Survival Gardening with David The Good
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Grocery Row Garden Hits & Misses
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Grocery Row Garden Hits & Misses
m in New Mexico, ~5,000 feet in elevation, zone 7b (so arid and too cold for citrus). I started the GRG system with 2 peach trees and an apple having already read Grow a Little Fruit Tree. I transplanted two of the trees while they were dormant last winter.
Peaches do well here, other than they keep trying to blossom too early and get frosted (I’m going to try stripping the leaves next spring). The apples have done ok, as have pears, not great. I’m trying out different varieties with different chilling hours/fruiting times.
The one peach that was not transplanted has spread its leaves enough to actually shelter strawberries. I’ve tried strawberries 4 years now and for the first time I have living plants that are sending out runners.
A late-planned apricot is doing great, it is surrounded by peppers, tomatoes, and a few other herbs/veggies, I’m wondering if that extra care and extra shading helped it?
Later in the season, after monsoon rains started, I planted some very small figs and pomegranates, these have done very well. I’ve never eaten these fruits but I’m sure I’ll love them. 😀
I getting pounded on bushes though. I After many dead plants this spring, I have some Goji berries growing, despite the blister beetles and a few tomato hornworms. I planted 2 elderberries last fall, one has survived. And rhubarb has done fairly well, as has rosemary. I’ve recently planted two raspberries, I’ll see how they do in the summer heat next year. I’d like to grow some blackberries, a few thorny roses (keep the cats from eating all the lizards), and some nitrogen fixing bushes.
Tomatoes and hot peppers did well, it is shocking to see the plants manage to come back from defoliation by bugs. I’ve tried some seeds from Native Seed Search in Tuscan, and I’m pleased with them.
My upcoming plans are to plant winter wheat as a cover crop, add more GRG rows, put in drip irrigation (I’m also off-grid, which complicates this issue), and try hard to get more mulch. I do have chickens and goats, so I can add their leavings to the soil, which is still mostly just dirt.
I’m really excited about this system, and so thankful to David the Good for publishing it. It’s a lovely mix of chaos with structure.
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2 Replies
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Nice, It will be interesting to see how it does once a bit more canopy comes in.
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My daughter worked at Philmont Ranch this summer and the beauty of that corner in NM is hard to believe. I visited a vegetable/fruit garden there (Chase Ranch) and there was some real challenges but it was a beautiful and productive garden. They had a traditional apple orchard there too.
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