To get started, I think I need to backtrack. I love gardening... well... I think I do. When I was a kid, one of our chores was to weed one of my mom's garden beds. I remember oddly enjoying this task. Perhaps my mind is playing tricks on me and I really loathed that job, but I'm pretty sure I would rather pick weeds in a garden than clean my room. That still stands today.
Fast forward to my first house. My friend and I went in on some gardening supplies - books, planters, even plants, and we tried to plant a garden. I don't know how hers turned out, but mine fried to a crisp. Looking back, I don't know why I thought I could make ANYTHING survive in an Arizona summer. That wasn't too bright. Lettuce was
definitely not the best crop to try out. I resolved that I have a black thumb and must never garden again. Well, at least that's what my husband resolved.
Now fast forward to 2010 -- everyone and their dog has a garden now. I saw a community garden sign near our residential suburb. Why do we need a community garden when we all have backyards? I don't know. I guess some people don't have backyards. Others yards aren't suitable for gardening. But
my yard is suitable. Surely my yard is big enough for one little raised garden bed?! My mother prods me along -- yes, definitely you can have one little raised garden bed!
My parents came to visit in March. They were going to help me set up my garden and the kids would enjoy it immensely. After much planning and consideration, we headed to Lowe's to pick up the supplies. Some 4x8's, some fasteners, some seeds, and we came home. Once I flipped through the gardening book, I wanted to plant so much more than I had space for. Our one little box quickly grew to two square boxes and a circle. Then a planter. Then I scrounged a couple of barrels from the neighbor's trash pile. Much work and effort went into putting the boxes together and getting everything ready. We had a load of dirt delivered to the house and after much shoveling & wheelbarrowing, the garden beds were ready.
Our first box has pole beans along the back - ready to climb up the fence. We have two hills of zucchini, one hill for a potato, a hill for some tomato seeds, two rows of carrots, a row of bell pepper plants, some basil, and a row of marigolds in the front. In the circle, we have strawberries. My mom assures me these will grow and spread to take up the whole box. I'm not believing her yet.
Then the last box became my odds & ends box since it was planted after my parents left. I purchased pea plants from Lowe's and also scored three broccoli plants (on clearance!). I planted the peas with sunflowers every other plant. Purchased two pepper plants - one red, one orange, and tried to rescue a crookneck squash from clearance (he didn't make it... I blame the toddler pulling out his main stem). I ended up replacing the crookneck remains with a roma tomato plant - because I needed more instant gratification than the cherry tomatoes were giving me. I also found some Adirondack Blue seed potatoes and planted them with much enthusiasm. Rescued a parsley and an oregano plant from the clearance section and finished off the box with some tomatillos. When I said we could make salsa with these, my son with
much enthusiasm said "YES! I
LOVE salsa!!" and the seeds were scattered all over the place. That box makes me smile.
So that's the beginning of my backyard garden. I enjoyed putting the work and effort into planting it and I will enjoy sharing what I have gotten out of it!
