{ Veggie Garden - The Early Years }

Well, here it is so far. Not quite what I envisoned originally but our mantra all weekend was "It's just the vegetable garden". I know myself well enough to know that it will drastically change over time to make it cuter and more refined. The doo-dads that are hanging down are potentially temporary. They are various pieces of blown glass (thanks, Judith!), wind chimes and bird feeders that serve to create a visual wall for the deer who have poor depth perception (I'm told).

Obviously, we're in need of a gate and to finish our boxes...chicken wire will do for now. We have a break in the weather this week so all four to five of the boxes will be done and filled by the end of this week. You can see how we are builidng each frame. These back two boxes will only last through a season or two but with the exception of 10 new cedar slats, they are made out of recycled wood. The front frames (not shown) are made of surdier 2x4 wood so we'll get more seasons out of them. The black cloth you see (commonly used at garden centers) serves two purposes. The first is I have enough weeding to do and don't need to weed my paths. The second and most important, underneath the black cloth is several inches of packed gravel. We hope that with those two elements and the ability to tent each frame (see the higher corner posts) we'll create a warmer micro climate to extend our season.

Yesterday we bought the last of our starts, potatoes. They will go in the bed you see on the right. Yellow finns, Desiree and one other whose name escapes me. They will go in tonight. All the other veggies will be started by seeds, a $20 investment. The running total on building this veggie garden (with 5 yrds of compost) is at $265. $135 of that total is in wood and framing. We will have a higher water bill this year as we didn't have rain barrels set up this winter but water collection will be next year's big investment. So, project Feed Ourselves has begun. I'll give regular updates throughout the season.