Adventures in Gardening

A small disclaimer: We are not gardeners. We do not claim to be, nor do we act like gardeners. However, we promise to try our best to do what gardeners would do.

What seems like forever ago, Mom and Dad K gave us some tomato plants. I was super excited about potentially growing my own tomatoes as we spend most of our salary on fresh produce each week. Particularly in the tomato section! Of course I needed to find a sunny spot with enough space to plant the suckers. (Thanks Mom G-K for that lesson on tomato growing!) By the time I was geared up for planting we had the lovely tree fall in our yard...directly over where the tomatoes were to be planted. Thanks to my laziness they hadn't been planted yet so they weren't killed by the tree! Was it really my laziness or just good luck?!

Having finally had the tree removed, we were ready to make this fictitious tomato garden a reality. Remember this scene that we were left with after having the tree cut down? Well just after Michael had moved all the pieces of wood from one area to this area...




we decided this exact area was best for the garden....so...he moved all the wood back over to this area:



Oh boy!

After that chore was accomplished, Michael and I plotted out the space we thought we needed, then headed off to Home Depot to get supplies. As with any home project...we underestimated the supplied needed, which resulted in 1 more trip to home depot later in the day. (Not to mention a trip to the local hardware store as well. I'll get to that later!) From our first trip to the Depot we brought home three 2 cubic foot bags of gardening soil and a bag of manure (per the suggestion of the friendly Home Depot grandpa) and a spade. We came home and got to work...only to discover that our "ideal" garden area was merely a thin later of dirt covering a hideously interconnected root system for god knows how many existing and non-existent plants. SIGH! We tore away at the mess with neighbor Mark's shovel, our spade, our small gardening shovel, our hands, and eventually Mark's saw. Progress!

However, remember how I mentioned the unanticipated trip to the local hardware store? Well...we quickly realized we must have a ground bees nest in our garden area which needed immediate attention. Typical! So off I went to buy bee supplies. I came home with a "ground bees nest puffer" which I was eager to try. Of course Michael quickly told me to back away as with my luck I'd probably get stung a thousand times while trying to use the device and swell up like a balloon and end up in the hospital. (He's probably right but don't tell him I said so.) A few minutes later we had the situation under control. We hope. (You can see the small device in the picture above.)

HOURS later we made this progress:

(I swear to you I was in there too...slaving away in the hot sun. Sadly Michael was too busy focusing on the project that he never picked up a camera to document me in action.)







By late Saturday afternoon we were both exhausted! We decided the hole was ready for planting but that we were not. So instead we saved the rest of the work for Sunday, headed for the showers, and off to yet another kitchen place followed by a little fun. By the way...who knew one's feet could get so filthy with socks and shoes on!!

Sunday rolled around and we got up bright and early to complete this project. Michael did a little work before I did and realized we did indeed need more soil. So...off to the Depot once more...this time coming home with more soil, and a cute little cucumber plant and a few marigolds per Mom G-K's suggestion (to keep the bugs away). Back home we got to work and here is what we created:




Cross your fingers I've developed some form of a green thumb. These poor tomatoes have been neglected and they might make me pay for it by not producing any tomatoes! Sounds like torture to me.

Next year-Red Peppers will be added to the mix!