Joey's In Love

OK, before anybody gets all excited, let me explain. Yes, it's true. I'm in love, but not in the traditional way. Nope, I'm simply in love with my garden. After allowing them to wallow in dormancy for several years, I decided that I wanted to revive my Square Foot Gardens this year. It has rejuvenated my winter-shrouded soul.
Anyone who really knows me will tell you that I love to play in the dirt. I don't know what it is (perhaps genetics), but it definitely works for me. I simply cannot be angry, sad, upset or disturbed when I'm working in my garden, getting dirty.
I really enjoy things that are orderly and compartmentalized, so you can see that this is the PERFECT gardening method for me. Every type of plant is neatly boxed in it's own little space. There was a bit of work getting them up and running, but nothing major. The boxes were already built, so I just dug about 7 inches down in each box (at least Dylan did). Then I made the soil mix in a wheelbarrow (8 batches for the two boxes I worked on). Before pouring the dirt in, I laid down some weed barrier fabric. Then all I had to do is make the grid out of some wood strips, and I was ready to plant. I started planting in mid-March, and things are beginning to take off.
This spring and summer, we will be enjoying radishes, lettuce, spinach, carrots, beets, onions, garlic, shallots, kohlrabi, peppers, tomatos, cucumbers, peas, squash, chives, beans and parsley. I can hardly wait. There is just something so gratifying about planting and seed and watching it pop out of the dirt. I can hardly wait to get home from work to see what's coming up, or what has grown. I do believe I'll have some radishes ready to eat within a couple of weeks.

For anyone who is curious about Square Foot Gardening, let me just say that it makes growing vegetables FUN. There is little-to-no weeding. The soil mix is so workable, all you need is your fingers to pull an occasional weed or plant a seed. You hardly even get your hands dirty. Stay posted in the coming weeks for more pictures of what's growing. If you want more information about this method, just type Square Foot Gardening into your browser.

This is my very favorite time of year--and this spring is turning out to be one of the best yet for me. I hope you're enjoying yours, too.