In which Nature and I find a way to be friends

If this were a mommyblog worth its salt I would regale for you the Sharing A Room Experiment we attempted over the weekend, but all I'm going to do is tell you it was a SOUL-CRUSHING DISASTER and move on for the sake of everyone's sanity.

We are not mommyblogging today, we are gardenblogging. OOOOH I AM SO EXCITED.

A couple weekends ago my brother and my husband hauled out their cute little power drills and spent the afternoon putting my garden box together. And I do mean ALL AFTERNOON. I stayed inside to snack and watch basketball and bark at them from the window. [Note to brothers and husbands everywhere: charge thy drill before attempting a large project, especially if you don't want to be made fun of. I'm just saying.] These are the directions they used.

Then God decided to bless Seattle with half decent weather this weekend and I melted into full on Northwest Syndrome, in which a Pacific Northwesterner Loses Her You Know What because SUN! SUN! MUST BE OUTDOORSY BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE! And for me, outdoorsy=work in the yard. So I dragged Phillip outside and together we moved the garden box into its appropriate place. First we moved a hydrangea plant (and by we I mean Phillip) (and please don't die, hydrangea plant!) and then we dug a perimeter trench for the box to sit in (and by we I mean Phillip). That took a while. And was hard dirty work. And I thought to myself, "Self? Don't you have some sort of Policy against outdoorsy endeavors?" (Oh! That reminds me of an article I read in a local parenting mag this weekend, where the author recommended "glamping" over "camping" and I DO SAY "glamping" may be the only way to drag MY butt into the woods for an overnighter.)

But I was thinking about this, about why I like to dig in the dirt, so much so that if I were any good at it I might say that gardening is a hobby. And truth be told, I don't have a lot of hobbies. I am too lazy and ENTIRELY too impatient to successfully cultivate a hobby. But there is something ultimately satisfying about spending an hour ripping out weeds as opposed to, say, ripping out stitches. FOR ME. Thank God we're not all born missing the Patience Gene.

(Also, it's true I am not good at gardening. I know this because 1) I have a friend who created an amazing vegetable container garden on her apartment balcony while all of my zucchini and tomatoes died in my ACTUAL garden and 2) I have another friend who, by virtue of his sunny Eastern Washington upbringing, knows how and when and where to plant things and when I compare myself to these people I am the amateuriest amateur gardener ever but WHATEVER it is FUN. Also fun: run on sentences!)

ANYWAY.

After the garden box was in place, I sat down to give my yard a good stare. Do you do this? Stare? Envision? Imagine? I'm pretty good at picturing how things will look, even if I'm not so great at the execution. I dreamed up, oh, forty-seven different configurations for our teeny tiny yard, drove Phillip crazy in the process and decided I would just have to visit Home Depot the next day to Make My Vision A Reality!

Except I spent the entire afternoon the next day (which would be today, pay attention!) digging the grass out of my garden box. And I was too tired to go buy dirt or beauty bark or edging or any of the other things I think I want. Digging up grass? Worthy of a Shred, I'd say. Those abdominals get a work out.

This is my box. Complete with leftover tufts of grass, because when I threw ALL the grass into the yard waste bin it was too heavy for Phillip to wheel back to its place.

I am pausing while you Ooh and Ahh.

I have Big Plans for that dirty little corner over there and Phillip wants to pretty much reseed the whole lawn (which, after digging up the garden box, you can bet I put the kibbosh on THAT) and I still don't know where I'm going to put a sandbox or what in the world I'm going to do about the shameful atrocity that is the weedy overgrown SIDE of my house, but this right here is a start. The last two summers I have been either Pregnant or Just Had A Baby and those two things have done some serious damage to my yard. BUT THIS SUMMER WILL BE DIFFERENT. The summer before Jack I was making zucchini bread every week because I couldn't keep up with my garden. This year will be the same, only better. I'm considering growing tomatoes upside down, growing squash and maybe beans with a trellis against the fence, I want to plant lettuce and... wait. I have way more room than I used to. 8 feet by 5 feet! WHAT SHOULD I PLANT?

And if you are the kind of person doesn't do the commenting thing but might if given a little nudge, LET ME HELP YOU. What kind of soil should I buy? Do I mix it up with compost? Have you grown tomatoes upside down? Can I really grow plants up a trellis? Is there an alternative to beauty bark because I HATE beauty bark? Should I get that black plastic snaky edging stuff or something else? How hard is it to smother the weedy overgrown side of your house with gravel and possibly a handful of stepping paver stones to make an attractive yet utilitarian path to the garbage can? Can I do all this in one afternoon? Can you tell patience is SO not my virtue?

I'm also Hot By Thirtying again. Stop by for the Monday weigh in and subsequent whining. CAN'T WAIT.

Comments

[J. Johnson]

When I attempted a garden at my house (near Chicago in Illinois), the guys at Lowes recommended Mushroom Compost to put on about two weeks before I planted. Which worked wonders for the plants - which were mixed among the weeds, because I realized after I planted that I really don't like gardening! My husband is taking it over this year to see if we can have something other than a weed garden this year.

[Elsha]

Yay for a garden! We're planning on doing one this year and I am SO excited. *I* have killed every plant I've ever had, so I'm relying very much on my husband who has the greenest green thumb you can imagine. (Seriously, at one point in his life he worked in an organic store and grew orchids as a hobby.) So, no advice from me, just wanted to say good luck! I hope it is fabulous!

