PRAISE GOD. He's been waiting for.uou. Like the one sheep is missing and comes home. I am excited thank you JESUS. Love, hug's PRAYERS FROM SE MICHIGAN I love you my SISTER FRIEND SHALOM 🛐🛐🛐
Hi Jess, I am a professional landscaper and gardener in Chicago. Every day I come home and sit and watch your vlog as a prize for hard work well done. Thank you for what you are doing. I wanted to respond to your request for feed back on todays post about what to do with your perennial area. I was in the south on business once in July and the thing that totally stuck with me was the value of shade in southern gardens. It felt like it is an absolute imperative to provide shade as a refuge. I completely understand your full sun garden beds for your food production but if it were me i would consider some large fruit and nut bearing trees as a respite place and an opportunity for other harvest. Again i am no southerner but pecan comes to mind as well as full size peach, plum, persimmon, etc. I am mostly an ornamental gardener and have no idea what would be successful in South Carolina but a shady but productive place would appeal to me.
In the 90's, my portfolio got me accepted into a infrared workshop sponsored by Kodak in Gubbio Italy. We went to a restaurant in town that was a huge outdoor patio that was completely covered by an ancient pergola, so covered by grape vines that it was dark shade. It has always stood out in my mind as an awesome space. If you put it in the center, paralell to your road, you could have wide 12' arches at every post ( and grape planting) for paths to come in & out of the rest of the garden. What a nice respite that could be on a hot summer day, yet views of all your gardens.
Do you know about the historical walls around such garden spaces (usually square but could be round)??? The walls held the cool air inside the garden areas while letting hot air escapes upwards. 👍👍👍👍👍 Outdoor air conditioning. Many grand fabulous enormous amazing delightful blessings everyone and everywhere..
We have a 1 acre food forest in the process that is 100% perennial. We have tons of fruit/nut trees, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, elderberries and goji berries. Some of my other favorite perennials are kaleidoscope kale, cottagers kale, artichoke, asparagus, egyptian walking onions, grapes, and scarlet runner beans. We also have crop plots for things I prefer to keep organized (like my multiple varieties of gourmet garlic, corn, buckwheat etc). Then we are adding a grocery garden, herb garden and medicinal garden in raised beds at the front of the house.
Keep in mind your bird pressure when designing your berry and grape garden. Here in our urban setting we compete with the cardinals, catbirds, robins, starlings and grackles for the fruit. If I had the space, I would construct a walk in fruit cage like you see in the UK. As another viewer commented, these vines and canes will need considerable pruning and tying up. The berry canes will also spread. It can become very wild on its own. I think you are on the right track with arches or arbors leading from one garden into the next. Those features are very “Jess”. A seating area, some whimsy and art thrown in are what we love about your gardens.
The berry canes can be kept in check with regular pruning and trellising. I would put the blackberries closest to the fence, the raspberries, then the grape arbor, something else, the the elderberries by the driveway.
If you do blackberries, I highly recommend thornless. I learned this from “Jacques in the Garden” and have been so grateful when pruning and harvesting not to have to deal with any thorns! Can’t wait to see what you do with the space, Jess! ❤
what varieties of thornless are preferred? Ive found my thornless blackberries to be lacking in taste-could be varietal or I may need to amend the soil.
That space would be lovely as a food forest! I started one in 2019 and it has been amazing! Covered the entire area with cardboard, horse manure and topped with wood chips. My daughter loves to walk through, play and eat whatever she wants. We have plum, apple, elderberry, currants, raspberry, fig along with herbs, rhubarb, strawberries… and more. My husband has even agreed to expand it! Which by the way, he thought I was crazy at first and wanted nothing to do with it.
Jess, sweet sister. You already have the picture in your heart. Lots of good input from your followers, but ultimately you’ve got this. You are such a visionary and so artistic. Everything about your gardens and farm speak creativity and beauty.
ALL THE BERRIES! raspberries, blackberries, grapes, kiwi, haskaps and/or blueberries, currants. gooseberries, elderberries, seaberries. Berry-Lane! So much fun. I'm very excited to see how this space develops, because it's already come a long way. Great job Jess keep it up!
Yes ma'am all the berries ❤ and find golden Raspberries. They are divine! I did a video on making raspberry jalapeno jam with them! Yum 😋 Especially elderberry! For your syrup you make every year! 😊🎉
Your tortillas looked fabulous!👏🏽 Thank you for that super kind compliment🥰 I’ll bring my tortilla press & comal one day and we’ll make you a bunch of tortillas to keep in the freezer!
A simple pergola for the grapes to go on! Maybe not so simple and add built in ladders for picking them on two of the sides. That would be so fun for a seating area you talked about! Then it would even it out since you have a seating area on the other side thats similar. Maybe steal if it wouldn't be too hot for the grapes or a stained black wood so the green pops! Then do some benches or bench style SWINGS facing each other! Everything y'all have done so far looks like a dream ! Whatever you come up with will be beautiful ❤ Also golden raspberries are my new favorite! We just planted 3 in the spring and they are so different and beautiful!!! We also got some honey berries and aronia berries that have done well! I think im most excited for our elderberries to bloom! We just did a row to the side of our high tunnel! Natures got the best medicine !!!
If raspberries are on your list of wants for your berry area, consider the Dorman red raspberries. They do great in the south and aren’t effected by the heat and humidity like many other varieties that struggle in the south 😊. I grew up growing raspberries with my dad and was adamant that I would find a variety that would grow in the south that would take me back to my childhood memories with my dad further north. I’m in Charleston sc area and the Dorman reds have not disappointed!
Oh we definitely remember the time you shocked yourself!🤦🏻♀️😉 Garden Answer has a beautiful berry set up. I like the sound of perpendicular rows with a pathway down the middle. Would be awesome if you could find an antique iron gate to add, either working or for trellising.
yes - like her raised bed set-up. I also like the way Jason at CogHill Farm is doing his....he has apples, pears and berries vine trained and then individual blue berry and fig tree plantings.
I agree. The trellises at Garden Answer, and Cog Hill make the long-term maintenance much easier for perennial fruit. I like the idea of a grape vine pergola for shade, too. I've seen them here in Southern California, and they are wonderful in the summer heat.
Leave the peppers in. Harvest ad long as thise planta will give you food. You said it best about how the cold crops will continue to grow through the cold months but before you know it those peppers will be gone thanks to the cold weather. Bythe way you just speak to my soul! I ask got to help me with my issue when it comes to bettering my self and before I know it your video is playing and your speaking to exactly what im dealing with and trying to improve about my self! You have been so good for me!! So thank you so much for that!!
Jess. Remember that even with a perineal garden, change is possible. You can move things around when and if you don’t like them where they are from season to season. Just do what you always tell us to do. Start! You got this! I know it will be beautiful. Your creations always are.
