The Vegetable Garden Post

I have , for some time now, been attempting to grow a vegetable garden. We have plenty of room, sunshine, and I believed I could devote enough time to make it worth while. Nothing tastes better than some thing you grew. HOMEGROWN.   WELL LET ME TELL YOU, it wasn't as easy as I thought it was going to be... The plants grew just fine. In fact very well in most cases. I just never got any produce ! Every morning I would go out to check the garden only to find " something " had dug up all my potatoes ate anything that had started growing on them and then cast them aside. The tomatoes never got big enough before " something "ate them. Oh , and did I mention our youngest kindly mowed down the strawberry patch when he mowed the lawn. This year I decided to go about things in a different  way.  I decided after countless hours of research to try a new approach. Lasagna gardening in raised beds. My motto was to be " NO TILLING, NO WEEDING, NO VARMINTS, NO KIDDING ! We built raised beds out of old deck boards "from when we replaced our old deck". We constructed 2 beds that each measured 4x20. and then 3 more ,off the long side of one of the 4x20beds,that measured 4x12. We than lanyard cardboard down in the bottom of each bed overlapping it so to not allow weeds to grow. Cut slits in the cardboard , so roots could slip through and than wet ted it down. next layered soil, dried leaves, pine needles(what ever I could find in my own backyard-try to mimic the natural woods. Next I added manure in my case I used what was close and free ( horse ).

I than decided to try and see if I could get a head start on the season. I planted as much as I could in April. I cut milk cartons (the bottoms off) and kept the young plants from the cold and unscrewed the caps of the day for more air and sunlight. It WORKED !  As to my potatoes, well I planted them in black trash bags and cut pieces of old garden hose, coiled each piece into a circle and rolled the extra bag top down around the hose. Now every time I need to hill the potatoes I just add a layer of dirt or mulch and unroll once or twice. I THINK I GOT EM FOOLED. Any how , this is what it all looks like .. and I'll keep you posted as per how it produces and how long I can keep it producing. I'm hoping to grow crops till winter snow.. Let me know what you think.. happy gardening.

May not look like much now, but check back for a list of what I planted, when I planted and how it did.  YOU MIGHT BE PLEASANTLY SURPRISE !