While I realize that having a vegetable garden at the front of your house is not looked highly upon, I persisted and the bed is finally in (per HOA regulations). It was a lot of work to dig out all that dirt and put a raised bed into the ground to please the HOA. Don't you think it would look better raised and painted white to match the siding like I had originally planned? Yeah, I know I need to get over it but it certainly smarts. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to spruce up the yard to make it look more acceptable?
Here are my babies basking in the sunlight. I had weird germination rates among my seedlings and ended up with a bunch of broccoli, almost no spinach and one type of lettuce didn't germinate at all. Today I am going to start my tomatoes and I already direct seeded spinach, vit mache, peas, and scallions.
We also bought supplies to make our worm composter and I bought our worms off of Ebay. I am hoping they will arrive this week so that I can start composting ASAP.
As far as the budget is concerned, we budgeted $200 for this project
$45 went to seeds and starting supplies (these should last 2+ years)- $42.31 for general gardening supplies
- $110 to build the bed and fill it with "Mel's Mix"
- $11 for supplies for the worm composter
- $30 for worms
Needess to say we went over budget because of the vermiculite and we had a hard time locating compost. Vermiculite is $24 for 4 cu. ft. and we only needed 6 so we have a bunch left over. Does anyone want to buy some discounted vermiculite? It makes a lovely soil mix when combined with equal parts peat moss and compost. ;)
5 comments:
Have you heard of putting seeds in a can for food storage? My Relief Society is doing a project where we're making cans filled with seeds so if there comes a time we can't get fresh produce, we can grow it.
Great Carrie!
Why do you think you need to "spruce up the yard"? I think it looks really good now and will only get better as your garden grows.
Hey, I meant to respond to your comment a while back, but I had just been reading "Square Foot Gardening" when you recommended I check it out. I liked the idea of it. For our rental we are going to do non raised beds again this year. The cheap way.
Can't wait to watch your garden grow!
Becky, I have heard of that though I think it is a silly idea if you just put seeds in a can instead of actually using them and learning how to garden and save your own seeds. How many people who can them actually know how to grow strong seedlings and protect against pests? BTW those cans are only good for 5 years TOPS. My suggestion is to plant a small container garden with them and figure it out.
Kelly, I am going to put some perennial herbs out in front of the bed like rosemary, lavender, chives and thyme. That way I am filling some space and using it as well.
Square Foot Gardening is great. And I agree with Kelly. you don't need to spruce it up at all. As long as you keep it in those grids and keep it well groomed, I think it is going to look lovely. Way to go!
Good luck with your garden! This year the seeds that sprouted in my garden are pumpkin, watermelon, squash, tomatoes, and CARROTS! I am so excited to see what happens with the carrots because I haven't tried them in years past! I am so excited about the tomatoes because I couldn't get them growing last year...Anyways, I've found gardening kind of addicting :). Hope you enjoy yours!!
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