Spring is Here! Seedling Watch and the Addition of 32 Square Feet of Grow Space

 Back in February I started some pepper and tomato seeds here is a look at how they are doing.

February 16,2022 planted

I used the moss rounds under soil as an experiment; figuring that the moss was good at staying damp it would help regulate the water retention for the seeds.

February 22, 2022 - The Tomatoes are pushing thru

February 26, 2022 - One of the spots with Pepper seeds is sprouting

Today I have finished, well mostly, 32 square feet of more growing space. Fortunately for me one of my local home improvement stores was running a special on dirt so it ended up costing me a bit less than it normally would have.

First up is where I put down some weed barrier cloth then cardboard. Thank you again Daddy and Mommy for the wonderful gift! The folks sent me some Christmas gifts and most of the boxes used for this part of the construction are from those gifts. I made sure to minimize the overlapping of the cardboard as its purpose is to deter the grass and other pants in the yard from growing into the garden bed; after all that soil is tasty to them. But cardboard can cause drainage problems as well, hence the minimizing the overlap. The weed barrier cloth is partly for keeping weeds out, but mostly cause it is porous, but can contain the dirt. The hopes with this set up is that it will help the bed retain some of its water, reducing the need for watering, and keep the other plants out. I am being stingy with the expensive dirt.

The bed half full.

And We Are DONE! - ish

I am still wanting to get some mulch on top of the dirt, but there you have it one 32 square foot bed ready for plants. And yes there are 2 different types of dirt in this bed it is not the light or your eyes playing with you.

Total Cost for this one bed: $231.45 (without tax cause I have other things on the receipts not related)

• $3.33 = 1/3 of a box of screws 
• $83.64 = Wood 2 inch x 12 inch x 8 foot 
• $64.56 = 1/2 the dirt Compost 
• $79.92 = 1/2 the dirt 

Garden Update

 It has been a while since I have updated here, but I have not been slacking .... ok who am I kidding I am not been a fan of the cold weather. 

A while back I had made a dish that required 2 leeks and the store was kind enough to leave a good amount of the roots on them, so I put them in water.

and they grew...

and grew ...

and now they are happily in the raised beds I started in the front yard

If you noticed, I had also started a sweet potato. Well, It grew too.

It grew enough that I took too slips off it and tried them in some peat rounds I had

Garden Expansion

I had orginally planned to expand the garden closer to the well and where I park, but after watching the sun a few days I decided the better option at least for this first expansion was for near the bee hives.

So one weekend I got the lumber

An now I have three 4 foot by 8 foot beds

That I have to fill with dirt. Yay! I need to do some more research into where the best place to get dirt, or more preferably compost is going to be. Local home improvement box store sells bulk delivery of these items, but I live on a dirt road. I also have a neighbor who has a dump trailer who might be able to acquire the needed filling for the beds. As a last resort, and the most expensive route, I can always purchase bagged dirt.