders and a few things that I haven't quite identified yet.

Actually it was more of a desperate longing to get away from the city that finalized the purchase. (5.93053 Acres. No trees, no water, no electricity)

I'll add some pics as I go along. I will update often as I cannot type more than a couple of sentences at a time. Did I mention that the land was also void of any buildings or structures. So after drilling for water which we found at 23 metres (75 feet 5,512 inches) we applied for electricity. In the meantime, we erected a small wood cabin......just to have a roof over our heads. We also decided to plant some olive trees (120 of them)

No pics of the trees though. They were turned to ashes 'bout 3 weeks after being planted.

With all the trees gone....we decided to build a vegetable tunnel. Fortunately the spot we chose was rock free. Digging the foundation and pouring the concrete by hand took us a while though.

With the structure completed....we decided to cover it with greenhouse plastic.

 

[Latestarter]

Great that you're starting a journal! Sorry you lost all your olive trees. Looking forward to your pics and story!

 

[babsbag]

Sorry about the olive trees. I was really excited reading that you planted some, I was going to ask about harvesting and curing...then I read that you lost them all. Darn. Greenhouse looks really good.

 

[WantonWoodsman]

@Latestarter @babsbag Thank you. We were just as exited about the idea of harvesting and curing. Did all the research beforehand. But anyhow...... The tunnel was up and being the eager beavers we are, we conditioned the soil and started planting. What better month than spring......right?

On the 12th of October we had a severe cold front sweeping through.....leaving all the crops in a semi frozen/thawed out state. Turning all the plants and crops into compost was the eventual outcome. Nine months later a mini Twister (In bad need of attending an anger management seminar) ripped the plastic to shreds.

Down on our knees....but not beaten yet, we started closing up the tunnel with corrugated sheeting.

Setting the rows to obtain the most sunlight throughout the day was our first obstacle with the new cover.

At last.....I could start selling veggies. Yay!

Frost in spring season seems to be quite common in our area.

Frozen beans (These were planted outside)

This unfortunate plant had too much to drink before bedtime the previous evening. Lol

 

[babsbag]

When I read of things like this I am so thankful that my biggest garden problems are my own rogue chickens and mice/rats eating my seedlings. Both are easy to control compared your twister and frost. I have a long growing season, mid April through usually mid Nov. A late freeze will often take out my Apricot crop so I have planted a dwarf tree on my front porch in a wine barrel. I can coddle that one if it freezes late. My winters can be cold, sometimes as low as 17°F but most of the time it stays above freezing...barely. My summers are hot and dry, but that is really the perfect growing environment for most annual vegetables.

 

[Mike CHS]

I'm really looking forward to more of your journal. Many people would have given up with a fraction of what you guys have had happened.

 

[Latestarter]

Jeeze... one calamity after another... Makes you wonder huh? I wasn't aware that SA had freezes... Hope everything has gone good for you so far this year.

 

[Baymule]

What is your growing season? Here last frost can be April or May, first frost usually in November, can be as early as October. Winters are mild, can dip into the 20's, but not for long. We can get snow, but it is gone in 3 days.

 

[WantonWoodsman]

@babsbag Our lowest temp dips to 10.4°F but that is not always the problem. It's the other guy. (Jack Frost......only joking....black frost) I n extreme cases the bark actually pops off the tree or shrub.

Then we have our fair share of rogue chickens, moles, voles,
pheasants, guinea fowl, hare, mongoose, bugs, locusts......oh no this list is most probably gonna fill a page! Lol

Pity I can't get hold of some wine barrels here. Great idea you've got there.

 

[WantonWoodsman]

@Mike CHS Thank you. Your kind words make me feel like a survivor! Awesome. Love the feedback!

@Latestarter Lol. Calamity Survivalist! This year was okay. Lost my job, lost 2 lambs, had severe mechanical breakdown on our vehicle (22000 ZAR /1581.875 USD)

Other than that it's been an awesome year so far. We are alive and that counts for a lot. Lol

@Baymule Growing season should be September to March. But we have experienced late frost in October months and early frost in early March.

Thank you