Hello Jess, I am usually just a watcher and not a commenter, I am the Queen of Introverts. Playing in the dirt all day and I am a very happy mini farmer. I grew up in Southeastern Idaho and I was always grateful that my Grand parents and parents had planted fruit trees on the East and West side of each of the gardens. It meant we could pick in the morning until about 9 or 10 and in the evening from 4 to dark. I have lived in Southeastern Washington for the last 20 years and I am so glad I followed their example and planted my Elderberries on the East side and my fruit and nut trees on the West side of my gardens. It makes for a wonderful way to start and end my days. I planted my grape vines right down the center of each garden, they love the sun and the heat. We do our Spring pruning in March and April and we are just now getting ready to harvest. This gives us a much cooler time of the year to do the hard work on the grapes. Another thing that I have found in the last 10 years is that if you are going to plant Blueberries they grow better and are much easier to pick if they are in a raised bed. I don't have as many ankle biters around these days to pick all of the lower berries. I use Cattle Panels to trellis my blackberries and raspberries, you and Jill Reagan convinced me to get the GreenStalks for my Strawberries. I want you to know that you and Miah and your children have been and continue to be a real blessing in my life. Thank you.
Have you thought about maybe putting in some L shaped garden beds in that space that you are trying to make decisions on? Maybe out line the four corners of the entire garden bed? Then put your Muscadine trellis on that back side closest to the pasture. Then your fruit trees could be included in those L shaped beds. That would give it a boundary. Maybe in the center do your berry bushes and maybe around those berry bushes you could include some pollinater plants. Kinda like a food forest.
What I have been doing for a couple of years now is to chop all veg or fruit, put them on cookie sheets trying to keep the pieces from touching each other and then setting them in the freezer for a couple of hours, and when they're frozen, measuring them into serving sizes, labeling them and bagging them. This keeps the pieces from freezing together and causing more ice to develop. I don't have a vacuum sealer. I did it with muffins the other days too! Works great!❤
Hi Jess! I think a grape polyculture would be really cool instead of one long row of a single variety. It would be beautiful with all the different colors. I've never grown grapes before so I don't know if growing different varieties together would be possible, but it sounded cool in my head!
I think all of your ideas are fantastic! I can’t wait to see what you end up designing! You, Chickie are fabulous! You consistently provide a calm bright light to our days. We thank you.
I hope you consider native persimmons which grow as small trees with an autumn harvest of yummy fruits high in Vitamin A. Hazelnuts are another possibility which grow as shrubs, so yield faster that tree nuts. Love what you're doing!
Also adding in perennial medicinal herbs like elderberry, yarrow, echinacea, etc would be fun too. Maybe around the seating area so when it's flowering you'd have beautiful accents of color!
If you leave the peppers to over-winter under the high tunnel protected from the frost, they’ll be essentially perennial and you’ll have bigger plants to start from next season.
I’m in Michigan & decided to overwinter a couple pepper plants last year by putting them in pots inside, it worked so well and they were WAY faster to produce than the 1 year plants
Watching this video brought me back to a video you made years ago where you were telling of your troubles with growing peppers. Now look at you go! You have definitely mastered it! God is good ❤
Hi Jess. What about some fruit trees along the edge of the fence line and then short raised bed to reduce the need to till also and it keeps your rows straight.
Hey friend in my head😅... I just recently remembered my favorite meal , fiddleheads- grown from the early shoots of the ostrich fern, if they were under some of the shaded arbor areas they might thrive for you;) also would look gorgeous around the central seating area (throw in some lily of the valley for early scent explosion)✨ I've been looking into this as well and heard the thorned berry bushes are far more productive in general, I imagine a mass planting as you described with a mirrored selection of unique/ thornless varieties imbedded with the central seating area- so there's always a snack in season-for daily enjoyment;) Oh and saffron!!! Beautifully delicious!!! As always thanks for sharing your joys and disappointments, you have been a massive inspiration for me over the past few years!!!
One thing you may want to consider adding to the perennial garden is onions. (like walking onions, welsh onions, chives) Onions are so useful and they are pest repellent. The perennial types are often overlooked.
I think they can be invasive if you ignore them. Prolific, definitely. I always either pull the walking onions or pull the top sets so that they are controlled. I do pearl onion pickles with the sets and then preserve any extra greens for over the winter. Of course, the climate would have them survive most of the winter there so I am not sure how they would behave. Shallots, red and white welsh, garlic chives, etc, there are so many great choices for sure.
@@angelad.8944 I also use the top sets of walking onions in pickles. There are a few in every jar of dills. In the spring I pull out any excess onions, chop them up and freeze. If you manage the onions they can be kept in check and it is a way to always have onions available.
@@angelad.8944 For me in zone 7b NC, chives are seriously invasive. I have dug up and destroyed so many, I strive to remove every bloom to prevent reseeding and it is years trying to restore 3 years of ignoring the problem.
Some fruit trees, of course! :) The grape vine can be trained to form a gazebo, to offer you some shade in the heat of the summer. And don't forget the greens: sorrel and red orach! The first food of the spring!
My two cents.....lol. I think having a seating area in the middle is a great idea and then around it have squares/rectangle areas kind of like a checker board with a different variety in each square. Whatever you choose with be beautiful. I can't wait to see how it turns out. And maybe you could set up a trail cam to solve the mystery of who's eating what....lol.
Sweet Jess, you mentioned the deer have been eatting your sweet potato vines. Deer love Muscadine Grapes, and there leaves. And of course they love berries. My suggestion, plant deer resistant plants (flowers deer usually don't like, or like very little) around (making a natural fence) your grapes and berries, or place a solar panel deer fence. I have planted Zinnias every where, and the deer leave them alone. I also use Premiere 1's solar panel deer, and small animal electric fence around my garden. The critters leave the garden alone. I love your idea of plantimg grapes and berries going the opposite direction.
For beauty only I would 100% go with a hydrangea hedge! (You'll obviously have to trim it to make a wall. If that's the look you want!) OR climbing roses!!!!!!!!
You're an amazingly creative, inspirational and passionate woman. Your vlogs have grown into the most truthful, relatable and honest content around. Thank you for all you do for your community, both near and far. I look forward to following you along your garden path, where ever it may lead. God bless you.
O grew okrafor the first time bc I saw your plants snd just loved the flowers on them. I had no idea I woukd have to get out a ladder to cut the pods off! They are 9 feet tall! Thats crazy!
That is exactly what I do with my peppers. Slice them, portion out and vacuum seal.Love baba ganoush! For your tortillas, use a round cast iron pan for flattening that out with a weight or 2 pans on top of each other.
In your new perennial garden section may be a mini raised bed of sunchokes. That way you can limit it’s spread and still have flowers in the section. 🥰
Hi Jess! There are two things I thought about for you to consider when laying out your perennial beds. One is, do you need to consider the way the sun hits them, like north to south or east to west, and the second is, do you need to make crossover paths so you do not have to go to the other end of a sixty foot row to get to the other side of it? Thank you for sharing life with us! It is a blessing!
When I was a tiny child, we were out in the country, near Spivey’s Corner, visiting my dad’s parents. We went for a walk to look at the hogs and I bumbled into the electric line that was strung around the pens. I remember that clear as day as these decades later.
