| Looking out over my suburban Kansas yard one early | | | | you are planting in raised garden beds instead of |
| spring day, I saw opportunity... the opportunity to | | | | rows? It's amazing how difficult it is to find some of |
| convert some of my lush, green, but otherwise | | | | this information. Experienced gardeners might know |
| unproductive grass into something much more | | | | the answers to these questions, but I sure didn't. |
| exciting: FOOD. So I set out to plant my first garden. | | | | More than once, I felt my confidence slipping... |
| This was not really my first garden, to be entirely | | | | wondering why I ever decided to plant a garden in |
| honest. I grew up with fresh vegetables from our | | | | the first place. |
| family garden in rural northern Michigan. But this was | | | | But then as my seeds took root and the garden |
| the first garden that I was in charge of, and I was | | | | began to grow, I felt my confidence returning and |
| looking forward to getting started. | | | | my excitement begin to take over. There is nothing |
| First, I needed garden beds. Since I was working with | | | | quite like planting a seed, watching it grow, and |
| a relatively small space, I opted to use the Square | | | | producing food that is good for you and tastes |
| Foot Gardening method. This method uses wider, | | | | amazing. My garden had its challenges - don't get me |
| raised garden beds instead of rows and generates | | | | wrong. My peas and spinach didn't make it because I |
| larger harvests in smaller spaces. More vegetables are | | | | planted them too late. As the Kansas summer heat |
| definitely better, I thought to myself, so I started | | | | set in, they didn't have a chance. The beans |
| with a single 8 foot by 4 foot bed, added high quality | | | | struggled because they didn't have enough space. |
| planting soil, and then headed to the garden center | | | | That was the zucchini's fault, though. It hogged an |
| to pick up my seeds. | | | | entire half of the garden bed! I had no idea how |
| That's when things got hairy. "Plant in early spring", | | | | sprawling those plants are. |
| the seed packs told me. When is 'early spring' in | | | | One important lesson I learned, however, is that |
| Kansas, I wondered? Not being sure, I went ahead | | | | gardens are forgiving. You can really mess up and still |
| and planted my beans, peas, carrots, spinach, lettuce, | | | | get a pretty decent harvest. That summer, even |
| cucumbers, and zucchini all at the same time - which | | | | though I had no idea what I was doing, I still |
| happened to be mid-May, because that's when the | | | | harvested enough vegetables out of my 8 x 4 |
| gardening bug bit me. Determining how much to plant | | | | garden bed to cover my lunch five days out of the |
| was also a challenge. How many zucchini plants do | | | | week, leaving enough vegetables for two to three |
| you need to feed three people? Does zucchini require | | | | family dinners each week. And talk about convenient! |
| a trellis? Can you plant beans next to tomatoes? | | | | I just walked outside, picked what looked good to |
| How far apart do you need to plant the seeds when | | | | me, and that's what we ate. Yum! |