A Yes Garden

In the past I have often said YES to gardening. It's the garden that tends to say NO to me. 

I can grow an amazing green house of starter plants, indoors. It's not the tending to or caring for that I struggle with. It's the knowledge of when, where, and how thereafter. I'm kind of clueless on that front, and I don't really like to find and follow rules.

Having admitted that, and having taken a year off of my attempts at gardening, I have decided to try again. 

In hopes of saying good-bye to wasted time, seeds, starters, compost and lawn space, this time I've added a tiny reluctant yes to learning all about just how to make this growing thing happen, FOR REAL.

I'm kind of crazy about this guy,

whose videos, seen here, made it easy to learn a whole bunch of basics 

with great tips and ideas for planning a successful garden. 

This year, another one of my goals while plummeting head long into all these YESES, is to tone it down a few notches. As I've mentioned before, I tend to be an extremist all-or-nothing type. 
In trying to learn from past mistakes and aim for a little balance I've noted that often it is wise to even tone down my tone-down (yes, it's that bad).

So after dreams of great garden grandeur, I came to the decision to start with one raised bed this year.

(Of course I have to have an inspiration photo)

After lots of (extreme) research, planning, and finding the least expensive place to buy, my sweet petite and I set out in our little green Jeep early this week to get what we needed.

We made two trips because of weight (even just one 4x8 foot bed needs a lot of soil), and we made one adorable garden box... well okay, we think it's adorable. 

Here's how it went:

We picked up three 8 foot long 2"x12" pieces of wood. 

We did not buy the $35 a piece cedar boards,

see that would be extreme for just starting out.

Proud? Me too! :)

We cut one of the 8' lengths in half with my trusty circular saw.

We measured the lawn mower first 
to determine the width between paths, 

and then taking into consideration the possibility of future beds 

we mapped out the area we wanted to construct our first box. 

The me part of we did a little edge digging and ground leveling,

then we fastened the boards together with wood screws,

leaving one side open for our first half of soil to be dumped in.

Next, we backed the Jeep up to the box as close as we could.

We opened the tailgate and readied for the unload.

I cut open...

  and dropped in...

 15, 40lb bags (3/4 cubic ft. each) into the box.

Zeek took these fabulous photos for you.

Finally, I mixed in 3 same sized bags of compost 

and left the bed for the night.

The next day we picked up the same amount of soil and compost, 

attached the fourth side to the bed

and added the last half of the dirt.

Now, we have to leave it sit for a couple of weeks 

before we should begin planting. 

Meanwhile, we will enjoy digging up worms to throw in,

and mixing in some grass clippings composted from last year 

offered to us from a kind neighbor! :)

Do you garden? 

Share your favorite garden links and tips with me!

Lord knows, I'll be needing them. ;)

    

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We're drawing a winner Friday, 4/29!