On the Fence...

I was still on the fence about starting a garden until last night. We received a couple of those tiny pots with seeds to plant yourself for Easter and last night the Prince and I did a "project". Basically you get the little pellet of dirt wet and then plant 4-5 seeds and wait for them to grow. The Prince was so excited about the prospect of something growing that he had to check them about ten times before bed. So...I'm going for it!! This weekend I'm planning to start some more seedlings and keep them in our sun filled porch until late May. I guess our last freeze is approximately May 21st so I'm about 6 weeks out to start some of my seedlings.

I am a complete newbie regarding this stuff! I have a bunch of seed packets that I picked up at my company's annual meeting (for free!) and I hope that they are still good. The Husband is going to make me some raised beds with all the leftover building material in our garage (free again!) and I just got an email this morning about some organic compost that I can purchase for "dirt" cheap (yeah, I went there) and it will be delivered right to my work. It all seems fortuitous so I guess it was meant to be. Now I just need to pick up some enriched soil and start a'plantin'!

I found this great tool at the Gardener's Supply Company website and here's what I have picked out so far...

This is the map for my 3 foot by 6 foot by 10 inches raised bed garden. This tool also gives you a step by step instruction guide on the best way to plant each type of vegetable that you choose - essential when talking to a black thumbed newbie! This is pretty ambitious for me so I am going to reserve the right to scale back slightly!!

Basically I chose vegetables that I like and I know my family will eat and are simple to grow. I figure the more leeway I give myself the better! I also want to try my hand at canning pickles (hence the cucumbers and dill). I have no idea if these veges will grow well together or if they will strangle each other out, but it's all worth a shot right? Again, this is my first attempt at this so I think as long as I get the plant to grow out of the dirt I'll consider it a success!

I'll also need to fence the entire thing in like Fort Knox. I'm hoping that chicken wire can keep all the animals out and my friend and fellow blogger gave me the idea of using a pepper spray to keep the insects from having their fill. You literally use pepper flakes and water and spray the leaves of the plant. She actually saves the pepper seeds that you would normally throw away while cooking and makes her own from scratch! I'm hoping to score some chicken wire for free too (Craig's List here I come!)

By posting this for the world to see I'm hoping it will keep me honest and actually DO this project. Not just for my son but for me and my whole family. If this whole garden thing works out my next project will be to start my own compost. I guess we all need to start being more green, eh?