Our All-New Approach to Gardening!

The memories of last year's gardening disaster have almost been forgotten, but we're not taking any chances. This is our chance to start fresh with a new system, one that relies heavily on actual gardening principles according to established rules and geographic conditions.

I somehow managed to convince Adam to give up three beautiful spring weekends to help me build two raised garden beds, each constructed of 4'x6' untreated, naturally rot-resistant cedar boards.

Even though we carefully measured, we still needed to "make it work". TJ understood the solemnity of the situation.

We chose the sunny south side of our garage for our garden, which was good for two reasons: first, it followed those pesky gardening rules, and second, it gave me a chance to actually visit this unused corner of the yard. In fact, this area has become the hot new hang-out. Stop by for a drink sometime.

We needed to first remove the existing lawn, a job Adam took great pride in accomplishing.

After the beds were constructed and the lawn was removed, we were able to secure the beds into the ground (leveling optional). I forget why we added stakes to the corners, but I'm fairly certain it was for a good reason.

I eagerly and earnestly started a compost pile two years ago upon receipt of a free compost bin, but forgot to water and/or turn it during that entire time. It appears that my plan worked! We were able to recover mostly usable finished compost to add to the garden. The stubborn bits were returned to the compost bin in its new south side location. Adam has informed me that he will be taking over the job of Compost Manager in the future. My plan works again!

In addition to our existing topsoil and finished compost, we purchased several 40-pound bags of compost to add to the beds and worked it into the garden. This process will be repeated next spring, and I'll probably recycle this photo for next year's post.

I was excited to start planting, so the cool-season crops are already in: lettuce, spinach, chard, onions, carrots, broccoli, peas... The beds are small, so I'm sure I've overplanted and will need to thin everything out. Fortunately, the copy of Square-Foot Gardening that I requested through my local library will be in tomorrow. Unfortunately, I will not heed its advice until next year.

The plastic fencing was a last-minute addition to buy us some time against the rabbits. It may not work, but at least we can say we tried. And, really, that's what this whole experiment is about.