Hey, those peppers are awesome! You will love having berries in the garden. When we picked up our raspberry, blackberry and blueberry plants, the grower recommended not to plant them close to each other because they can share disease issues. I didn't listen of course and they seem to be doing ok, so...just, ahh...you know "do as I say not as I do". Also he said we got different varieties of each because it increases fruiting, meaning the blueberries were different varieties from one another, same with the raspberries and we had an incredible raspberry harvest, so much so that I'm seriously sick of raspberries at this point.
I also 💚 preserving my sweet peppers in frozen strips. That's how we use them most. Even if you dont portion them, they separate quite easily.🫑This year, I also did some packages that are a blend of sweet pepper (Gatherer's Gold) and mildly spicy Poblano to use specifically for fajitas when we like a lil' more kick.
Yes you should run your beds the opposite direction giving definition to the space. The high vines in the back will give the space enclosure and privacy. Maybe add some smaller fruit trees as a structure flanking the seating area, 2 or 4. Fig trees are beautiful, or a smallish favorite fruit tree. Blueberries change color and are gorgeous so maybe put them where you can see them from the road. Also, beautiful shrubs like elderberry and hibiscus would add some change in structure next to beds of berries. Creating trellis and arches for climbers like passion fruit and Hop. The designs are endless! Can’t wait to see what you are going to do!
Before you set up the perennials consider the direction of the wind. You want the muscadine running parallel to the wind, and even your berries. High winds can damage everything unless it can easily blow through without the plants becoming a wall, just something to consider before you arrange the area.
I love the idea of turning it into a perennial garden. The only bad thing I can think of is having ALL the bird eating things in 1 spot. You might have to net it! For something you didn’t mention maybe a passion fruit vine? I’m thinking about trying to grow it this next season!
i've always love the idea of a garden labrynth with a special place in the center. a round pergola with grape vines above, and blackberries on the perimeter building up to the height of the grapevine pergola in the center.
I think the idea of a perennial garden space is a delight! When you were describing the border, I was thinking of making the "fence" with some sort of living hedgerow. My favorites would be the muscadine and scuppernongs, but it might be lovely to put in some thicket-type bushes, also (like elderberry or wild plum) to make a wall of greenery. I would be tempted to use juniper for the berries (and evergreen hedge), but I believe they can spread a virus to other fruits but I am not certain. Whatever grows wild in your area that also produces food could be a great thing to "sprinkle in" as a nod to native plants.
I believe Artichokes are a great perennial in your area. Some for eating some for flowering. Not in a row but throughout. Seeing all the green in the tunnel gave me a magical whimsical vibe. A mix of food and flowers, boulders, and rocks, stepping stones…away from straight paths maybe?
Thank you again, Jess, for making just the kind of video, where you Just take us a long, while feeding us bits of information, as you go through doing this and that is just so peaceful for me. And I think we all need more of that. Plus I absolutely love the people that you attract and become part of your regular life.
Highly recommend the Prime Ark Freedom Blackberries. Thornless. I've had berries all summer and still getting them. Large and sweet. Easy care. I wasn't aware that blackberries can spread to the rest of the garden (first time planting them and I didn't do enough homework) but it's pretty simple to pull out a "volunteer" cane - and then have given those to friends to plant in their garden.
Personally, Jess, you can never have enough berries. 😃 We love berries. Blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries..❤❤ Also, we have substituted muscadine jelly for grape jelly. We have lots of muscadines. 😊
My vote for layout is a circular laboranth of berry bushes. ❤❤🫐❤❤ I wonder if you could overwinter peppers in the high tunnel 🤔 prune back, hay on top....might make for early peppers next year, atleast for a few plants. 🤷
I think making a space in the middle with walkways and shorter rows surrounding it is a great idea. Make sure you have some shade and also some pretty flowers tucked in there too.
I really love the idea of making the center your berries and muscidines. I agree with others Garden Answers and Cog Hill Farm has a nice set up for blackberries as well. Trellised or walled strawberry patches are a neat idea. Ground cherry patches and fig trees as well as blue berries. Love the garden gate or trellis ideas to separate garden rooms.
Thank you Jess for those beautiful scenes of the garden at the start of the video, it gave me such a huge smile….and let Bear know that includes the majestic video coverage of him!
Please consider elderberries for your plot too. I'm sure you've probably already done this, but it helps me a lot to sketch out the garden area with all the plants I want to grow. Good luck....I'll be anxious to see what you do.
Yes, I was going to suggest elderberries. And, they are so pretty, they could be the first row by the driveway, or perhaps second, with lower growing roses or other perennial flowers for the first row.
I’d say go simple and easy. Keep the peppers and enjoy them, use the other high tunnel or spaces for brassicas. You have a lot on your plate right now with a new business, kids, and still recovering from health issues. So just like you tell us the garden doesn’t have to be permanent and you can always change it later if you don’t like it. Keep fencing and gates wide so you can get the side by side or tractor through for hauling compost, harvesting, etc. Also consider what steps now are getting you closer to where you want to be in 5-10 years (business and kid life will also be vastly different then.) Do what will make you happy and give rest. I haven’t forgotten you want to learn to spin! 😉
Hey Jess, Y'all should put a trail cam on the sweet potatoes to see if it is deer. I love the idea of a grass path and a couple pushes of a push mower.
I think you should leave the peppers, especially after what happened with the grazon last year. Your peppers are outstanding! With that said, your ideas for the gardens are awesome. The peppers look gorgeous. I can practically smell and taste them as I watch. Maybe start your brassicas now in the high tunnel that will have the grass walkways. Also, perpendicular beds is the best route for the perennial space. I’m looking forward to your gates with the roses arch like you had in Arkansas! Can you do elderberry there? As usual, I love your videos and look forward to them! Sending blessings and love! 🙏🏼❤️
Of course All the berries your family loves to eat. I would suggest because I didn’t 🤪 and wish I had - draw and design your berry trellis system First!!! Then plant within that system. I Love the idea of running the opposite direction from the raised beds. 🥰
Rasberries tend to spread in every direction in my yard. Maybe there is a cultivar that will behave? Othervise it might be a good idea to put the rasberries somewhere you are going to drive around it with lawnmower? They are really everywhere 🙈 othervise it sounds a really nice plan, the arbors always bring joy 😘 and even the perennial stuff CAN be relocated. I do it "all the time", bacause who knows you are going to swim in rasberries until you do?!
I love the idea of the Muscadines along that back fence. I am in the burbs, an my Muscatine are WILD. Took over trees,vetc. A Huge Pergola for grapes in that entire silage taped area would be stunning. You can have the seating in the center; imagine the draping fruits, the cool respite in summer there Just one woman's eye Love ya Jess. So happy to see your dreams fulfilled. You have come so far, and you are not done. You have plenty of other dates for Blackberries and Blueberries
Keep the peppers; we're having a good late season with them that you can always pickle and freeze plenty. Plant cover crops in potato section like winter rye, hairy vetch, and red clover to feed the soil as they can be sown now and provide green manure that can be mowed for planting in Spring. Make a beautiful pergola walkway/sitting space, Mediterranean grape space with berries planted around, to corners, and sides. Connect the garden spaces with setup to build more around making space for more herbs and flowers. I've tried chip drop for years and never got a dump. Go real, whole foods. Bless you, Jess!
