I had planned on attending the Seattle Tilth Plant Sale yesterday morning but I got in late Friday night and forgot to set my alarm. By the time I woke up, it was too late {I like to be first in line so I get the best plants} so I just stayed home and did a little catch up around the yard instead.
I {finally} finished the rock border alongside the shade garden.
I walked to the Home Depot {it took me 2 hours there and back} and picked up a few bags of seed starting mix.
I also found the wood we are going to use for the garden boxes. It is a little on the spendy side but I decided I wanted a more stout garden box this time around. I decided on using 4x6x12 timbers stacked on top of each other {with some support drilled down the middle}.
I won’t be able to set the garden boxes out until the fence is up but I can get all the wood cut and ready to go so once the we do have a fence, I can haul the garden boxes out and fill them up with soil and goodness.
Remember when the HOA told be I have to remove the ivy I transplanted along my side yard {that faces the street} and the only options for ground cover they suggested were salal, and kinnikinnick? Both of which are horrible in my opinion… anywho, I wrote the HOA back and asked if I could plant vinca minor instead {we had it at our last house and it was lovely}. They said YES.
The only problem was The Home Depot only sells 1 gallon pots of vinca minor. And at $6.99 a pop {I would need about 100 gallon sized plants} I knew I had to find a cheaper alternative. Well I did. I found a seller on eBay {that has AWESOME reviews} selling vincor minor starts super cheap. True, the plants are smaller, but in 2-3 years the area will be covered, which is the goal. So I ordered a few. Okay, so I ordered 1,000 starts.
Guess what I’ll be doing later this week?
Garden boxes. Originally I thought I would build {4} 8×4 fancy garden boxes at a cost of around $310. Which would have given me 128 square feet of growing space. Then I did the math.
- {4} 8×4 garden boxes = 128 square feet. $310 = $2.42 a square foot
- {2} 6×12 garden boxes = 144 square feet. $233 = $1.62 a square foot
Maybe 144 square feet of growing space doesn’t seem like a lot to you, but when you factor in all the containers I’ll be using and the {secret} side gardens where I’ll have stuff planted, I think I’ll end up somewhere near 500 square feet when all is said and done.
Not to shabby for a backyard vegetable garden in high maintenance suburbia if you ask me.
Now comes the hard part. Figuring out where I’m going to plant it all.
How is YOUR garden coming along?
Did you plant anything this week?
This years garden is being sponsored by the awesome folks at Botanical Interests Seed Company. You can check out their website HERE, order their new 2015 Garden Seed Catalog, or see the seeds I’ll be growing in my garden this year HERE.
Up for a tour? Read about our behind the scenes tour of Botanical Interests Seed Company.
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