From the Soil...

Ok, so I've gotten a "little" behind on the posting.

Last time we saw my garden it looked like this.

Now, it looks like this.

 Yes, that's right, what was just an area of land infested with weeds has become a plot of soil which will (with any luck) produce a beautiful vegetable garden. 


Here's how I did it.
First I had to turn up the soil. With my trusty shovel I got to work. One foot at a time I dug in and turned over the soil. Leaving a garden that looked like this.

 Even as a beginner gardener, I know that chunks of hard clay-like soil makes for a poor ground to sow my seeds. So, I added my Coir. For more information about this product read my previous post on creating my flower garden.

As you can see, I spread the product over the soil and then incorporated it in using my rake. I had treated my soil I could turn to breaking up the clumps of clay and dirt that filled my garden. In order to do this I got out my hoe and worked against the "grain". If you recall an earlier post when I was talking about criss-crossing over the soil with a tiller (which I chose not to invest in) I used that pattern, going one way with my shovel and the other with my hoe. This left the soil looking like this.

 




 
















 After hoeing and raking the soil even. I felt I had broken up the chunks as well as I could. My hope is that over time the Coir will become a little better incorporated and the soil will become even finer. For now though, I took a step back and admired my work

 There it was, finally, my garden. The soil prepared for all things to come. Cultivated, tilled, weeded, materials added to improve the quality and composition for optimal...wait! I forgot something! Something big and highly necessary for a successful garden. The seeds! Without them all I have is a very nice plot of dirt.


Ok, so maybe I didn't actually forget the seeds.

 

 You may not be able to see it in the pictures. But, some of my seedlings started sprouting. Before too long I'll be able to see some real growth (literally).

After planting the seeds I wanted to make sure not to step on them as I did further work in the garden in the weeks to come. To solve that problem I sectioned off specific walking areas.

I used rocks to mark the paths in case they were later less visible.

Now, I could look over my garden, and as I did so, I got to thinking about what is to come. Sure, there will be plenty of weeding, mulching, watering, harvesting, and just general work. A garden, like any great endeavor, is no easy feat. But, the rewards I could imagine were unmistakably worth all of the work I saw ahead. To go out and pick, fresh from the vine, my very own tomato or bean or squash, to pull from the ground a beautiful orange carrot and add it to my fresh lettuce salad. These things, these are why we garden. They are the reason to dig deep into the ground. They are why I look down at my hands and see dirt imbedded deep under the nails. From the soil I bring forth life.