We Built a Garden

After plenty of hemming and hawing around about whether or not I wanted to have a garden, we finally decided to just go for it.  The recovering perfectionist part of me didn't want to go through with it if I couldn't have a lush, beautiful garden full of lovely vegetables that we eat and share in abundance.  Okay, once I got over that dream, I decided it would just be a lot of fun to plant things and watch them grow with Aria and eat the fruits of our labor, if it worked out.  After surveying our yard, I felt there was really only one perfect place for the garden.  If you've been to our house, when you walk out onto our deck, the garden is just to the left.  It is on the east side of the house, so it gets awesome morning sun and goes into the shade by about 2:00 pm these days.  I figured that was perfect to avoid the hot summer afternoons (if they ever arrive).  It is also kind of in a corner where we rarely play, so it wasn't taking up any t-ball, soccer ball, or swinging space. 

I wish I would have taken some before pictures, but I thought of it too late.  If I wanted to search through pictures I might be able to find something that shows the area, but I don't feel like doing that.  The first step in making a garden was to remove the day lilies and landscaping that was in the spot.  I really liked the day lilies and was struggling with just pulling them out, so I decided to transplant them to the front of our house by the sidewalk where there were some bushes I could take or leave.  I removed the bushes and transplanted the lilies, which was a success.  Next step was to prepare the ground for the new garden.  We whacked off the grass and tilled up the land.  Then with help from our parents, we built a box approximately 12' by 6'.  Then we got some free, awesome compost dirt (1800 pounds to be exact) and filled up the box.  Finally came the fun part, planting!

Aria has been really excited about the garden throughout the whole process!  We picked out some seeds of things we liked to eat and got them in the ground.  They may not have been planted at exactly the right time or in the perfect way, but it is our first experiment.  Maybe I will research and plan for it a bit better next summer.  We bought peas, radishes, carrots, and green beans.  A fun moment happened because we planted the peas first.  Aria noticed they were peas, just like we eat.  So when I opened the package for the carrot seeds, she was expecting to see tiny carrots.  She was a great digger and planter!  She also loves to water.  I also decided to get a few plants, in case the seeds don't work out.  We have two tomato plants, two pepper plants, and a cucumber plant. 

Here is a picture from the deck of our masterpiece!  Justin finished it off by putting up the chicken wire to keep the bunnies out.  I didn't want to go to all that hard work just to feed the animals!  The fence also keeps Augie out, who was rather interested in the whole process.  You can see the plants we planted at the top and if you look closely, you can see some tiny green coming up in the radish row near the bottom!  It was fun to build, fun to plant, and fun to already see some growth!  Hopefully it will continue to prosper and be enjoyment for all!