garden box planning

I'm really excited about this, and it's not because I will be getting my "birthday present" a month in advance. Since Eric and I eat lots of veggies now that we've cut meat out of our food preparations at home, a garden is the perfect supplement in the summer months (not that I don't love the farmer's market). I've been planning this out since there was a gazillion inches of snow on the ground, and at one point thought I might have to shovel the lawn to be able to get my garden boxes built before I needed to plant seeds. Thankfully, the snow has melted, mostly, so hopefully I can get the boxes built and ready to go for when I need to start planting my seeds.

I found a lovely app that helps you figure out when you should plant, how you should plant, and even sends you reminders about planting and harvesting. It's called Sprout It and it's relatively easy to use. You just have to figure out what you want to plant and tell it when you plan on planting. It also gives you information to figure out when the best time to plant is for your area; you enter your zip code. I originally started using Sprout It online but they rolled out an iPhone app so I can use it on the go now as well!

Here's a list of what I would like to plant. I'm not sure if I will have enough room for all of these, so I may have to cut a few things. It was really important to me to make a list of things Eric and I eat and would be proud that we grew ourselves.

Leaf Lettuce
Arugula
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Peas
Radishes
Spinach 
Beets
Peppers
Beans
Carrots

Cucumbers
Onions
Potatoes
Asparagus
 Tomatoes

 Basil
Cilantro
 Dill

Hopefully (fingers crossed), I can at least get the boxes built this weekend. Weather and schedule permitting of course... Sunday we have a packed day (VegFest and Great Lakes Art Fair) so I'm hoping to pick up the lumber Friday night and get it built Saturday. Then I need to get the soil delivered, because I will need lots of it!

The whole reason I am doing raised boxes vs. just a garden in the ground is because the soil in my yard is not the best for planting. It's very sandy and doesn't hold water for plants very well.

I'll be sure to take some pictures of the yard before and after the boxes, as well as with my garden when I start planting and it starts growing!

Here is a rough drawing of what I plan for it to look like. The green boxes are the 9x3ft garden boxes and the orange box is the small flower garden on the side of the house. My picture is definitely not exact. I don't think the garden boxes will be that close to the tree at all, but that's my plan for Saturday.