Sometime in the early summer of 2008, my husband decided he would like to start a garden. Being possessed of a newborn (our daughter was born in March of 2008) not to mention two older sons…I declined to participate. Mike decided to start small, so he dug out a tiny patch (about 4′ by 5′) at the back of our property, nestled up against a row of trees. He worked in a huge bag of sheep manure compost, planted his rows (of carrots, pumpkin, tomatoes, sunflowers, and who knows what else). He watered his patch diligently and waited.
Of course, having planted so late in the season, he was rewarded with a few stubby carrots, about 5 tomatoes (from about 10 plants), and a non-fruiting pumpkin vine. The sunflowers were lovely, though, and much appreciated by our multitude of crows and blue jays.
Mike was rather disappointed. I was quite disinterested, being up to my eyeballs in cloth diapers, toilet training, baby barf, and transporting our oldest son to his various summer activities. No one has ever said my life is lacking in glamor. But I digress.
Thus ended our gardening season of 2008.
Mike readily admitted that his approach to gardening had been haphazard at best. Never one to walk away from a challenge, this suburban raised computer geek decided to tackle the problem of gardening head on…by educating himself with every spare moment he could arrange during the winter months.
In the course of his research, Mike concluded that we would most likely be successful in 2009’s gardening attempt if we followed the dictates of “Square Foot Gardening” (as invented, espoused, and indeed, propagated by one Mel Bartholomew).
This blog will track our process, as I’ve now become as fully invested in our gardening endeavor as I’ll ever be (take that as you like!). I will attempt to keep you reasonably up-to-date with the process and progress of building our gardens, tending our seedlings, and “growing” our compost. I hope you enjoy reading.
Hooray!! I am so excited to watch your blog grow right along with your garden.
I think keeping the blog up-to-date is a commendable contribution to the family gardening endeavour!
Very ambitious! Can’t wait to see your progress.
Also, Binky is very cute. Nice name. Sounds Ren&Stimpy-ish.
Very entertaining! Good luck with your endeavours! Did you think you might want to check out the “bug”…what is it? Is it good (or not) for your garden/property? Looking good! .. and fun to read!