Hi Jess thank you for the video. I've had a ground hog eat all the leaves of my sweet potatoes this year I too thought it was deer but I caught the little one eating. The fence will be helpful. Such a beautiful garden and peppers. What a great decision to have to make. I would pray on it and if you do any sketching I would sketch it out. Or use the drone to take pics and do something with the computer. Take care Jess. I love you and your family. God bless you
JOAN J RASPBERRY is my favorite thing I’ve ever planted. It has the strongest raspberry flavor I’ve ever tasted. It is also highly productive and thornless. I’m sure whatever you decide to plant will be amazing! Blessings from WV. 💜
Joan J works well in Utah's climate, too! Beautiful, large berries. Just get them trellised. We had a windstorm that busted many of our canes at the base because we hadn't trellised them.☹
When I was 13 I was invited to an 'upperty' graziers daughters wedding...I thought i was the bees knees in my floral, orange, cutaway shoulders, chiffon dress with orange patent shoes n handbag....this was 1965! 😂 (anyone relate?) I digress... Anyway, the cermony was held under a huge grape covered pergola .... big bunches of purple grapes hanging and a gorgeous bride n 3 bridesmaids n 3 little flowergirls all in white. It was so beautiful n indelible in my memory. Perhaps a suggestion for yr family weddings Jess🎉🎉 The feast n celebration was in the big barn/shed...you're all set up Jess n Sweetmiah 😂 ❤❤ from Oz
I have always had a hope that you would have a tea garden/ medicinal garden space. I would love to watch those things grow in your garden! Maybe even having your own elderberry patch would be fun.
Funny, I never heard of muscadine and was going to suggest some type of grapes. We enjoyed concords along an old wooden fence line as a kid. I like the idea of the perpendicular lines to your garden and maybe you could add breaks in those beds at varying lengths so you can pass through the rows and also form a secret garden feel.
Muscadines are native to the southern US. Wild grapes still grow in the woods around here, but muscadines are mostly domesticated now. The wild ones are known as bullis grapes.
Bush cherries all kinds of berries and currents figs sunchokes maybe a chicken garden ground cover with mustard kale etc so you can have greens late for chickens. Outside big beds of peanuts to pick about now. Sweet potato beds leaving a few to replant themselves for next time. What do you like to eat that you don't have much of. What about a trellis of climbing butterbeans outside. Early green peas around the edges
Hi Jess! I have done my peppers in strips for the freezer for years and Iove being able to grab them for a stir fry or whatever and just throw them in a pot and cook them up. I also have frozen them cut into halves for stuffed peppers. Enjoy, and thanks again for all your lovely content. You are a bright spot in my day when I get to sit and listen to you chat.
I love the idea of making it a perennial, medicine garden. Elderberries, Aronia berries (chokecherry), horseradish, comfrey, perennial alliums, garlic, apple trees for making apple cider vinegar (you could espalier them along the fence or one side to keep them low). Dandelions in their own permanent spot for roots/flowers/foliage (there are some really pretty varieties). Rhubarb. I really love Amelanchier trees (serviceberry/juneberry) -- pretty flowers, fruit, fall color, they are a such a pretty small tree with all season appeal. Different varieties of Elderberry would be great to have for berries, flowers for cordials, etc. Comfrey is such a great plant, great for poultices, great chop and drop fertilizer, great for making homemade liquid fertilizer. If you do put in a rose arch or similar it would be great to use a variety that has lovely hips in the fall/winter for use in herbal creations.
I can picture a giant "tree" of scarle runner beans - almost like Christmas tree lol by your seating area... Pretty Ostrich ferns (for fiddleheads in the spring🎉!) ... sea kale as a border, and wild ramps encircling your trees/bushes. Hmmm. I love watching you dream.
Hey Jess, 2 ideas: 1- you could make a magical mini orchard of fruit trees and eventually hang hammocks and space nets for the kids. It would be cool to encourage mushroom growth in there as well. 2- you could dedicate the area to native plants which would be very hands-off and learn and observe more about South Carolina’s natural ecosystem. Thanks! You are a badass and also using a proper tortilla press will help get your tortillas to “puff” which is very satisfying
Leaving grass in the high tunnel between the beds sounds like a good idea. The problem we ran into doing that was the grass started coming up in the beds over time and it was a real problem getting it out. You may want to try a thick layer of straw instead. I would run the beds north to south. Put up a long 2 sided pergola and put your grapes on that. You can actually put a couple of chairs under it in the summer. Saw a place in England that had a large trellis area with grapes. They had set the table and chairs under it for their guests at the cafe and it was cool under it in the summer and made it easier for them to pick the grapes. Have you considered nut trees in the grassy area? As they grow, they will provide some shade for the chickens as well as food for any critter (including people) that like them.
Since I’m so early for once I’d like to thank you for helping me in getting back to jesus and the way I was raised. God bless your family
PRAISE GOD. He's been waiting for.uou. Like the one sheep is missing and comes home.
I am excited thank you JESUS.
Love, hug's PRAYERS FROM SE MICHIGAN I love you my SISTER FRIEND SHALOM 🛐🛐🛐
Welcome home 🥹🥹💓
Congratulations. You've done well. Many grand blessings everyone everywhere.
Awesome report!!!
Amen!!
Hi Jess, I am a professional landscaper and gardener in Chicago. Every day I come home and sit and watch your vlog as a prize for hard work well done. Thank you for what you are doing. I wanted to respond to your request for feed back on todays post about what to do with your perennial area. I was in the south on business once in July and the thing that totally stuck with me was the value of shade in southern gardens. It felt like it is an absolute imperative to provide shade as a refuge. I completely understand your full sun garden beds for your food production but if it were me i would consider some large fruit and nut bearing trees as a respite place and an opportunity for other harvest. Again i am no southerner but pecan comes to mind as well as full size peach, plum, persimmon, etc. I am mostly an ornamental gardener and have no idea what would be successful in South Carolina but a shady but productive place would appeal to me.
Great minds think alike. I am also a horticulturalist and landscaper and my comment is quite similar. What a wonderful canvas she has to work with. ☺
Thank you Jess for sharing.❤️✝️🙏
In the 90's, my portfolio got me accepted into a infrared workshop sponsored by Kodak in Gubbio Italy. We went to a restaurant in town that was a huge outdoor patio that was completely covered by an ancient pergola, so covered by grape vines that it was dark shade. It has always stood out in my mind as an awesome space. If you put it in the center, paralell to your road, you could have wide 12' arches at every post ( and grape planting) for paths to come in & out of the rest of the garden. What a nice respite that could be on a hot summer day, yet views of all your gardens.
I love that idea of the grape arbor down the middle, lengthwise!
