I know. I know. It has been AGES since I have written. Between getting my photography/videography business up and going, and it being winter, I haven't actually done much craft/food/creative-wise. So sad!
A new sort of energy has overcome me in the last couple weeks. You know what it is? SPRING! I wasn't aware of how tired I was of winter until the weather started to warm up. And now I've got projects on my mind!!! Most of these projects belong outdoors, but that will likely change when the heat of summer drives me back inside with the air conditioner. But for now, I hope you're ready for some gardening projects!
I was going to wait to post about this after I had begun and things were (hopefully) coming along nicely. Then I realized this post really wouldn't be good for anyone until next year. So hopefully you guys are prepared to follow along to get your gardens going this year!
We've tried gardens in the past, only to not have much success. This is going to be the year of change. I am determined to have a good garden. It's a bit pathetic that I can't seem to grow a garden and here's why....Please don't judge. I graduated college in landscape management...and I spent 3 1/2 years working in a greenhouse growing plants...and I even worked in the greenhouses at Disneyworld. Sad, huh. In my defense, there is a huge difference in growing plants in a greenhouse where you can control the environment and many of the pest. Not to mention...little to no weeds.
I've always blamed our soil or my lack of time and money. There's a little truth to that, but let's be honest...I've been lazy. It's too hot to weed...It's too hot to go out and water. (Lame one, right? I mean, I've got cold water. In the hose. Right in my hand...)
Not only do I have a tendency to be lazy about it, but starting a garden can also get expensive. And of course money is always tight. So this year I'm doing things as cheap as possible. Here's my game plan...
FIRST:
I built a raised garden bed for FREE (except the dirt and plants that go in it). Our fence blew down in a super heavy rain/snowstorm a few weeks ago. Silver Lining!! I could use those slats and screws and some leftover 2X4 blocks we had and build myself a new, albeit somewhat trashy looking, raised bed.
Now, if you didn't have the great luck of having your fence blown over, don't worry. You can still build a raised bed for super cheap using fence slats from your local home improvement store. There's a tutorial here if you need an idea to get you started.
SECOND:
From here on out these are things I plan to do to get my garden going. I'll update as I go along.
- Put cardboard as the base of my garden bed. This will help keep weeds out and will eventually decompose
- Start gathering compost (whether from my own pile, though it's looking pretty shabby) to mix with my own soil. Note: It's important that you don't only use potting soil or compost. These are things to amend the soil, not be the soil. You need to have predominately real soil to have success.
- Gather material from around the house to start seeds
- I've been collecting cardboard egg cartons, toiletpaper rolls (empty, of course), yogurt containers (my daughter eats an individual yogurt every day, so I'm hoping they'll make good seed starters). Basically anything I can find that I think might be good for either starting seed or transplanting seedlings.
- I've also been collecting our tin cans from dinner. My daughter wants to have a garden of her own, so I'm going to let her paint the cans and then plant flowers or something in them.
- Start gathering scraps for our compost pile. I know it's too late for our spring compost, but I'm hoping our left over scraps of fruits and veggies (banana peels, eggshells, etc.) will help with our fall compost
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