Been a While Eh?

Ray's Garden has been on an unannounced hiatus for the past month. Those of you reading now, thanks for not abandoning me.

Life for this novice gardener has been a little hectic as of late. Some great changes have been happening in my life which has, unfortunately, kept me from devoting time to this lovely blog of mine. But, never fear for I return with great hope for the future...

The spring is fast approaching. Winter's benumbing weather has begun to break and I now wake to the warming sun. I've begun to see sprouts of grass growing in my yard and my garden is starting to fill with the perennial annoyance of weeds. So, I say to myself, "self, it's time to get back to it".

With that in mind, I've made a weekly goal checklist. My hope is that by the end of the month and beginning of April I will have a fully planted garden ready to start growing.

Production, Harvesting, Reaping What You Sow, or Whatever You Feel Like Calling It

Countless hours have been spent, back bent, sun beating down on my neck, sweat pouring from my forehead as I till, hoe, rake, plant, weed, weed, and weed some more. All this time telling myself not to be upset if nothing grew. Yet still, knowing the disappointment that would come from so many lost hours. 

I am excited to say I am not disappointed.

Weeds! Mulch!

A garden is a relationship. You give and you give and you give...and you give.....where was I going with that. Oh yes! If you don't put in the effort your garden will fail. Sure, maybe it'll be fine for a while. The seeds will germinate, the plants will grow, and the soil will stay moist. But, eventually weeds will form. At first they'll be small. You may even mistake them for seedlings. Upon further inspection and upon ignoring the issue they will soon grow. Before you know it, they'll take over.

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.