Do you know about the historical walls around such garden spaces (usually square but could be round)??? The walls held the cool air inside the garden areas while letting hot air escapes upwards. 👍👍👍👍👍 Outdoor air conditioning.
Many grand fabulous enormous amazing delightful blessings everyone and everywhere..
We have a 1 acre food forest in the process that is 100% perennial. We have tons of fruit/nut trees, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, elderberries and goji berries. Some of my other favorite perennials are kaleidoscope kale, cottagers kale, artichoke, asparagus, egyptian walking onions, grapes, and scarlet runner beans. We also have crop plots for things I prefer to keep organized (like my multiple varieties of gourmet garlic, corn, buckwheat etc). Then we are adding a grocery garden, herb garden and medicinal garden in raised beds at the front of the house.
Keep in mind your bird pressure when designing your berry and grape garden. Here in our urban setting we compete with the cardinals, catbirds, robins, starlings and grackles for the fruit. If I had the space, I would construct a walk in fruit cage like you see in the UK.
As another viewer commented, these vines and canes will need considerable pruning and tying up. The berry canes will also spread. It can become very wild on its own.
I think you are on the right track with arches or arbors leading from one garden into the next. Those features are very “Jess”. A seating area, some whimsy and art thrown in are what we love about your gardens.
The berry canes can be kept in check with regular pruning and trellising.
I would put the blackberries closest to the fence, the raspberries, then the grape arbor, something else, the the elderberries by the driveway.
Take a look at GARDEN ANSWER’s blackberry setup. It’s lovely and functional. Great ideas Jess!
I was coming to comment the same thing! The berry beds like on Garden Answer would be perfect!
Along with her grape vine raised bed. She does need to be training those vies now. 😉
they have some interesting raspberry varities as well.
If you do blackberries, I highly recommend thornless. I learned this from “Jacques in the Garden” and have been so grateful when pruning and harvesting not to have to deal with any thorns! Can’t wait to see what you do with the space, Jess! ❤
Agree 💯. I have a Kiowa blackberry and it is a pain
Yes! I just ripped out my thorny black berries and have just planted my first thornless and it’s awesome!
Chester is a great thornless variety. Mine produce fruit from July until mid September here in Maryland.
Agree completely
what varieties of thornless are preferred? Ive found my thornless blackberries to be lacking in taste-could be varietal or I may need to amend the soil.
That space would be lovely as a food forest! I started one in 2019 and it has been amazing! Covered the entire area with cardboard, horse manure and topped with wood chips. My daughter loves to walk through, play and eat whatever she wants. We have plum, apple, elderberry, currants, raspberry, fig along with herbs, rhubarb, strawberries… and more. My husband has even agreed to expand it! Which by the way, he thought I was crazy at first and wanted nothing to do with it.
Jess, sweet sister. You already have the picture in your heart. Lots of good input from your followers, but ultimately you’ve got this. You are such a visionary and so artistic. Everything about your gardens and farm speak creativity and beauty.
ALL THE BERRIES! raspberries, blackberries, grapes, kiwi, haskaps and/or blueberries, currants. gooseberries, elderberries, seaberries. Berry-Lane! So much fun. I'm very excited to see how this space develops, because it's already come a long way. Great job Jess keep it up!
Yes ma'am all the berries ❤ and find golden Raspberries. They are divine! I did a video on making raspberry jalapeno jam with them! Yum 😋
Especially elderberry! For your syrup you make every year! 😊🎉
Yes, blueberries if there’s a variety that will grow that far south.
Your tortillas looked fabulous!👏🏽 Thank you for that super kind compliment🥰 I’ll bring my tortilla press & comal one day and we’ll make you a bunch of tortillas to keep in the freezer!
I would love your babaganoush recipe when you're ready to share! It's one of my favs!
A simple pergola for the grapes to go on! Maybe not so simple and add built in ladders for picking them on two of the sides. That would be so fun for a seating area you talked about! Then it would even it out since you have a seating area on the other side thats similar. Maybe steal if it wouldn't be too hot for the grapes or a stained black wood so the green pops! Then do some benches or bench style SWINGS facing each other! Everything y'all have done so far looks like a dream ! Whatever you come up with will be beautiful ❤
Also golden raspberries are my new favorite! We just planted 3 in the spring and they are so different and beautiful!!! We also got some honey berries and aronia berries that have done well! I think im most excited for our elderberries to bloom! We just did a row to the side of our high tunnel! Natures got the best medicine !!!
For the divider: A wall of roses with an arbor opening in the middle would be gorgeous!
Yes!! Perhaps specific roses bred for big hips to make into soup, tea and medicine?
When using roses as a hedge one must always bare in mind that DEER love roses too. Yummy. he he he.
Elderberry, golden raspberry, gooseberries, boysenberry, serviceberry, currants, honeyberries
If raspberries are on your list of wants for your berry area, consider the Dorman red raspberries. They do great in the south and aren’t effected by the heat and humidity like many other varieties that struggle in the south 😊. I grew up growing raspberries with my dad and was adamant that I would find a variety that would grow in the south that would take me back to my childhood memories with my dad further north. I’m in Charleston sc area and the Dorman reds have not disappointed!
Oh we definitely remember the time you shocked yourself!🤦🏻♀️😉 Garden Answer has a beautiful berry set up. I like the sound of perpendicular rows with a pathway down the middle. Would be awesome if you could find an antique iron gate to add, either working or for trellising.
yes - like her raised bed set-up. I also like the way Jason at CogHill Farm is doing his....he has apples, pears and berries vine trained and then individual blue berry and fig tree plantings.
I agree. The trellises at Garden Answer, and Cog Hill make the long-term maintenance much easier for perennial fruit. I like the idea of a grape vine pergola for shade, too. I've seen them here in Southern California, and they are wonderful in the summer heat.
Leave the peppers in. Harvest ad long as thise planta will give you food. You said it best about how the cold crops will continue to grow through the cold months but before you know it those peppers will be gone thanks to the cold weather. Bythe way you just speak to my soul! I ask got to help me with my issue when it comes to bettering my self and before I know it your video is playing and your speaking to exactly what im dealing with and trying to improve about my self! You have been so good for me!! So thank you so much for that!!
Jess. Remember that even with a perineal garden, change is possible. You can move things around when and if you don’t like them where they are from season to season. Just do what you always tell us to do. Start! You got this! I know it will be beautiful. Your creations always are.
Hello Jess, I am usually just a watcher and not a commenter, I am the Queen of Introverts. Playing in the dirt all day and I am a very happy mini farmer. I grew up in Southeastern Idaho and I was always grateful that my Grand parents and parents had planted fruit trees on the East and West side of each of the gardens. It meant we could pick in the morning until about 9 or 10 and in the evening from 4 to dark. I have lived in Southeastern Washington for the last 20 years and I am so glad I followed their example and planted my Elderberries on the East side and my fruit and nut trees on the West side of my gardens. It makes for a wonderful way to start and end my days. I planted my grape vines right down the center of each garden, they love the sun and the heat. We do our Spring pruning in March and April and we are just now getting ready to harvest. This gives us a much cooler time of the year to do the hard work on the grapes. Another thing that I have found in the last 10 years is that if you are going to plant Blueberries they grow better and are much easier to pick if they are in a raised bed. I don't have as many ankle biters around these days to pick all of the lower berries. I use Cattle Panels to trellis my blackberries and raspberries, you and Jill Reagan convinced me to get the GreenStalks for my Strawberries. I want you to know that you and Miah and your children have been and continue to be a real blessing in my life. Thank you.
