Hard to believe it's been 4 weeks already. Stuff is growing like crazy.

I put up a trellis on the north end of the bed for the tomatoes and cucumbers using 1/2" galvanized electrical conduit slipped over concrete rebar. It's attached to the side of the bed with conduit straps, and I used nylon trellis netting with zip ties for the plants to climb on. The whole thing is really sturdy and it was super cheap to make.

I also added some shade netting for the lettuce and some plant supports for the peppers.

One of the broccoli plants croaked... perhaps due to lack of water, but maybe it was just a bad plant. The others seem okay.

Cabbage worms have arrived. I don't understand how they find gardens... we've never had a garden here, and none of the neighbors have gardens. Miracle of nature I guess. At any rate, they've put a pretty good hurtin' on the cabbage plants. I picked off probably 30 or so, and then sprayed the cabbage and the broccoli with some pesticide. The label on the bottle says it's "for organic gardening" so hopefully it's okay (for eventually eating, not so much for achieving the lofty standard of "organic gardening").

The most exciting thing was finding a couple of very small tomatoes forming. Not sure what it is about tomatoes... I should love all of my plants equally (ha ha) but the tomatoes are just special.

I took these photos on a rainy Sunday morning. The great thing about a rainy morning in the 'burbs is that it's so quiet... nobody's running their damn lawnmower!

Um... yeah... maybe not.

Victory... as in victory over procrastination mostly... which is no small feat, let me tell you. Victory over hunger? We shall see... but you gotta start somewhere.

It's been a good 25 years or so since I've had a garden. And although for the majority of those years I didn't have room or time for a garden, I haven't had a real good excuse for the last several. But I think it's a good idea for us all to start learning how to be a little more self-sufficient, and gardening is (reasonably) relaxing and interesting for the kids, etc.

So I started by building this 4x8 raised bed, and in the process of trying to figure out what to put in it, I found out about Square Foot Gardening. Pretty neat concept... check out the link, buy the book... I'm not going to rehash it here.

The "soil" is actually a mix of 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 compost (5 different kinds), and 1/3 vermiculite. I have to laugh at the vermiculite because it's actually sold as attic insulation (if you buy it labeled for horticulture it is more expensive but it's exactly the same stuff). I think my mom has vermiculite in her old house in Vermont and it seems to have gotten into everything ever stored in her attic, but I digress...

The white hoops are 1/2" PVC tubing, which are set in 1" PVC tubes attached to the inside of the box. I used brass eyescrews and nylon string to mark the one square foot sections. I draped some black plastic "wildlife netting" over the top and have it attached to 2x2s with velcro to protect the plants from birds, rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, etc. Probably just token resistance for the raccoons... a sign saying "no raccoons" might work just as well if they really wanted to get in there. Out here in the 'burbs the ".22 caliber" protection plan is kinda frowned upon... hopefully they just leave it all alone.

Right now I've got carrots, onions, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, sweet potatoes, four kinds of peppers, tomatoes, and cucumbers growing. The cabbage was an accident... I thought I was getting broccoli plants and realized the mistake when I got home... guess I'll be learning how to make cole slaw and sauerkraut!

The plants have been in the ground for just two weeks (even less in these photos) and things are coming along nicely. I got a late start, growing season wise, and it's been abnormally and outrageously hot over the last week or so. So I'm sure I'm in for some bitter lettuce and broccoli, but I have shade netting on the way and the temps are cooling off a bit so hopefully that will help. I'm also adding a trellis on the far (north) end of the bed for the tomatoes and cucumbers.

At this point I'm under no illusions that this little raised bed will feed a family of four or that I'll even end up with anything edible, but like I said at the beginning, you gotta start somewhere. There are so many little lessons to learn about what works and what doesn't, what pests or diseases you'll need to deal with, what your kids will actually eat, what you can store and what you can't, etc. etc. For this year my goal is simply to start the learning process. In the future I'd like to add more beds and get a head start on the planning and planting process to grow crops almost year-round.

I will say this however... for all the time, energy, and cost of just this first bed, it sure ain't about saving money! Maybe that comes down the road a bit.

I usually bring my lunch to work, but eat out once a week for variety and sanity's sake. I've had a hankerin' for BBQ ribs lately but finding a good place to eat on the fabulous far east side of Indy can be a dicey proposition for someone not used to venturing outside of recognizable chain restaurants. And chain restaurants are a habit I'd like to break.