[Sarah]

Oh I had such great gardening plans this year, and then we put our house up for sale. So, containers it is.

Anyway, check out Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew. It's a great beginning guide to planting in small spaces and will keep you from planting, say 50 lettuces that are all ready at the same time.

Also, as for soil, I haven't read it all, but Pioneer Woman has a section on soil for garden boxes in her Home and Garden section. (Her gardening boxes look just like yours). I hope that helps.

Oh, by the way, you MUST grow basil. It's great and easy.

[Carrie]

I have no input for you, because I am even less of a nature person than you are, and your post freaked me out. You actually TOUCHED dirt? Voluntarily?

We went to a birthday party in Issaquah this weekend and drove past a couple of the condo complexes that we had been looking at online, and I told Daniel that I no longer liked them, because there were too many trees.

Have fun with the gardening. And enjoy the nice day today!

[Heather]

I agree with Sarah for soil information. As for beauty bark try to find something that won't give the kids splinters. You can grow beans on a trellis you just have to buy pole beans. I would divide the bed into thirds and go from there. You could have herbs & strawberries in one, and your other veggies in the other two. Your local nursery will have lots of information on gardening and plants. Have fun!

[Tara]

I don't know a ton about gardening, and what I do probably doesn't apply because what applies in AZ doesn't apply everywhere else! We're a weird state like that.

One thing that I LOVE is the little seedling mini-greenhouse thing. You can get them at Lowe's, HD, etc. Start the seeds indoors for a few weeks till they are big enough to transplant (and the weather is better).

http://www.amazon.com/Ferry-Morse-Seed-5272-Pro-Greenhouse/dp/B0015I3TGI

I never knew I could have so much luck with seeds thanks to this thingy.

[Lisa]

Definitely plant lettuce if you like salads because garden lettuce ROCKS. Also, for the rocky path, just buy that weed blanket stuff and put it down in your side yard area and then fill in with rocks. You'll need to edge it unless you have a fence blocking the side. That black plastic edging does fine for such a job. We put "field bed gravel" all around our house where grass didn't grow, and put planters on top. Worked great and was cheap.

[Elizabeth]

Awesome! I am growing tomatoes, beans, and peppers along the side of my house, so wish me luck.
Also, did you not just see me cover the weedy side of my house with gravel? It was le grand pain in the kiester, but it looks nice now. Knowing you as I do, I am thinknig it might a tidge more work than you want to do? Although we were attempting an angling water away from the house thing, so if you are just trying to get rid of the weeds I would just 1. rent a roto tiller from Home Depot, dig up all of the weeds, edge it in smething, cover it in weedblocking paper, and then dump some gravel on. Either from bags or a load from a gravel pit, depending on how much space you have. I can tell you how much you need, I have a little form, if you know the size of the space.

Also, what in the heck is beauty bark?

I would put probably mix in some veggie fertilizer and some additional amended top soil to your garden box.

[Tami]

AUUUUGH! I'm so jealous! I am looking out the sliding glass doors at a back yard with a FOOT of snow and you're actually GARDENING!
Sigh.
I'm going to pull out my Burpee catalog AGAIN...and dream.
If you want to share in my misery feel free to drop by and watch the video of me making the kids shovel this weekend. THAT should squash your gardening compulsions! :)

[janey]

This blog made me go stare at my yard, then feel so overwhelmed that all I could do was go back in my house and watch TV. I don't know about soil, but I do know not to skimp on landscape cloth for under your gravel. Spend as much as it costs for the industrial stuff. Weeds can actually grow through the inexpensive stuff pretty quickly.

[Jessica]

My parents gave me an herb garden for my birthday. MOST of that is still living.. (I just had a moment of silence for poor basil because this girl forgot to bring it in when it froze)
Then I moved on to flowers. I should be able to DO THIS. My parents grow freakin fruit trees and asparagus and KIWI. It should be in my blood.

I get overwhelmed to the point of mild panic attack when I think of veggies. So I am going to try tomatoes in a container this year (homegrown tomatoes rock my face off).
And we'll see where it goes. Although I am worried about all the evil squirrels who I am sure will eat all of them before I even notice a ripe one.

Anyway, that planter box is fabulous. If tomatoes go well, I may just be doing my own like it. I wish I had a Phillip. I am the one in charge of projects like this in our house. I love my husband, but he is so not the fix-it kinda guy.

[Sarah in Ottawa]

I, too, am jealous that you are thinking of gardening, since it was SNOWING today. BOO!

I was in the same boat re. pregnancy last summer (the first in our house) so gardening was verbotten (especially since my aunt had numerous miscarriages due to toxoplasmosis). Our house is in a very treed area, so I can only grow things that do well in the shade. That said - impatiens do amazingly well in shady areas. And that's about all I can contribute.

[Kanuck]

Another vote for the Square Foot Gardening book, which I stole (err, borrowed) from someone a year or two ago and really should return.

Oh, and in terms of getting soil - get it from a soil/gravel type place, not a garden store. I think I got 4 yards of soil (enough for twice the garden-box space that you have) for $100 or so, whereas if you bought the same amount in bags from a garden place you'd be paying hundreds and hundreds of dollars. You can always buy a bit of compost or vermiculite or whatever to adjust the overall balance one way or the other - again, there's a nice chapter in the SFG book on the topic of soil.

[Kate P]

I have absolutely no advice but I just had to tell you that I did go "ooh" at the picture even before I saw your caption. :)