and the garden starts...

I grew up in small town Maine, not tiny town Maine, but small town (maybe 5000 or so) and like many people in the town we had a small garden. One of my father's favorite things was working in the garden, I remember it would start off a big dirt patch and as the season went along, so did the veggies. We almost always had fresh veggies during the middle and end of the summer right into the fall. I remember it being time to til the soil and we would get the old roto-tiller out and when I was old enough I would get to start it up and till away the soil, every year I think we would add a little bit of space onto the garden.

I remember quite well all the different types of veggies we would grow, tomatoes in tires, beets, corn, peas, beans, radishes, broccoli, squash, zucchini, spinach, lettuce, carrots and I think that was all. Of course at the end of the garden we had raspberry bushes and some strawberries, but those weren't as important as the veggies.

So this year with the purchase of my house I am growing veggies, I am starting a small garden, but it will grow my veggies and I am hoping it will grow well. What I am looking forward to is channeling my father and hoping the green thumb has been passed to me. When I was able to have a little patch for myself I got to pick what I wanted to grow, and I picked watermelon (yah in Maine I know.) Little did I know that watermelon really didn't grow that well in Maine, but it grew. I got maybe two melons the between softballs and basketballs, not huge, and really not that edible. I learned a lesson, so now I am hoping that lesson stuck. SO I will continue to blog about the progress of my garden and as my blog has taken different turns, this is most likely how it will be for the next few months...garden talk.

Step 1: Raised beds
I installed a 4ftx4ft raised bed on my lawn, it's really not that big, but I am hoping it will do the trick for now. If I need another one, I can get another one, but for now, that's what I got. With help from Bob and Donna I put some weed stop black garden "paper" down and put the bed on top of it. We then filled it with a combination of Scotts Organic Soil for veggies and some dirt/leafs that the city decided not to pick up, but Donna informed me that it was some good dirt, so I used it.

I also bought some seedlings, and some seeds. The undertaking of this garden is small, but I am hoping that the damn little squirrels don't eat my plants (Goal #1) and then of course I want the plants to grow! SO these are the plants I am growing in my little space. If need be I will get more, but in reading articles I can grow intensely in a small space.
Big Boy Heirloon Tomatoes
Yellow Sweet Cherry Tomatoes
Roma Tomatoes
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Sweet Red Peppers
Brussel Sprouts
Sweet Corn
Multicolored Carrots
Beets
Sugar snap Peas
Green Peas
String Beans
Cucumbers

So we shall see what pops up and what goes horrible, and lessons will be learned and what not, let's see how easy it is Barbara Kingsolver, let's see if it is as easy as you say it is. Until next time...