Raised Garden Bed

I am not an outdoorsy person, so gardening has never really appealed to me.  I don't like being out in the heat, and I don't enjoy being sweaty or dirty, so for all of my adult life, I've been content to buy my produce from the grocery store.

Jim recently saw a picture of a raised garden bed that a college friend posted on Facebook, and he asked me if I would ever want him to build me one.  I figured that if any kind of gardening was doable for me, a raised bed would probably be the way to go.  Last Saturday, while my parents were here, Jim and my dad built my raised bed!  They based it on these plans.  They used cedar fence pickets from Home Depot, so the materials were very affordable.

 Drew played outside while they worked.

 The garden box came together in about an hour or so, and we were very pleased with how it turned out.

 We waited until Memorial Day to do the planting.  My dad is a gardener.  He has always had a large garden, and he grows all kinds of things - tomatoes, lettuce, herbs, berries, just to name some.  He bought my plants and planted them for me.  We have three kinds of tomatoes, three kinds of peppers, and some herbs.  My neighbor is also a gardener, and he came over to watch the planting.  He loves to talk to my dad!

 Drew "helped" with the digging.

 My dad used a mixture of soil and manure in the bed.

 After everything was planted, we put in the soaker hose.

 After we covered everything with mulch, we turned on the hose to test it.

 Drew had to check everything out.

 The soaker hose drips water all along its length to allow the whole box to be watered all at the same time.  I love that I can go out, turn on the hose, and just let the soaker hose do all the work.  After 10-15 minutes, I just have to come back out and turn off the hose.  The watering is done, and I have avoided all heat, sweat, and dirt - my kind of gardening!

We are looking forward to enjoying some vegetables and herbs from our very own yard later this summer.

We are already getting our first little tomatoes, and one of the pepper plants is starting to produce some tiny little peppers as well.

I will try to give a few garden updates as the summer progresses!