My Garden: Then and Now

Come with me on a trip down memory lane for a short two minute video. After viewing it you will have a greater understanding of my yearning and my desire to improve the view from my back door.

It seems like such a daunting task. After three years of terrible drought conditions and many many water restrictions I have decided to throw caution to the wind and take a leap of faith that we will have a season of wonderful rain showers to help my fledgling garden take root.

I have only scratched the surface on transforming the barren wasteland that is my backyard.

It must begin somewhere and the first shovel full of dirt has been turned over and the process has begun.

Several weekends ago I set out to get my veggie garden ready. I have always wanted a raised garden bed and I decided that since I was starting from scratch it seemed only logical to take the necessary steps, and selfishly I just couldn't take it any longer. I just wanted it, I felt like a toddler stomping her little feet screaming "Garden Nooooooooow! Garden Nooooooooow!"

I have grown so tired of having no desire to even open my back door or look out my windows.

Now I am fuelled with the new seeds of anticipation as I begin to make the plans for my new garden.

So.......here I go!

Sunday, March 8, 2009

My sweet hubby took time away from his first NASCAR race of the season to help me out.

He got out the old tiller and broke up the ground for me.

This is the beginning of my future veggie garden!

A weekend of rain about sent me over the edge as I was chomping at the bit to get out in the back yard to finish but as all gardeners know patience is the key. Things in the garden evolve on a schedule that has little to do with my eager anticipation.

Friday March 20th, 2009

The ground has been broken up and I have raked out all the dead grass and large stones.

After two hours of shoveling......a really big pile of dirt and a good cardio workout this is the end result.

As I was shoveling I began to ponder on all the movies I have seen. "Gone with the Wind" comes to mind. The scene where Scarlett shoots the Yankee deserter and then drags his dead body out to the garden to bury him but not before searching his pocket for loose change. As I was shoveling those heavy mounds of dirt from one place to another I began to have a healthy respect for grave diggers. They make it look so easy in the movies.

But then we did not get to see Miss Scarlet actually welding her shovel. But I digress.

Back to my huge pile of dirt. All the dirt I shovel out will have to be shoveled right back in again once the weed barrier is securely in place.

It seems a bit counterproductive to haul all that dirt out only to shovel it back again , however having struggle for years with the endless weeding in my old veggie patch, I have vivid memories of wishing I had taken the extra effort from the beginning. And given the fact that this veggie patch is about half the size of my previous garden it seems like a small price to pay to cut back on the weeds a bit. I know the weeds will not be completely eliminated but in my book every little bit helps.

Ready for the weed barrier to go down.

Saturday, March 21: The first full day of Spring.

The next day I again require my sweet hubbies help.

Now let me just draw you a picture. I find it so interesting in the differences between the male brain and the female brain. There were thing about the construction of my veggie garden that I seriously never considered. I would have simply laid down the pavers around the perimeter and gone on about my merry way.

The DH, well one day when I'm hanging out with Jesus he will explain to me exactly why men and women are so different, he took great painstaking effort to ensure that each paver was plumb and level. We measured from corner to corer (multiple times), we set up a guide string with a tiny level suspended from it to ensure that it was true to the horizon. I am sure that this contraption has an engineering term, however I will affectionately call it a "string thingy". After much setting and resetting, ground tamping, re-leveling, hammering and pounding the DH was finally satisfied.

I have learned after some 26 years of marriage that it is simply easier to stand back with my mouth shut. I also have learned that having it done right is much more important than having it done now. But this attention to detail and this desire to ensure that it gets done properly is one of the reason I love my hubby. Over the years we have been married his ability to fix, assemble and maintain have been a true blessing.

It is plumb and level (quite possible earthquake proof), but not exactly as the corner to corner dimension are off by one inch. I kindly and gently remind my DH that nature is an imperfect thing and that it will be all right. However, I do have to make a run to the nearest home improvement store to purchase additional pavers as I lack 10 or so to complete the top row. I have some large stepping stones filling in the gaps for now. However I am not going to let this deter me from getting the garden planted. The non-uniformity may be keeping the DH up at night but I am happy as a clam with the end results.

Bless his heart he even grabbed a second shovel and helped me chuck all that dirt right back in.

I got me a keeper ladies!

In go the amendments, top soil, mushroom compost, nature's helper and moo-nure.

I love their slogan by the way "We are number 1 in the number 2 business!"

So here it is!

My raised veggie bed! In a few weeks when the danger of frost is past it will be filled with tomato plants, zucchini, cucumbers, green beans.....

Blessings Farmer Robin