Lemon-Drop
Let Your Light Shine ~ Matthew 5:16 🤍✝️
Hey there! I just started my own garden. I had a (not very pretty) raised garden bed. It consisted of a overgrown sage bush, a dead thyme plant, some other dead herbs I couldn't even begin to identify, and many, many weeds, plus lots of trash. It's not very large, as it is 9' by 9' square, meaning 81sqft total.
I decided to build a nice garden.
First, I pulled up all the weeds, herbs, and plants (I also made sure to dig up some dirt so there would be room for more on top)
I went to Lowes and bought 3 (1 cubic foot) bags of a manure mix, and 2 strawberry plants, 1 broccoli plant, basil, and kale. I didn't realize how big of a project this would be.
I also went to my local feed store and bought a bale of hay, mealworms, and a new feeder (the mealworms and feeder were for the chickens, not the garden
)
By the time I arrived home, it was fairly late. I planned to do it on Monday, as the next day was Sunday, and also Easter.
On Monday morning, I laid down cardboard, and put a thick (2-3 inch) layer of straw on top of the cardboard. (I didn't use the whole bale, I will probably use the rest of straw for bedding for my chickens, even though I usually use pine shavings)
I then proceeded to pour the manure mix on top of the straw. I was sure 3 bags would be enough... how little did I know.
The manure mix, of course, was no where near enough. The 'finished' result with that amount appeared to be a pile of straw with a dusting of manure.
Of course, I decided that I needed more plants than the ones I had previously purchased.
At Lowes, there had not been a good variety, so instead I went to a bigger, plant based store.
I bought 2 (1.5 cubic feet bags) of planting soil. I was absolutely positive that would be enough
I also bought many more plants.
6 shelling pea plants
1 Sugar Ann snap pea
2 big butter lettuce plants
Some amount of shallot bulbs... don't remember how many
6 more broccoli plants
2 more strawberry plants
6 leeks
1 garlic
1 lavender
1 cherry tomato plant
1 heirloom tomato plant
1 dill plant
some flowers
1 packet of pickling cucumber seeds
1 packet of rainbow carrot variety seeds
6 rose finn apple potato seeds
5 French fingerling potato seeds
So a lot more plants, and a few of those I didn't end up planting in the garden.
I also went to a hardware store and bought fencing stakes and wire poultry fencing.
The fencing was 4' by 25' (2 rolls) and the stakes were 5' tall.
I poured the soil mix I had bought, hoping it was enough. Nope. Not much different. I knew I needed much more dirt.
So I went back to Lowes and bought 6 more bags of 1 cubic foot manure mix. And 2 bags of a raised bed soil, that were 3 cubic feet each.
Finally, finally, that was enough dirt. I spread it in layers, doing 2 bags manure, 1 bag raised bed soil, and repeating until it was done.
The I planted the plants. I did not plant the strawberries, basil, or dill. The seeds I am going to plant later (more on that further through this)
I first laid all the plants out, then dug holes, buried, and completed the planting.
I also installed a wire mesh fence all around the garden. (Lots of deer and bunnies around here, not to mention hungry chickens who think a garden is the perfect place for dust bathing)
I double folded back a piece of the wire to use as an entrance, that can be just pulled back to go inside. It is secured with two bungee cords.
Then I gave each of the plants a nice water.
By then I was very tired. All of that was done in one day, Monday. I called it a night.
The next day, Tuesday was a bit more relaxed. I planted a few cucumber seeds indoors, in these pots I found called 'Cow Pots' that I can plant directly into the ground when ready. (My phone is taking a time lapse of them sprouting, so there won't be any pictures.
I cut up the potatoes seeds after letting them sprout. They are now drying, and I will plant them tomorrow in potato bags.
The carrots I plan to plant directly into the ground when it's a bit warmer.
Sadly, I forgot to check the forecast, and the tomatoes look a bit wilted. There was a slight frost, so I feel bad. Hopefully they will be ok.
