May 10, 2011

Planning Stage

Everyone has a plan - until they get punched in the face. - Mike Tyson


Being the inner nerd I am, and possibly procrastinating the digging process a little, I scoured Google for help on how to plan my garden.  I used my mad Google skills to help me stumble across this little website.  www.growveg.com.  It was actually an amazing resource, and let me download a program to help me see how my garden would actually grow.


I had an idea of how big I wanted it to be, but to be safe and not use my "eye ball" technique I use in cooking, I took the tape measure outside and actually measured out my area.  I determined that a good beginner garden for me would be 9x7 feet.  Then the growveg.com plan makes it easy.  I entered in the diminsions, and voila.  There's my empty garden on the screen ready for me to add any vegetable I so please. 


After thinking long and hard about what vegetables me and the Hubby would most enjoy, we came up with this list:

  • Tomatoes
  • Green Pepper
  • JalapeƱo
  • Zucchini
  • Summer Squash
  • Cucumbers
  • Radishes
  • Lettuce
  • Green Onions
  • Cantaloupe 
Okay, maybe it wasn't a long and hard decision, but a quick trip to Menard,s with an impatient husband.  Then, I used the simple drag and drop tool in the growveg.com plan, and my garden was complete!  





Back Story

Growing up, my family always had a garden.  Every summer the kitchen would overflow with tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, green beans, cantaloupe, and peppers.  My dad was even skilled enough to grow asparagus and okra.  His one complaint was always that he didn’t have enough land to have a garden big enough for his liking on our corner lot of land.  


Fast forward and now I’m married and on my own, with an entire acre of flat land perfect for gardening.  I know it is perfect, because my dad has always told me that every time he comes over and sees my empty back yard.  My husband and I have lived in our home for five years now, and I have never attempted a garden.  I have tried container gardens on the patio, but I quickly gave these up to sit in the air conditioned house and drink wine.  But, that all changes this year.  This year, this ex-sorority girl turned wino becomes a gardener.