Instead of keeping a paper diary I thought this would be an interesting way to track what is happening in my garden this year. The garden came about from a lifelong dream to have my own vegetable garden. The recent rise in food prices also contributed to a sense of urgency to finally get this done. This year I finally had the time, space and resources to be able to make it happen.
Veggie Garden 1.0 is approx 32′ x 32′ fenced using t-posts and 16′ feedlot panels. Using wire clips to attach the panels to the posts was both tiresome and painful, so I used 8 inch plastic zip ties for most of it. The plastic is not really designed for outdoor use, so it will be interesting to see how well they hold up over the year (and hopefully longer). It sure was a fast and easy way to get the fence set up though. Huge thanks go out to Mom, Ade, Carrie and Allison for being troopers and providing a HUGE boost getting the fence up!
The garden itself has 5 18′ x 3′ raised rows about 6 inches deep that run east-west. There are also 3 approx. 3′ circular mounds of dirt about 10 inches deep that are going to be used for melons, winter squash and gourds. 10 cubic yards of Topsoil Plus were purchased from Jones Topsoil, of which about 6 cubic yards were used to make the initial beds. The rest of the topsoil will be used to fill in the existing beds when I box them in, and to make new beds as the garden is expended next year.
The garden was ready for planting approx. May 25. In the beginning of April I had started some tomato, eggplant, pepper and marigold seedlings in the basement, so these went in first followed by some squash plants Mom had started in her greenhouse a couple weeks prior.
This is my first year gardening for myself, so there is a lot to learn. Already there seems to be not enough space to plant everything I want to plant. Spacing was also an issue, as was the number of things that were planted (zucchini anyone?). Hopefully this blog will allow me to keep track of these issues and make adjustments either on-the-fly or next year.
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