Getting back to the land!

So a couple of weeks ago, my wonderful neighbors built us two garden boxes in return for babysitting their pups whenever they go out of town.  They totally didn’t have to do that since the dogs are a delight that get my 12 year old out and terrorizing someone else’s house and burning some energy and we love spoiling them rotten.  But they did it none-the-less and I’m so grateful.  They have garden boxes over at their house and have had a bumper crop every summer.

The problem?  I’ve never had my own garden and am pretty clueless as to what I’m supposed to do.  But, as usual, Pinterest saved the day.  I knew that with a fairly small amount of planting space, I’d have to plant wisely.  I chose zucchini, summer squash, pole beans, sugar snap peas and cucumbers and tomatoes.  I found so many really neat posts on vertical gardening, letting vine plants climb to save space.  Cucumbers, zucchini, squash, they can all climb just like beans and peas!  So with some old slats that mark had in the garage, a ball of twine and some hooks, I got busy.  And while they may not be beautiful, they’re sturdy and will keep things from rotting on the ground and hopefully away from some pests.  Like the zip ties I used?

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I got all of the seed in the ground yesterday and then bought the tomato plants today and put them in…I’ve heard that tomatoes are a pain in the butt to start from seeds, so I went the plant route with those.  I gave it all a good dose of Miracle Grow and will now wait patiently for the first sprouts to show up.

I’m pretty sure I’m a natural farmer with crazy trellis building skills. (That groan you just heard was all of my Russian/Polish/County ancestors rolling over in their graves)  My only issue so far has been my fear of ticks.  I’m out there in knee high rain boots, heavy pants and a long sleeved shirt and still have to stop every two minutes to shriek and slap at imaginary ticks crawling on me.  My neighbors get good entertainment value out of living next to me.

So I’m embracing the new “Back to the land” mini-movement I’m having here, at least until I run out of bug spray or iced coffee and have to make a run into town.

 

Allyson Sorenson

About Allyson Sorenson

Bangor mom. BDN blogger. Volvo lover. Coffee drinker.