The gorgeous weather this weekend allowed us lots of garden progress. So, I guess it’s time to share where we’re at for our veggie garden. Still lots to do, but we’ve come a long way.
Here is the backyard last summer:
Here’s the area with the cute little fence Ryan built me last week.
And here’s the garden all ready to go.
I really love the way the square foot garden looks. It doesn’t look sloppy, instead it’s nice and tidy. We were able to use the current soil, amended with compost. (Ryan roto-tilled the compost right into the soil.)
Ryan tilled the area last weekend and I mulched around it this weekend. Then, I broke up the squares with twine to divide the square feet.
The mulch allows me to walk around the squares without having to walk on the soil. This means that it won’t get compacted.
I changed up my plan a little, because there is space to for 5×4 instead of 4×4. This weekend, I planted:
- Marigolds (transplants)
- Onion sets (set)
- Broccoli (transplants)
- Cauliflower (transplants)
- Lettuce (transplants)
- Carrots (seed)
- Radish (seeds)
I ended up purchasing the transplants above. My seeds that I started inside for broccoli, cauliflower and lettuce didn’t turn out well. They were really stringy. So, I decided to get the transplants at the garden center instead.
What’s next?
I’m planning to put in the seeds for peas, beans, cucumbers this week.
Next week, I’ll plant tomatoes and peppers. My cherry tomato transplants seem to be doing well, as do my pepper seedlings. Both seem to be small, but very healthy.
(Variety of peppers)
I’ve been “hardening off” these seedlings this week. (For those new to gardening like me, this just means getting them accustomed to the outdoors. I put them out during the day and bring them in at night. Something I learned recently.)
What do you think? How’s your garden growing?
love the garden!
Very impressed. Going to try and see if I can get a little edible garden growing in the new place (once we clean out the overgrown mess it is right now!)
Hi Kim~I’m starting a garden, too! I’ve gotten some good tips from your site and from the links you put to other sites– thanks! One question, how did you get the twine to stay in place? Also, in the square foot gardening, if you put approximately 7 seeds in one square foot (maybe for peas), do you cluster them together or spread them out?
I wish I had the motivation to start a garden! Your house is so adorable!