Gardening, Preparation II

It is finally warm enough in Anchorage for plants to start growing!  The summers here are so short, and the winters so long.  It snowed on May 17th; I was not amused.  However, I am now confident that summer is now here and I have constructed my garden bed for my little veggie garden!

I constructed it very simply and without any real knowledge of what exactly I was supposed to do.  I don’t know anything about gardening or plants, but did what made sense to me.  So get ready for not-so-good pictures, and not-so-good garden making!

I took four old 6ft fence posts that I had in my yard and nailed them together in the shape of a square.

Then I used newspaper to line the bottom since I heard that it helps kill the old grass so that it doesn’t pop up in the garden.  Zorro wasn’t too helpful . . .

Once the newspaper lined the bottom I sprinkled it with some water so that it would stay in place.

Then I piled on top some sticks and leaves which I had raked up the day before.  I figured that this would be a good to do, to provide drainage and good nutrients in the soil.

I also had some ashes from a wood burning chiminea so I sprinkled a bit of that on top as well.  I just remember hearing once that ashes are good for soil and plants and help things grow.  But once, again, I don’t know if this was a smart idea.  Once  that was done, I cut open my bags of store bought dirt and spread it evenly on top.  (I used 8 cubic feet of soil for my 36 sq. foot garden bed.)

Two types of carrots, radishes, snow peas, parsley, and cauliflower were the vegetables which I planted into the soil.  Between my inexperience, the weather conditions, and Zorro’s insistence on not walking around the bed it will be a miracle if anything grows.