Garden bed, that is.

Remember the deep beds? I do. We have three, currently, about 35-ish feet in length (I have precise measurements by inches recorded somewhere, but that’s not important for this, methinks). The soil is very clay-based, with some sort of old fertilizer/compost mixed in from the previous owner in order to grow grass (leftover sod), and is slightly acidic (6.5pH).

Pictures, you ask? Sure:

We mixed compost with each planting of the seedlings, and are winging it with the current soil for the direct seeding. We’ll see what happens, and I’ll keep you posted. The grand list of current Bed #1 plantings are:

Seedlings:

• Bell peppers
• Hot peppers (ghost, general hot, cayenne, Thai chili)
• Squash
• Bok choy

Direct seeds:

• Broccoli
• Okra
• Lettuce
• Arugula
• Tomatoes
• More squash
• Cucumbers (lemon, Mexican sour gherkin, and the regular green kind. I can’t remember its fancy name, but it’s good for pickling)
• Borage
• Eggplant

I’m sure some will do beautifully, some will fail, and some will do pretty okay. It’s been ages since I’ve been able to plant in the ground and not just in containers, so it’ll be a nice reminder/learning curve again to see what will actually take and what won’t, and what I might need to do to get what I want. Curb my expectations, most likely.

I’m excited to see what the first year brings in self-sufficiency! Nothing like eating a pepper you’ve grown yourself to make you feel accomplished. I hope you’re excited, too!