Pinterest has given me an over-inflated sense of confidence in my yet-unchallenged gardening capabilities, and a trip to Lowe's has only further enabled me.
I know this patch of earth doesn't look like much of anything, but it took three hours and a partial sunburn and I'm kind of proud of how it's shaping up. It's my first vegetable garden and I'm hoping that digging up part of our yard isn't going to be all for naught. The tomato and bell pepper plants I started inside a few weeks ago will hopefully shape up into something we can eat later this year, along with a few other plants that people told me are "easy to grow". We'll obviously eat more vegetables if they're growing in our own backyard, yeah?
I spent some more time on it last night and I now have 3/4 of the garden area dug up and all of the stakes in place, which leaves a bit more grass to remove (this is why it's taking so long - I'm patching up bare spots in our yard with the sod, which I'm moving one tiny rectangle at a time because we don't own a wheelbarrow), some empty plastic bottles to bury (yay DIY/cheap-o drip irrigation system!) and some chicken wire to put up as fencing to hopefully keep dogs and rabbits at bay. All bets are off on squirrels though because I'm pretty sure that two feet of fencing isn't going to slow them down much; they'll just be like, "aww, that's cute of her" and go on to feast on my tomatoes.
And while I have my insulin-to-carb ratio pretty much figured out these days, my insulin-to-gardening ratio is something I'll need to learn. My Dexcom graph has been on a steady decline due to the added manual labor, so I'll look forward to an inverse relationship this summer between my insulin requirements and my (hopefully) gardening productivity.
It is so fantastic that you're doing a garden! Mine is only about twice the size of what you have pictured, but every year (for about 15 years) it gives me lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, peppers, and beans. And I'm sure I'm not any smarter about gardening than you. Good luck, and if you have any questions, let me know!
ReplyDeleteI've been wanting to do this for so long, but can never find the time. Maybe now that my kids are getting older and I can put them to work...
ReplyDeleteGreat job! Can't wait to see your bounty when it grows
If you like Basil (clearly I do since it's capitalized), it grows amazing and helps tomatoes grow as well when they're planted next to each other.
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ReplyDeleteYou're going to love it! And that first tomato, from your own garden??? Will be soooo delicious.
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