Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Breaking ground





Breaking ground- This is where my garden was last year.  Our yard is a little uneven so my husband had to use his John Deer tractor to make it nice and even.  Luckily, we were both off this past Wednesday so I was able to help him.

My father-in-law gave us all the lumber we needed to build the beds. We worked together for hours banging the stakes into the dirt, placing the boards on the ground, nailing pieces together. 

The final beds are 16'x 5' and 16'x6'.  The bottom of the photo is where where our deck begins.  We are going to put crushed stone down around the beds.  I will be able to easily drive a tractor around the beds which will help me with pulling weeds!  We had garden ready loam delivered this week. Since I am off this weekend I am hoping for nice weather to plant my seeds.  If all goes well I will have another posting on Saturday!

Recap of last year


I started this blog as a way to chronicle my journey and possibly connect with people who are also working on their green thumb!  A little bit about myself.  Last year I was promoted with my company and with that came a much shorter commute to work.  I needed a hobby. With all my free time I decided I would start a little garden in my back yard.  I went to the Home Depot and bought a little seed starter set.
Every night I would come home from work to find another little sprout had popped through the soil or that a little plant had grown another inch.  The soil wasn't ideal for the vegetables due to the many rocks and high clay content so my husband tried his best to make it better by adding in some manure and other such items. Also, over the course of the summer we redid our backyard and cut down quite a few trees so that allowed my little veggies to get a lot more hours of sunlight! I would definitely say that last year was a success.  I spent about $15 on seeds and plants and about $10 on soil.  In the garden I planted cucumbers, squash, zucchini, beans, tomatoes, lettuce, radishes, peppers, eggplant and carrots. I had much success with the cucumbers, squash and beans.

 A bumble bee pollinating from a cucumber flower.


Besides being able to save money there simply isn't anything like having a fresh veggie from my garden.  Fresh veggies just taste so pure and delicious.








This year we decided to create two raised beds.  It has definitely been quite the undertaking and I thank my husband for being so helpful!  My next post will be an update on the beds