Garden Prep is Hard Work.

     I have been fantasizing for years about having a huge garden in which I can grow whatever I want. I got a taste of that dream last year when we put in two 4 ft by 8ft garden beds in the front yard last year. Below is an awkwardly angled photo of how those two beds turned out last year. So it is with great expectations and excitement that we have been working on the side yard.

    As I may have mentioned earlier we had planned on putting bark chips down in the side yard so that Banjo could play ball. However, he doesn't really like to play ball in our yard so we decide that using it to feed ourselves would be a better idea. Below is a reminder of how the side yard looked last year.

     The black plastic is to kill the "grass". The last owner was older and obviously was not too worried about landscaping or decorating. But after much back breaking labor of ripping up crappy soil and adding bags of compost this is how it looks.

     We didn't go all the way to the walk way because we have plants to (some day) widen it. Right now it is a little narrow and can be hard to navigate with the yard waste bin and even your own feet. In my dream world we will put down nice paving stones or something else pretty. In the real world we are going to add some kind of low fence so the dog doesn't run in there. My seedlings are doing great and we will start planting as early as next weekend.

     I took this photo last week and already everything in there is twice this size. I have a couple different kinds of tomatoes, tomatillos, jalapenos, cauliflower, broccoli, basil and sugar snap peas. The sugar snap peas already busted out of the bottom of their containers.

      So I popped them into one of the beds in the front. Next weekend I plan on putting up a trellis or something for them to grow up. I had this same kind last year and they grew like crazy. They are wonderful to snack on right off the vine.

     There is a lot more to be done as always. Big dreams as usual!