My square foot garden

I grew up helping in the garden like it or not.   I loved the part where we could eat as many raspberries as we wanted.  I just didn't like the weeding every morning of summer vacation.  Although learning how to work and seeing the result of it was well worth it now that I am an adult.  When we got married we had a small garden spot and so I planted a garden every year.   I learned a lot trying out out new things.   Corn is hard in  a small spot, and pumpkins were not worth it in our small spot.  

At our new place we have so much room to garden, its just all rocks though.  I did till up a spot for some blackberry starts I got from my sister in law last fall.  It was so rocky and hard.  So I decided that I better try out the garden boxes.  I read up on them and did my best but I already have things I would change next time.  I got just normal non treated wood because the treated wood will leak chemicals into your soil and produce.  There are other options though.  Then I put weed barrier down to stop the weeds.  I made a mix of vermiculite, peat moss and compost, following Mels mix.   It was pricey but hopefully it will be worth it.  Each year you just have to add some compost to the boxes, and the rest should last for a long long time.  

I made three 4x8 foot boxes and one smaller 4x4 and filled that one with strawberries I got from a lady that lives by us.  I filled one box with blackberries I ordered with my brother from a gardening website.  I love blackberries in my green smoothies.  It doesn't take many to turn it purple instead of green.  I'll be interested to see the difference between the ones in the box and the ones just in the rocky ground.  

.   

This is the spot where I put them.  We had to put a quick fence up around my garden spot because our dog kept digging in them.  I need to find a way to keep the weeds down around the boxes.  I am going to use the grass clippings for now that seems to help  

I am excited to grow my own food and then freeze the ones we don't eat fresh for green smoothies.  That is another thing I love about the smoothies is that you can put anything in them and  it still taste good as long as you have the right combination.  So we aren't wasting food.  

I need to go to the nursery and get my seeds and starts.  We have a local nursery that I like to buy our seeds and starts from.   They are our friends so I love to shop from them.   I plan on planting a roma tomato, cherry tomato, a few pepper plants, ONE zucchini and that will supply plenty.   Cucumber my son loves to eat these.  Yellow squash, beets, chard in multiple varieties, spinach.   These greens will be great for lasting through the winter for smoothies.  Then I"ll pick something else random.  I like to pick something new every year and try out a new veggie.  It makes it fun.  

I also need to get some raspberry starts from my sister, but I"ll probably do that in the fall they seem to transfer better in the fall.  

I love gardening and learning new things.  We have 3 apricot trees but I have heard they are small ones so we will see what they produce this year.  We also have 4 apples that we got quite a lot last year.  We had the trees pruned since it had probably been 10+ years since they had been done.  So hopefully they will be better quality this year.  I also need to go spray them so we don't have as many bugs as last year.  We planted a peach tree last summer because we didn't have any here and I love peaches.  We have a pear, I got maybe 6 off last fall so hopefully with some care and love that tree will give a little bit more.  

I am excited and I know we will be super busy this summer keeping up with it all.  I look forward to it and teaching my kids the same things that my parents taught me.