If you plant it....

...it just might GROW!

So, I started my own garden a few weeks back.  This is my very first garden.  I have no idea what I am doing.  I read a book.  I took a class.  I planted some seeds.  I crossed my fingers.

I thought I would show you how my little seedlings are coming along so far.

 These are potatoes.

I started off planting lettuce, spinach, cilantro, potatoes and swiss chard.  These have really stared to sprout.  I also planted strawberries but I'm not convinced they are going to make it.

Now that the weather is warmer, I planted cucumber, watermelon, cantaloupe, peas, and green beans yesterday.  Since this is my first garden I don't really know what to expect.  I'm just hoping that at least one thing turns out to be edible.  I'll just learn as I grow!

I also planted a flower to attract bees, I guess bees are good for plants.  Although I hate bees so I'm not sure why I want to attract them.  And so far all I have seen are wasps and I really hate those!  You should see me when a wasp gets around me (or any bug for that matter).  I scream like a 4 year old girl and run away.  It's quite comical.

I'll keep you posted on how my garden grows because I know all of you are just dying to know :).

Future Master Gardener?

I have wanted a garden for a long time.  I think a lot of people like the idea of having their very own garden and growing their own delicious food.  But we get overwhelmed at the thought because we don't know where to start and we worry that it will be too hard.  We convince ourselves that we have failed before we even get started.

Then, I heard about Square Foot Gardening.  

I read the book. 

I went to a class.  

I am ready.

Basically, in Square Foot Gardening you build a very simple raised garden.  You use a special mix of soil, instead of using the existing soil in your yard.

You start off with the wood needed to build the box.

Put a weed cloth down.

Then fill your box with the mix.

Lastly, make a grid with 16 squares.

Caleb was so excited about this project.  He couldn't wait until it was finished.

I think the boys just wanted to dig in it.  I learned yesterday that I really need to get them a sandbox or something because they had more fun digging in my new garden (luckily nothing had been planted).

This picture shows the grid.

Basically you can plant different things in each square.  And you rotate crops as necessary and just keep each square in use.

I'm not quite ready to plant yet, I need to add one more bag of mix and then I'm going to start growing some veggies!  We are also going to build a trellis so that I can grow vertically too!  I am so excited about this I can barely stand it.

I plan to start off kinda small since I have never gardened. 

I'll post pictures as things start to grow. 

And things WILL grow!

If any of you have green thumbs feel free to offer tips and suggestions.

I am a newbie to this whole gardening thing.