Well, it's been a just over a year since my last blog entry...let's see if I can make it 2 entries this year!
As you can imagine a lot has happened in a year and it amazes me how quickly it has gone by, kind of scary actually... So I'm starting fresh, remembering to appreciate and enjoy the simple things in life and it began today with my garden. Thanks to a little inspiration from the 2 community gardens in our homeschool co-op, I decided to bring our gardens back to life. This is what my beds looked like at the beginning:
Thankfully, I had very little weeding to do but unfortunately my cat has been using the beds as a litter box. I decided to put my mind at ease about any residual poo & dug down about 4" and removed that dirt. I then laid down a layer of newspaper before I put my new soil mix on top. I decided square foot gardening was the way to go. I've been blessed to get some wonderful information from a fellow square-foot-gardener who did a lot of research and reading ahead of me but I know there will definitely be some trial and error on my part. One can only learn so much from others and just like in life, sometimes you have to learn on your own. I used a mix of vermiculite, peat moss, mushroom compost and hen manure. I can't tell you how nice it felt to run may hands all through that dirt to mix it. Yes, the hen manure stunk but there was just something so relaxing about feeling that fresh loose dirt run through my fingers. I know...weird. My dear sweet sister dropped by to be a spectator but I guess she felt sorry for me and decided to help me put in the stakes & strings. This is our finished product:
I know it doesn't look like much but it was hard work and a good start. So, my squares aren't exactly "square" but square-ish is good enough for me. We put a layer of chicken wire over top to keep the critters (mainly the cat) out of the boxes. I can still easily reach the dirt to plant seeds so I can keep them safely covered until the plants start growing. Can't wait to see little sprouts once I get the seeds planted. Just can't resist adding a pic of the kids helping. They really enjoyed playing in the dirt. I'm excited to have them help me! My Little Dirt Minions... Cool Bubby had to go inside to get his minion goggles in case he got dirt in his eyes. He is such a funny little boy, and Go Sissy Go, she has found a fascination with bugs. She came across a couple of grubs and was very concerned they were going to die because we dug them up. Thanks to her they found a new home in our old dirt pile and survived!
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