I loved your perennial garden in Arkansas! Your rose arbor was so very beautiful and I'd love to see something similar ❤
Having the ability to walk out to your high tunnel garden and harvest organic vegetable whenever you want is a luxurious way to live, keep it up!!!
Have you thought about maybe putting in some L shaped garden beds in that space that you are trying to make decisions on? Maybe out line the four corners of the entire garden bed? Then put your Muscadine trellis on that back side closest to the pasture. Then your fruit trees could be included in those L shaped beds. That would give it a boundary. Maybe in the center do your berry bushes and maybe around those berry bushes you could include some pollinater plants. Kinda like a food forest.
Ooh, I like that!
@@BethHasThoughts thanks!! I thought that would look really good and stage that area well.
What I have been doing for a couple of years now is to chop all veg or fruit, put them on cookie sheets trying to keep the pieces from touching each other and then setting them in the freezer for a couple of hours, and when they're frozen, measuring them into serving sizes, labeling them and bagging them. This keeps the pieces from freezing together and causing more ice to develop. I don't have a vacuum sealer. I did it with muffins the other days too! Works great!❤
Hi Jess! I think a grape polyculture would be really cool instead of one long row of a single variety. It would be beautiful with all the different colors. I've never grown grapes before so I don't know if growing different varieties together would be possible, but it sounded cool in my head!
I think all of your ideas are fantastic! I can’t wait to see what you end up designing! You, Chickie are fabulous! You consistently provide a calm bright light to our days. We thank you.
I hope you consider native persimmons which grow as small trees with an autumn harvest of yummy fruits high in Vitamin A. Hazelnuts are another possibility which grow as shrubs, so yield faster that tree nuts. Love what you're doing!
Once you press the tortillas with the cutting board, you could use the rolling pin to flatten it even more.
Also adding in perennial medicinal herbs like elderberry, yarrow, echinacea, etc would be fun too. Maybe around the seating area so when it's flowering you'd have beautiful accents of color!
If you leave the peppers to over-winter under the high tunnel protected from the frost, they’ll be essentially perennial and you’ll have bigger plants to start from next season.
I’m in Michigan & decided to overwinter a couple pepper plants last year by putting them in pots inside, it worked so well and they were WAY faster to produce than the 1 year plants
Watching this video brought me back to a video you made years ago where you were telling of your troubles with growing peppers. Now look at you go! You have definitely mastered it! God is good ❤
Hi Jess. What about some fruit trees along the edge of the fence line and then short raised bed to reduce the need to till also and it keeps your rows straight.
Hey friend in my head😅... I just recently remembered my favorite meal , fiddleheads- grown from the early shoots of the ostrich fern, if they were under some of the shaded arbor areas they might thrive for you;) also would look gorgeous around the central seating area (throw in some lily of the valley for early scent explosion)✨ I've been looking into this as well and heard the thorned berry bushes are far more productive in general, I imagine a mass planting as you described with a mirrored selection of unique/ thornless varieties imbedded with the central seating area- so there's always a snack in season-for daily enjoyment;) Oh and saffron!!! Beautifully delicious!!!
As always thanks for sharing your joys and disappointments, you have been a massive inspiration for me over the past few years!!!
One thing you may want to consider adding to the perennial garden is onions. (like walking onions, welsh onions, chives) Onions are so useful and they are pest repellent. The perennial types are often overlooked.
I read that they are invasive . She does have lots of other areas though.
I think they can be invasive if you ignore them. Prolific, definitely. I always either pull the walking onions or pull the top sets so that they are controlled. I do pearl onion pickles with the sets and then preserve any extra greens for over the winter. Of course, the climate would have them survive most of the winter there so I am not sure how they would behave. Shallots, red and white welsh, garlic chives, etc, there are so many great choices for sure.
@@angelad.8944 I also use the top sets of walking onions in pickles. There are a few in every jar of dills. In the spring I pull out any excess onions, chop them up and freeze. If you manage the onions they can be kept in check and it is a way to always have onions available.
@@angelad.8944 For me in zone 7b NC, chives are seriously invasive. I have dug up and destroyed so many, I strive to remove every bloom to prevent reseeding and it is years trying to restore 3 years of ignoring the problem.
Some fruit trees, of course! :) The grape vine can be trained to form a gazebo, to offer you some shade in the heat of the summer. And don't forget the greens: sorrel and red orach! The first food of the spring!
My two cents.....lol. I think having a seating area in the middle is a great idea and then around it have squares/rectangle areas kind of like a checker board with a different variety in each square. Whatever you choose with be beautiful. I can't wait to see how it turns out. And maybe you could set up a trail cam to solve the mystery of who's eating what....lol.
Sweet Jess, you mentioned the deer have been eatting your sweet potato vines. Deer love Muscadine Grapes, and there leaves. And of course they love berries. My suggestion, plant deer resistant plants (flowers deer usually don't like, or like very little) around (making a natural fence) your grapes and berries, or place a solar panel deer fence. I have planted Zinnias every where, and the deer leave them alone. I also use Premiere 1's solar panel deer, and small animal electric fence around my garden. The critters leave the garden alone. I love your idea of plantimg grapes and berries going the opposite direction.
For beauty only I would 100% go with a hydrangea hedge!
(You'll obviously have to trim it to make a wall. If that's the look you want!)
OR climbing roses!!!!!!!!
You're an amazingly creative, inspirational and passionate woman. Your vlogs have grown into the most truthful, relatable and honest content around. Thank you for all you do for your community, both near and far.
I look forward to following you along your garden path, where ever it may lead. God bless you.
I love seeing Bear..❤❤❤❤❤❤
O grew okrafor the first time bc I saw your plants snd just loved the flowers on them. I had no idea I woukd have to get out a ladder to cut the pods off! They are 9 feet tall! Thats crazy!
Jess can you over winter your pepper plants to harvest from next year in your high tunnel?
That is exactly what I do with my peppers. Slice them, portion out and vacuum seal.Love baba ganoush! For your tortillas, use a round cast iron pan for flattening that out with a weight or 2 pans on top of each other.
Passion Fruit Vine !!!!! The flowers are beautiful and smell sooooo good plus you get yummy fruit!
In your new perennial garden section may be a mini raised bed of sunchokes. That way you can limit it’s spread and still have flowers in the section. 🥰
Hi Jess! There are two things I thought about for you to consider when laying out your perennial beds. One is, do you need to consider the way the sun hits them, like north to south or east to west, and the second is, do you need to make crossover paths so you do not have to go to the other end of a sixty foot row to get to the other side of it?
Thank you for sharing life with us! It is a blessing!
