Our First Garden

I should start out by saying that I have a weak green thumb. This year we decided that we wanted a real vegetable garden. In the past we've had mediocre success planting potted plants- tomatoes, peppers, and herbs. Some years we would have an abundance of peppers, some years we'd harvest only a handful of tomatoes, and one year we got maybe one tomato but managed to attract some monster caterpillars, which coincidentally I saw on display at the Smithsonian that year. (Or something similar at least.)

Despite our not-so-great success, this year we decided we were ready to graduate to a real garden! Not holding back at all, we also decided that a raised bed constructed out of stone would also suit our needs best. Silly us. What a pain it was to haul 132 bricks from Lowe's to the backyard of our townhouse. So this is what we've been doing the past three weekends. Finally finished up yesterday!

We started seedlings in late March/early April, which according to everything I've read, is late. 

But still it is so satisfying to see something grow from a seed.

Planning out our first bed.

Starting construction. Because our yard has a slight slope, we had to dig out 

some soil on the side closest to the deck.

 

Completion of the sunny side. Hoping to grow tomatoes, hot peppers, spring onions, basil, 

and cilantro over here.

Completion of the shady side. On this side we planted some kale, spinach, and mint. 

Also threw in some flowers for color. We'll see how those do in the partial shade.

View from the top.

 Despite the advice from far more experienced gardeners than I, I decided to go ahead 

and plant our tiny tomato seedlings outside. The weather was fantastic this past week, 

so I thought what the heck. If they don't do well, worst case I'll dig them up and replace

them. Meatball has already ran through the garden twice...