So proud of myself

I FINALLY planted a vegetable garden! It was inspired by Mel Bartholomew's book Square Foot Gardening. I meant to build one last spring but the first picture shows how far I got. I basically built two square raised beds and left them sitting there for a year - I didn't even add soil. So this spring I basically had to re-start seeing as all the weeds that we pulled last year had returned.


Got to love pulling weeds. I was surprised to find that the soil had changed a lot since last year. Last year it was practically dust and hard as a rock - this year it even had worms and snails living in it!


Weed pulling took longer than everything else combined. The green trash bin to the right is our city's mandatory compost bin. You put all your garden clippings, unused food, etc. in it and they pick it up once a week. It usually smells so bad I gag every time I go near it. :)


After the weeds, I nailed weed cloth to the bottom of the raised beds and put potting soil mix from our local nursery inside. Hopefully this will reduce the amount of weed pulling needed in the future. The wood slats we nailed across the top of the beds are supposed to help us measure the space for planting. For example, lettuce can be planted six inches apart so you can plant four per square foot. Broccoli, on the other hand, needs more space so you can only plant one per square foot.


The planted boxes! I go out back and check on them as often as I can, half expecting them to be all shriveled up or attacked by an animal. I find myself worrying about it sometimes - is it too hot or too cool; is there enough water, sun... I even dream about it sometimes! I'm a typical first time gardener - clueless and hopeful.


Box #1: Cauliflower, lettuce, peas, tomato, spinach, onions, red bell pepper, strawberry, basil and broccoli.


Box #2: Strawberry, cucumber, edamame, cherry tomato, yellow bell pepper, broccoli, tomato, cauliflower.


I recently read something about the significance of the garden in the creation stories. The book, End of Religion, says, "A garden is a meeting place between nature and human culture. It reflects both divine and human creativity, as opposed to the extremes of a city on the one hand and a forest (or jungle, depending on how tropical you like your analogies) on the other. Genesis shows us that God's original design for humanity was an intimate, purposeful relationship between himself and humanity, expressed through a cocreative partnership." (End of Religion, pgs. 197-198)