The Beginning….
This is the ‘beginning’ of my new vegetable garden!
It’s also my Christmas/Birthday gift from my husband.
I love my existing vegetable garden, but every year, I wish that I had more space to grow more vegetables. After all, I have five kids and four of them are still living at home and they all like vegetables.
The garden will be raised, so we visited our local big box store (whose initials are THD). We purchased compost, aged steer manure, wood for the sides of the garden, slats for the garden fence (to keep the dogs out), rebar to build supports for shade cloth in the summer, fasteners, bone meal, blood meal and irrigation supplies.
My sister and my two strong nephews came over yesterday to help us. My nephews are 15 & 17 years old and have tons of energy, which is so welcome to this 46 year old 😉
My granddaughter, Lily, also came out to see what we were doing, but she found it a bit boring….
So, she stayed on the patio, next to my existing vegetable garden.
The quilt in the photo above, was made for my oldest daughter (Lily’s mother) by my mother. Now Lily gets to use it.
The garden is progressing very well. It is now day two and we are finished digging up the top 8 inches of existing soil. My husband will be building the frame for the garden today and we’ll start to add the compost and manure and mix in with the existing soil.
Stay tuned for our progress.
I am just so excited!
I can’t wait to plant my new seeds next week!!!
Noelle Johnson, aka, 'AZ Plant Lady' is a author, horticulturist, and landscape consultant who helps people learn how to create, grow, and maintain beautiful desert gardens that thrive in a hot, dry climate. She does this through her consulting services, her online class Desert Gardening 101, and her monthly membership club, Through the Garden Gate. As she likes to tell desert-dwellers, "Gardening in the desert isn't hard, but it is different."
Hi AZplantlady!
I've enjoyed seeing your posts and photos about your garden. I'm also planning on building some in-ground wooden planters for myself this spring. I have two questions for you:
1. What type of wood do you use? I realize redwood and cedar are good for rot and termite resistance but they're also far more expensive.
2. You mentioned rebar for the sunshades. Do you have photos for how this looks? I'm having a difficult time visualizing how it would work.
Looking forward to more great posts, I enjoy following your gardening progress!
Wow another playground for Noelle! You are so lucky for having lots of helps, and accessible ingredients for your garden. I can relate to your excitement.
Looking forward in seeing the progress and updates of the new set up of your garden.
IT sure brings lots of excitement!
Can't wait to see it…Balisha
This sounds like crazy, delightful fun!!! Wish I could help!