You could sow clover in the walkways!
When I was a tiny child, we were out in the country, near Spivey’s Corner, visiting my dad’s parents. We went for a walk to look at the hogs and I bumbled into the electric line that was strung around the pens. I remember that clear as day as these decades later.
Everything on your farm is magic. Great job Jessie and crew.❤
Haven't watched the whole vlog yet, but I hope to see you guys work on a storm shelter and Miah's shop asap. :)
Hey, those peppers are awesome! You will love having berries in the garden. When we picked up our raspberry, blackberry and blueberry plants, the grower recommended not to plant them close to each other because they can share disease issues. I didn't listen of course and they seem to be doing ok, so...just, ahh...you know "do as I say not as I do". Also he said we got different varieties of each because it increases fruiting, meaning the blueberries were different varieties from one another, same with the raspberries and we had an incredible raspberry harvest, so much so that I'm seriously sick of raspberries at this point.
I also 💚 preserving my sweet peppers in frozen strips. That's how we use them most. Even if you dont portion them, they separate quite easily.🫑This year, I also did some packages that are a blend of sweet pepper (Gatherer's Gold) and mildly spicy Poblano to use specifically for fajitas when we like a lil' more kick.
Yes you should run your beds the opposite direction giving definition to the space. The high vines in the back will give the space enclosure and privacy. Maybe add some smaller fruit trees as a structure flanking the seating area, 2 or 4. Fig trees are beautiful, or a smallish favorite fruit tree. Blueberries change color and are gorgeous so maybe put them where you can see them from the road. Also, beautiful shrubs like elderberry and hibiscus would add some change in structure next to beds of berries. Creating trellis and arches for climbers like passion fruit and Hop. The designs are endless! Can’t wait to see what you are going to do!
Before you set up the perennials consider the direction of the wind. You want the muscadine running parallel to the wind, and even your berries. High winds can damage everything unless it can easily blow through without the plants becoming a wall, just something to consider before you arrange the area.
I love the idea of turning it into a perennial garden. The only bad thing I can think of is having ALL the bird eating things in 1 spot. You might have to net it!
For something you didn’t mention maybe a passion fruit vine? I’m thinking about trying to grow it this next season!
i've always love the idea of a garden labrynth with a special place in the center. a round pergola with grape vines above, and blackberries on the perimeter building up to the height of the grapevine pergola in the center.
I think the idea of a perennial garden space is a delight! When you were describing the border, I was thinking of making the "fence" with some sort of living hedgerow. My favorites would be the muscadine and scuppernongs, but it might be lovely to put in some thicket-type bushes, also (like elderberry or wild plum) to make a wall of greenery. I would be tempted to use juniper for the berries (and evergreen hedge), but I believe they can spread a virus to other fruits but I am not certain. Whatever grows wild in your area that also produces food could be a great thing to "sprinkle in" as a nod to native plants.
The thicket hedge was what I thought of too, as a border fence, especially with grapevine arched trellises as entrances.
I believe Artichokes are a great perennial in your area. Some for eating some for flowering. Not in a row but throughout. Seeing all the green in the tunnel gave me a magical whimsical vibe. A mix of food and flowers, boulders, and rocks, stepping stones…away from straight paths maybe?
Are you going to use trellising like Cog Hill does for their Berries? I think that would be beautiful in your space.
Thank you again, Jess, for making just the kind of video, where you Just take us a long, while feeding us bits of information, as you go through doing this and that is just so peaceful for me. And I think we all need more of that. Plus I absolutely love the people that you attract and become part of your regular life.
Showing inside greenhouse and then sitting down was very well done. Nice touch. Many grand blessings everyone everywhere.
Highly recommend the Prime Ark Freedom Blackberries. Thornless. I've had berries all summer and still getting them. Large and sweet. Easy care. I wasn't aware that blackberries can spread to the rest of the garden (first time planting them and I didn't do enough homework) but it's pretty simple to pull out a "volunteer" cane - and then have given those to friends to plant in their garden.
Personally, Jess, you can never have enough berries. 😃 We love berries. Blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries..❤❤ Also, we have substituted muscadine jelly for grape jelly. We have lots of muscadines. 😊
My vote for layout is a circular laboranth of berry bushes. ❤❤🫐❤❤
I wonder if you could overwinter peppers in the high tunnel 🤔 prune back, hay on top....might make for early peppers next year, atleast for a few plants. 🤷
I think making a space in the middle with walkways and shorter rows surrounding it is a great idea. Make sure you have some shade and also some pretty flowers tucked in there too.
I really love the idea of making the center your berries and muscidines. I agree with others Garden Answers and Cog Hill Farm has a nice set up for blackberries as well.
Trellised or walled strawberry patches are a neat idea. Ground cherry patches and fig trees as well as blue berries. Love the garden gate or trellis ideas to separate garden rooms.
Huckleberry, blackberry, blueberry, currants. Roses of course. 😊😊😊
Thank you Jess for those beautiful scenes of the garden at the start of the video, it gave me such a huge smile….and let Bear know that includes the majestic video coverage of him!
Please consider elderberries for your plot too. I'm sure you've probably already done this, but it helps me a lot to sketch out the garden area with all the plants I want to grow. Good luck....I'll be anxious to see what you do.
she could like the last row near the fence with them and create some shade for anything that needs a little less direct sun...
Yes, I was going to suggest elderberries. And, they are so pretty, they could be the first row by the driveway, or perhaps second, with lower growing roses or other perennial flowers for the first row.
I’d say go simple and easy. Keep the peppers and enjoy them, use the other high tunnel or spaces for brassicas. You have a lot on your plate right now with a new business, kids, and still recovering from health issues. So just like you tell us the garden doesn’t have to be permanent and you can always change it later if you don’t like it. Keep fencing and gates wide so you can get the side by side or tractor through for hauling compost, harvesting, etc. Also consider what steps now are getting you closer to where you want to be in 5-10 years (business and kid life will also be vastly different then.) Do what will make you happy and give rest. I haven’t forgotten you want to learn to spin! 😉
Orchard space is so valuable
Hey Jess, Y'all should put a trail cam on the sweet potatoes to see if it is deer. I love the idea of a grass path and a couple pushes of a push mower.
I think you should leave the peppers, especially after what happened with the grazon last year. Your peppers are outstanding! With that said, your ideas for the gardens are awesome. The peppers look gorgeous. I can practically smell and taste them as I watch. Maybe start your brassicas now in the high tunnel that will have the grass walkways. Also, perpendicular beds is the best route for the perennial space. I’m looking forward to your gates with the roses arch like you had in Arkansas! Can you do elderberry there? As usual, I love your videos and look forward to them! Sending blessings and love! 🙏🏼❤️
Of course All the berries your family loves to eat. I would suggest because I didn’t 🤪 and wish I had - draw and design your berry trellis system First!!! Then plant within that system. I Love the idea of running the opposite direction from the raised beds. 🥰
Perfect way to start my morning.