Thanks for reading this! I plant to update every now and then, especially for harvests and, say, when I plant the potato seeds, the cucumbers sprout, or something like that.
I really hope this garden turns out. I'm really very new at gardening, so if you have any helpful tips, feel free to comment!
I decided to build a nice garden.
First, I pulled up all the weeds, herbs, and plants (I also made sure to dig up some dirt so there would be room for more on top)
I went to Lowes and bought 3 (1 cubic foot) bags of a manure mix, and 2 strawberry plants, 1 broccoli plant, basil, and kale. I didn't realize how big of a project this would be.
I also went to my local feed store and bought a bale of hay, mealworms, and a new feeder (the mealworms and feeder were for the chickens, not the garden
)By the time I arrived home, it was fairly late. I planned to do it on Monday, as the next day was Sunday, and also Easter.
On Monday morning, I laid down cardboard, and put a thick (2-3 inch) layer of straw on top of the cardboard. (I didn't use the whole bale, I will probably use the rest of straw for bedding for my chickens, even though I usually use pine shavings)
I then proceeded to pour the manure mix on top of the straw. I was sure 3 bags would be enough... how little did I know.
The manure mix, of course, was no where near enough. The 'finished' result with that amount appeared to be a pile of straw with a dusting of manure.
Of course, I decided that I needed more plants than the ones I had previously purchased.
At Lowes, there had not been a good variety, so instead I went to a bigger, plant based store.
I bought 2 (1.5 cubic feet bags) of planting soil. I was absolutely positive that would be enough
I also bought many more plants.
6 shelling pea plants
1 Sugar Ann snap pea
2 big butter lettuce plants
Some amount of shallot bulbs... don't remember how many
6 more broccoli plants
2 more strawberry plants
6 leeks
1 garlic
1 lavender
1 cherry tomato plant
1 heirloom tomato plant
1 dill plant
some flowers
1 packet of pickling cucumber seeds
1 packet of rainbow carrot variety seeds
6 rose finn apple potato seeds
5 French fingerling potato seeds
So a lot more plants, and a few of those I didn't end up planting in the garden.
I also went to a hardware store and bought fencing stakes and wire poultry fencing.
The fencing was 4' by 25' (2 rolls) and the stakes were 5' tall.
I poured the soil mix I had bought, hoping it was enough. Nope. Not much different. I knew I needed much more dirt.
So I went back to Lowes and bought 6 more bags of 1 cubic foot manure mix. And 2 bags of a raised bed soil, that were 3 cubic feet each.
Finally, finally, that was enough dirt. I spread it in layers, doing 2 bags manure, 1 bag raised bed soil, and repeating until it was done.
The I planted the plants. I did not plant the strawberries, basil, or dill. The seeds I am going to plant later (more on that further through this)
I first laid all the plants out, then dug holes, buried, and completed the planting.
I also installed a wire mesh fence all around the garden. (Lots of deer and bunnies around here, not to mention hungry chickens who think a garden is the perfect place for dust bathing)
I double folded back a piece of the wire to use as an entrance, that can be just pulled back to go inside. It is secured with two bungee cords.
Then I gave each of the plants a nice water.
By then I was very tired. All of that was done in one day, Monday. I called it a night.
The next day, Tuesday was a bit more relaxed. I planted a few cucumber seeds indoors, in these pots I found called 'Cow Pots' that I can plant directly into the ground when ready. (My phone is taking a time lapse of them sprouting, so there won't be any pictures.
I cut up the potatoes seeds after letting them sprout. They are now drying, and I will plant them tomorrow in potato bags.
The carrots I plan to plant directly into the ground when it's a bit warmer.
Sadly, I forgot to check the forecast, and the tomatoes look a bit wilted. There was a slight frost, so I feel bad. Hopefully they will be ok.
Thanks for reading this! I plant to update every now and then, especially for harvests and, say, when I plant the potato seeds, the cucumbers sprout, or something like that.
I really hope this garden turns out. I'm really very new at gardening, so if you have any helpful tips, feel free to comment!
Following along...
