Hi everyone,
A long time lurker, just wanting to say hello and thank you to everyone who contributes to these forums. Paul is doing a great job, and these forums are such a huge wealth of information.
I like cooking and preserving food, and this is my second year attempt at gardening. I have a small urban/suburban south facing back yard that gets a lot of sun in the summer (garden ~13 m^2). I had some success with fava beans and squash last year (lots of failures too).
I am expanding the garden this year, to include main crops sunchokes+runner beans, kale, salsify, fava beans, winter squash, broccoli, seakale + rhubarb, tomatoes, and I will be adding a variety of aromatic herbs/greens throughout the garden. I have collected some wild burdock seeds which I want to plant out (not sure where/how yet, maybe under the birch in my backyard) for the leaf mass and tubers. So far only a few small curly kale plants are holding reign (even after all the ice, snow, and severe winds), our frost date isn't until 20 May. My plans will probably evolve over the growing season. If I find a source of stinging nettle and comfrey seeds, I would love to add some patches of these somewhere.
I also have a tote worm farm, and a dog who is happy to manure the lawn.
I have additional plans for a squash trellis, compost bin, rain barrel, and solar dryer+ other zany ideas.
I have read Toby's "Gaia's Garden", cruised these forums, and have tuned into Paul's podcasts and youtube videos. Lots more to read and learn, a lifetime of it really.
Cheers!
