finally, raised beds!

I think my camera has been drunk lately. none of these pictures are in focus. lo siento.

great news: the raised beds are built and ready for planting! this project took up all of last weekend, but I'm so glad that it's finally done.

after months of waiting for t to get home, planning the raised beds, staking the raised beds, battling the fire ants...we got it done.

the truth is that (ants aside), I was somewhat biding my time until he got home because I am strong but I am not strong enough to haul 40 cubic feet of soil from lowe's to the truck bed to the backyard by myself in the broiling summer heat. I'm GREAT at helping t do all of those things, though. so that's what we did. teamwork wins.

next, there was this. this doesn't look like much, just some broken up dirt without any grass on it. easy peasy. except not. this took 2+ hours of my slave labor. the soil here is clay, and correct me if I'm wrong, but: when clay is moist and then is exposed to extreme heat, it turns into pottery. and then I had to rip that and the horrible, vine-laden grass that's cemented into it out of the ground, and till it into something that will drain nicely when wet. misery.

meanwhile, in the garage, t was putting the beds together. sawing, drilling, hammering, staple-gunning. the next day he spent a few hours laboring to break up the grass for the second bed, and even though he was smart and did it in the morning, it was just as tough.

the finished products are lovely. we filled one with soil before we realized that we (a) didn't buy any seeds yet and (b) all those seeds that we don't own yet are still seeds, not quite baby plants that can be planted. so we left the second bed empty for now.

the first bed, finished and full of dirt

we bought basil, tomatoes, beets, carrots, broccoli, rainbow chard, and rosemary. they've all been planted in a starter greenhouse and the first of them are just now starting to sprout up. the beet sprouts are going crazy!

seeds!

seeds, planted!

the growing season down south (we straddle zones 7-8) is much longer than what we're used to from our new england upbringings, which means that it's a little iffy but definitely not too late to try for tomatoes and basil. we're pretty much guaranteed success on the rest of what we've chosen. we plan on adding leeks and maybe some other winter veggies (I'm gunning for brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes), too. it's no secret that I'm a veggie-holic, and I'm looking forward to eating our harvest!