Gardening has been ingrained in me since I was 6 years old. That’s when my parents moved from town out to their dream house they had built on 2 acres just outside of town. Both my parents grew up on farms and gardening was a way of life for them. It wasn’t long after we moved in, that my Dad started tilling up a very large spot for the garden at the back of the yard. One of our most unpleasant and tedious first garden chores (I really don’t think I actually spent too much time at it) was picking rocks out of the space, I hated it. Then he had a truckload of manure (eww…I was confused about that, at the time) delivered and he tilled that it.  My Dad was always trying to teach us something, either about hard work or about living off the land.  I don’t know that I always paid attention, but I think some of it must have stuck.  I remember a moment I had with my Dad in the garden like it was yesterday, and he often brought it up for years because I guess he thought it was funny.  I absolutely could not figure WHY he was putting that old nasty, shriveled and sprouting potato into the ground and burying it. When I asked him about it, I don’t recall him answering me at that point, I believe I ended up seeing the results. I do remember him making the rows and showing us how and where to follow along and dropping the seeds in. I also remember how he showed us that you could pop open the pea pod and eat the raw peas right there in the garden, yum! My Dad grew the vegetables, and my Mom canned them (that was more chores)…us kids helped with both parts, and the canning part is for a later post! 

I didn’t grow my own garden until the year 2000 when I was 34 years old. I unexpectedly lost my father in January of that year. That spring I was seriously compelled to grow my own vegetables, it was a need I had so deep, my husband didn’t question it. He built for me my first raised bed. It was rectangular about 4×6 and only about 4 inches high. But I made it work. As I was digging in that ground and setting those seeds, I was literally watering them at the same time with my tears. Everything I planted that year grew beautifully. Planting that garden and watching it grow was so therapeutic and healing for me. How I wanted so desperately to call him on the phone and tell him all about it. I did that for a few years, until I got busy with work and raising a busy teenager, and it sadly fell by the wayside. 

Then about 6 years ago, I felt the need to garden again. This time we went full on square foot gardening. My husband built me these 6, 4×4 beautiful raised garden beds with trellises attached onto the back. We filled them with garden dirt and compost. It’s crazy how many plants you can pack into these boxes! 

A couple of weeks ago, we prepared the beds by turning over the dirt with a tiller and amending the soil with manure. This year’s list of chosen vegetables: sweet peas, green beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, jalapeño peppers, carrots, beets, sweet potatoes, potatoes, butternut squash, zucchini, and a few herbs.  I direct sow the seeds for almost everything except for the tomatoes and peppers, as our growing season is a tad short here in the Mitten state.  I have started my tomatoes and peppers from seed myself indoors in the past, but it gets tiring having seed trays take over your dining room table for 2 months, so now I just get the plants from my local greenhouse.  I’m also trying sweet potatoes this year for the first time, so fingers crossed that goes well. I’m putting my potatoes in potato sacks for growing this year for the first time, I’ll make another post about that, I’m excited to see how that’s going to work. 

To transplant your tomato plants, one plant goes per one square foot. I dig my hole just a bit larger then the root ball. The black plant containers, are usually very easy to rip open with your fingers, I find this is the easiest way to get the plant out without disturbing the root ball too much. I do, however, loosen the roots up with my fingers before planting. Stand the plant up straight in your hole and pack your dirt firmly up against it so it stands upright on its own. We will eventually add support to all these plants with tomato cages.

Last step, water gently to moisten every box. Water every day, and watch for it to grow!

To be continued…