Happy Earth Day

In honor of Earth Day, I figure it's only fitting to show you the work we've done on our very first garden. When buying our house, the hubs and I were constantly discussing our plans to make this huge garden that would be so overflowing in harvest bounty we'd never have to buy produce again. Lo, our reality garden isn't quite as spectacular as we had worked up our imaginary garden to be, but it suits us just right. After browsing the internet for hours researching how to best start an amateur garden, we decided to keep things simple. Let's face it. I was going to be the one weeding and watering and gathering, so I really didn't want to get in too far over my head. Instead of the pretty and comfortable raised beds that I originally had my heart set on, we went with the normal run of the mill in-ground. It was mainly a cost effective move on our part. By going the standard route, we avoided spending $ on lumber, weed barrier, dirt, and supplies.

The space we designated for the garden was a narrow strip of yard between the apple trees and the fence that we couldn't make head or tails of how else to utilize. It ended up fairly convenient that way since it won't take up any yard that we could use otherwise, for things like a swing set or outdoor gaming area. When we had the what and the where we got started on the when...NOW! We're well after last frost and need to get this thing planted already. We jetted off to Home Depot for our veggies and herbs and found a new surprise when we got there. In all our research, somehow we missed that you have to start the seeds indoors a few weeks ahead. Monkeywrench. So our way of getting around that speedbump was buying seeds for all the veggies we wanted that could go straight into the ground and buy started plants for all the others that couldn't. That way we save a bundle in cash since the plants are twice as spendy.

At home with our goodies in hand, we got started on the digging. We dug out a 3X7 plot and tilled up the dirt with bloodmeal after weeding it thoroughly. Then planted away. I also decided that we'd plant a square foot garden. We didn't really have a whole lot of room for rows and square foot sections are really easy to manage and reach. Right now about half of the garden is planted. We have a few variations of the same veggies, like cucumbers and lemon cucumbers. Instead of planting them all at once, we decided to stagger the planting so we don't have one huge harvest that we can't eat up. This way we'll have nummies all summer long hopefully.

Fortunately, we already had a few pieces of 2X4 on hand that worked well to create edging around the garden to give it a nice finished look and to make mowing around it easier. I can't wait to see the fruits of our harvest! Hopefully, we have the green thumbs to make this garden work. Fingers crossed! Happy Earth day!

xoxo, Saybher