Have an Organic Square Foot Garden.

Got the land now so will be plotting and planning to make this happen!

First step: to establish the compost pile!

We are very close to deciding to list our house. Our Realtor frowned on the idea of putting in any raised beds in our back yard….so I might need to stick with the container garden again. :-( Sad about this one, but that might be the sacrifice I make to get more land!

Went to Home Depot today, and discovered it is the kiln dried untreated lumber that I need to get. With that I figured it would cost me between $10 and $13 per 4’ x 4’ bed, so $100 would buy me a lot of beds! Hubby was thrilled with the price but not so thrilled when I told him my dream of making 7 beds. I think we have it negotiated down to 5 beds. Next he will make the trip with no kids in the car to pick it up for me.

Went out in the yard and measured today. I figure I can put in at least 7 – 4×4 ft raised beds back there comfortably without giving up too much kiddie play space. With 7 beds, I could produce food for 1 person for a year (in theory per the grow more food method). Each bed provides you 16 square feet of growing space, and it takes 100 square feet per person. So… 7 beds would give me more than enough for one.

Now if I really want to get serious, I could shoot for my family of 3 with 300 square feet, and surprisingly I did discover I could make it happen with a bit of ambition, but this year I think I will settle for shooting for 100. Otherwise my hubby will go nuts helping me put in all those beds.

In addition to the 7 beds, I have things growing in pots, including 3 potato bags which should produce up to 13 lbs per bag, 2 large half-wine barrels, herbs, lettuce, strawberries and tomatoes.

I am dying to put in berry bushes, but I’m not sure how well they would work in raised beds. Need to do some more research. The book I am reading on square foot gardening has you growing some things our family would never eat, like brussel sprouts, or things that wouldn’t do as well here in our climate.

Went to get the potatoes going this evening and discovered I need a run to Home Depot for dirt and raised bed materials!!!

The pearl onions are sprouting and the cucumbers are ready to move into bigger pots. I was soooo tempted to purchase a clump of Walla Walla sweet onion starts from the nursery across the street, but I kept myself under control. MUST… GET… GROWING… SPACE…. FIRST!

I have signed up for The Growing Challenge. I’m so excited at the thought of growing something new in my landscape!!

Moments in Time: Creating an Edible Landscape
http://web.mac.com/elementsintime/creatinglandscape/Grow_Challenge.html

one of the goals that continues even when I am sickest of sick….my seeds have germinated and are poking their little heads out of the dirt now!

I have one full flat consisting of marigolds, snapdragons, and pickling cucumbers! (And it is dumping snow outside today!!!)

OK…so they are not all edible, but today I started a flat of seeds: french marigolds, snapdragons, and some pickling cucumbers. I still have some seed onions to plant…not sure how lucky I will be with those. Last year my poor little seed onions only grew to the size of a pea by September.

My next project is to get the potato seeds planted, hopefully between tomorrow and next weekend.

Then, we will need to start thinking seriously about where to put in those raised beds. In the meantime, I have a copy of Square Foot Gardening coming to me in the mail any day.