Rasberries tend to spread in every direction in my yard. Maybe there is a cultivar that will behave? Othervise it might be a good idea to put the rasberries somewhere you are going to drive around it with lawnmower? They are really everywhere 🙈 othervise it sounds a really nice plan, the arbors always bring joy 😘 and even the perennial stuff CAN be relocated. I do it "all the time", bacause who knows you are going to swim in rasberries until you do?!
I love the idea of the Muscadines along that back fence. I am in the burbs, an my Muscatine are WILD. Took over trees,vetc.
A Huge Pergola for grapes in that entire silage taped area would be stunning. You can have the seating in the center; imagine the draping fruits, the cool respite in summer there
Just one woman's eye
Love ya Jess. So happy to see your dreams fulfilled. You have come so far, and you are not done.
You have plenty of other dates for Blackberries and Blueberries
I'd ask little Ben what he would want growing forever there. After all, the garden boy will turn into your garden man. :)
I'm thinking Mayhaw would be a great southern addition !! I can't wait to see what you do Jess !!! 😊
Keep the peppers; we're having a good late season with them that you can always pickle and freeze plenty. Plant cover crops in potato section like winter rye, hairy vetch, and red clover to feed the soil as they can be sown now and provide green manure that can be mowed for planting in Spring. Make a beautiful pergola walkway/sitting space, Mediterranean grape space with berries planted around, to corners, and sides. Connect the garden spaces with setup to build more around making space for more herbs and flowers. I've tried chip drop for years and never got a dump. Go real, whole foods. Bless you, Jess!
In the South, I've had the best luck with rabbiteye blueberries. Muscadines are native to Carolinas and yummy.
Hi Jess thank you for the video. I've had a ground hog eat all the leaves of my sweet potatoes this year I too thought it was deer but I caught the little one eating. The fence will be helpful. Such a beautiful garden and peppers. What a great decision to have to make. I would pray on it and if you do any sketching I would sketch it out. Or use the drone to take pics and do something with the computer. Take care Jess. I love you and your family. God bless you
JOAN J RASPBERRY is my favorite thing I’ve ever planted. It has the strongest raspberry flavor I’ve ever tasted. It is also highly productive and thornless. I’m sure whatever you decide to plant will be amazing! Blessings from WV. 💜
Joan J works well in Utah's climate, too! Beautiful, large berries. Just get them trellised. We had a windstorm that busted many of our canes at the base because we hadn't trellised them.☹
Plants like a "walk about" every now and then. Don't worry about jumping into perennial plantings:)
We planted a few red gooseberry bushes. They are a yummy perennial. Not quite as sour as the green ones. 😊 Also harvest gold raspberries.
When I was 13 I was invited to an 'upperty' graziers daughters wedding...I thought i was the bees knees in my floral, orange, cutaway shoulders, chiffon dress with orange patent shoes n handbag....this was 1965! 😂
(anyone relate?)
I digress...
Anyway, the cermony was held under a huge grape covered pergola .... big bunches of purple grapes hanging and a gorgeous bride n 3 bridesmaids
n 3 little flowergirls all in white. It was so beautiful n indelible in my memory.
Perhaps a suggestion for yr family weddings Jess🎉🎉
The feast n celebration was in the big barn/shed...you're all set up Jess n Sweetmiah 😂
❤❤ from Oz
I have always had a hope that you would have a tea garden/ medicinal garden space. I would love to watch those things grow in your garden! Maybe even having your own elderberry patch would be fun.
What a good surprise to wake up to after my nap. Good morning Jess
Jess, three words.....sweet potato tortillas. Too good!
Funny, I never heard of muscadine and was going to suggest some type of grapes. We enjoyed concords along an old wooden fence line as a kid. I like the idea of the perpendicular lines to your garden and maybe you could add breaks in those beds at varying lengths so you can pass through the rows and also form a secret garden feel.
Muscadines are native to the southern US. Wild grapes still grow in the woods around here, but muscadines are mostly domesticated now. The wild ones are known as bullis grapes.
Awe.. Sweet Jess... What a nice way to keep my morning going!
Bush cherries all kinds of berries and currents figs sunchokes maybe a chicken garden ground cover with mustard kale etc so you can have greens late for chickens. Outside big beds of peanuts to pick about now. Sweet potato beds leaving a few to replant themselves for next time. What do you like to eat that you don't have much of. What about a trellis of climbing butterbeans outside. Early green peas around the edges
Hi Jess! I have done my peppers in strips for the freezer for years and Iove being able to grab them for a stir fry or whatever and just throw them in a pot and cook them up. I also have frozen them cut into halves for stuffed peppers. Enjoy, and thanks again for all your lovely content. You are a bright spot in my day when I get to sit and listen to you chat.
I love the idea of making it a perennial, medicine garden. Elderberries, Aronia berries (chokecherry), horseradish, comfrey, perennial alliums, garlic, apple trees for making apple cider vinegar (you could espalier them along the fence or one side to keep them low). Dandelions in their own permanent spot for roots/flowers/foliage (there are some really pretty varieties). Rhubarb. I really love Amelanchier trees (serviceberry/juneberry) -- pretty flowers, fruit, fall color, they are a such a pretty small tree with all season appeal. Different varieties of Elderberry would be great to have for berries, flowers for cordials, etc. Comfrey is such a great plant, great for poultices, great chop and drop fertilizer, great for making homemade liquid fertilizer. If you do put in a rose arch or similar it would be great to use a variety that has lovely hips in the fall/winter for use in herbal creations.
row of cut and cut again flowers along the driveway to brighten your day as you drive passed!
I can picture a giant "tree" of scarle runner beans - almost like Christmas tree lol by your seating area...
Pretty Ostrich ferns (for fiddleheads in the spring🎉!) ... sea kale as a border, and wild ramps encircling your trees/bushes. Hmmm. I love watching you dream.
About separting the perennial garden from the raised bed garden: Have you considered a natural fence aka hedge? This could also be an edible plant.
Hey Jess, 2 ideas:
1- you could make a magical mini orchard of fruit trees and eventually hang hammocks and space nets for the kids. It would be cool to encourage mushroom growth in there as well.
2- you could dedicate the area to native plants which would be very hands-off and learn and observe more about South Carolina’s natural ecosystem.
Thanks! You are a badass and also using a proper tortilla press will help get your tortillas to “puff” which is very satisfying
Leaving grass in the high tunnel between the beds sounds like a good idea. The problem we ran into doing that was the grass started coming up in the beds over time and it was a real problem getting it out. You may want to try a thick layer of straw instead. I would run the beds north to south. Put up a long 2 sided pergola and put your grapes on that. You can actually put a couple of chairs under it in the summer. Saw a place in England that had a large trellis area with grapes. They had set the table and chairs under it for their guests at the cafe and it was cool under it in the summer and made it easier for them to pick the grapes. Have you considered nut trees in the grassy area? As they grow, they will provide some shade for the chickens as well as food for any critter (including people) that like them.
I grow my blackberries on arched cattle panels. It looks great and makes for harvest and maintenance.
I LOVE seeing Gabriel make an appearance ❤ haven't seen him in a while