A Gardening We Go

We've been up to our elbows in dirt and potting soil. There is something so wonderful about planting our own food! I moved the little herb seedlings into their bigger pots this past week, and they are already flourishing with the extra root room. The basil has grown an inch in just three days! I can't wait to start using this stuff in my cooking. We are putting them in pots to keep them easily transportable. This will allow us to move them to shade or even inside if they get a little puny after 120-degree weather. We hope these little guys produce for many years to come, and I'm fine with helping them survive!

It seems like our garden boxes have been months in the making, and it's not an exaggeration. We planted our little seedlings on February 20th and watched them bloom and grow on our windowsills inside. About three weeks ago, they made the move to the great outdoors to get them acclimated to wind, sun, and heat. Meanwhile, we've been busy doing projects outside that all seem to have a due date. We needed to work on the new shed to move things into it to create the space to make our garden boxes. It's all been very procedural, and one thing had to be finished before we could move on to the next. So when I say I'm glad these garden boxes are done, I ain't a lyin'!

This might not even be the permanent home for our garden. But moving river rock to prepare other areas would have taken too long, and our seedlings would have died in their little growing containers. Maybe it's worth it to have kids right away just so we have the manual labor assistants! Is that a good reason? Because of the time crunch, we made a temporary home for our plants in the backyard (which will someday grow grass). For now, it makes a great location to house two huge garden boxes.

We were able to get the wood for the garden boxes on Friday with the help of my sister's truck. They will forever regret owning a truck because of how much we've had to use it to get big things home. Certain items just won't fit in the back of my Taurus! We had Home Depot cut the 16-foot boards into more manageable pieces to take home, and yesterday became the day to assemble. First we put together the corners and then attached the sides. It took about two hours to assemble both boxes, which are fifteen feet by three feet. It was quite a chore in the 93-degree weather!

John then went to work to make homemade garden soil. We have several knowledgeable gardeners in our neighborhood, and one of them offered a recipe for perfect soil in which to grow the green stuff. John bought everything last week to get ready...Compost, Gypsum, Bone Mill, and some of our crappy dirt all combined to make the perfect mix of garden soil. John sprayed it down last night to get it ready for planting. We will put the our sweet peppers, banana peppers, jalapeno peppers, Roma tomatoes, and hybrid tomatoes in it on Monday. We will also plant our bulb onions, and I am thinking we need cucumbers, zucchini, etc. So I might go vegetable shopping after we plant on Monday and assess what room we have left.

For today, we need a break. We are watching General Conference, eating French toast, and staying in our pajamas. I think we've earned a day of rest, and what better time to cash it in than during the official day of rest?