Order in the Garden

   Matt and I have been working very hard over the last few months to get our first veggie garden up and running.  Neither of us have ever really done with before as Matt is from Arizona and I am a nomad.  However, it is looking pretty good!

  First we started by building two raised beds which are 8ft by 4ft.  I read somewhere this was about the biggest you could make it while still being able to reach into the middle and not have to step in it.

   We then covered the area with black plastic to kill the grass underneath.  It took a month or more for the grass to die and then we tilled it all up.

  This process was the least fun but it aerated the soil and helped break up the ground. Our soil is really bad so we had to add bags and bags of compost and top soil to make it good for the plants.

 

  Since it took so long for us to get the beds ready we were not on top of starting everything from seed.  We bought some tomato, onion, broccoli, eggplant and pepper plants just so we knew we would have something.  That is the first bed on the left. We also just added some basil and thyme. It really amazes me how much can grow in such a small space. 

  And this is what it looks like two weeks later. The tomato plants are starting to get big so we had to get supports for them.  We also noticed some cat/raccoon activity on the other bed so Matt put up some green plastic fencing to keep them out. Cross our fingers it works!

  Besides the two beds we made in the front yard I also cleared a little area on the side of the house.  Right now I only have sugar snap peas there.  Again, this is my first attempt at this so I may have done it horribly wrong. They seem to be pretty happy though.

  I did manage to start some plants from seed.  I got the idea from Pinterest to put the seeds in egg cartons so they have their own individual spots. This worked good but getting them out of there can be a bit of a pain.  But over-all I would recommend this as a cheap and environmentally friendly way to start your seeds.

  We are also happy to report that our dwarf cherry trees have tiny green cherries on them!  The two that we planted last year are doing so well we are thinking about putting more along the side fence.  The idea of homemade cherry jam is a huge incentive.

  All-in-all we have no idea how much food we are actually going to get for all this effort.   I can't say this project has made our house any less ugly or increased the value but it has made up happy and excited to see what will grow.