Progress

Last year I had to 4x4 beds and a 2x4 box. Then I hit the road for 3 weeks and someone watered for me but, when I came back, the garden was pretty much gone because of critters, heat and the ghost of gardeners past shooting weeds through everything and choking stuff off.

This year has been using plywood and pegboard instead of cardboard, weed block and really trying to get things set up.  It's also been about research... lots and lots of research.

After doing research about what to do with the garlic and chives that survived last year, I moved them into the new bed.  I broke up the garlic by swishing them in a bucket of water to keep the roots intact.  The chives moved easily and then  I discovered my sage and thyme came back too!  So they have their own spot in a corner of the new boxes.   I was at Lowes and they had a couple of 6 packs of marigolds that had been horribly overwatered and were rootbound in the clearance section.  I figured that they worth the buck each and let's see if they could come back if they made it into the ground.

Once my tomatoes are in, I'll pick up some locally grown marigolds and place them among the tomatoes.  I did notice some ants in the old garden space, so I'll pick up some boric acid at CVS  and make some bait traps to keep them from attacking my good bugs.

Yesterday was hours of work:

- pick up 4 50lb bags of soil and haul them to the garden
- fill a bucket with 2-3 gallons of water, haul to the garden plot
- dig up garlic, break it apart... slowly but surely... by swishing in groups in  the water
- dig up chives, swirl in the water
- plant garlic, 9 to a square, marvel at how much garlic there really is
- plant chives
-  plant marigolds
- What... wait, is the sage still going?
- dig up sage, trim off dead  branches
- plant  sage
- what? Thyme? Seriously...  OK then, swish and plant.
-  pull out last years dead plants, throw in growing  composter pile
- lift old frames
- rake, shovel, and level the ground
- drill drainage holes in the last piece of plywood, realize I need a 4x4 piece
- call husband and tell him what I need
- field a call from my husband asking if peg board's OK (yep, then I don't need to drill)
- build two frames for my trellises  - remember to order trellis netting, note I need something  to fasten them to beds
- husband shows up, lay pegboard and weed block
- layout frames to make sure everything's covered!
-  exhausted, filthy and no hammer to finish up, call it quits for the day.

Filthy, exhausted and wondering if I have enough space for all I need to get going...

That's right I'm worried if I have enough space.   Last week  I was wondering how I was going to fill it all and now I'm wondering if I should think about a third box! 

I'm loving what I'm doing.  It is wonderful and lovely and happy and everything I need it to be.  Hooray for this little garden that is "I think I  can mode."