When I was growing up in Ohio my family planted a large garden each spring. At about an acre in size, we had plenty of room for corn, green beans, lettuce, tomatos, peppers, cucumbers, carrots, squash, pumpkins, sunflowers and okra. Mandy and I have planted a few tomato and pepper plants over the years but we have never had room for anything more than that. Last year the boys asked us to plant a garden but, with everything else going on, we did not get around to it. This year would be different.
After doing a fair amount of research, I decided to build a raised garden bed in our back yard. The good news was that it was only about a 2-hour project to build the bed (5 total cuts for the wood) but the bad news was that it was not cheap (about $175 for the supplies, including $85 for enough garden soil to fill the 4 x 8 foot bed to a depth of 8-inches). Our next task will be to decide what to plant but I am leaning towards a mixed-vegetable garden following a pre-planned layout utilizing a planting grid. Here is to having fresh vegetables all summer and fall!
