A Patch of Traditional Green

I have been pretty set in my plan to get rid of all the lawn space in my backyard.  My dog, however, does not share the same enthusiasm for the plan that I do.  She has been quite confused about where to do her business since I took all the grass out.  And so, in the theme of "what we'll do for our pets" I went out and bought 24 squares of St. Augustine sod this weekend.  I'll admit that the patch of green is very pretty...  I'll have to figure out what type of creative border I am going to put around it, as I do not want it to spread, and I do not want to have to use an edger.  Ideas, anyone?

Here is the view from my back steps now -- the yard is coming along!

The rectangular raised bed is new.  The "walk the plank" sidewalk material is temporary (although the location is probably good) and the grill is just left there from Friday night -- not a permanent location.  The long narrow patch of mulch behind the grill is my raspberry patch.

I added the rectangular raised bed this weekend -- and got some unexpected help planting it when a girlfriend stopped over to see my yoga platforms.  It was fun to have someone help and it was fun to catch up on each other's lives while we dug in the dirt!  She had the itch to garden but doesn't have a yard.  For this box I just used some 2"x4"s that I had on hand; if I determine that i really like the size and location I will build it properly -- but for now, this totally works.  In it we planted two vining plants, watermelon and goards.  And then because I tend to overplant, I also put in sugar snap peas which I'll trellis vertically and did a border of green scallions.

I barely had the sod laid down and I was given immediate gratification/validation:

I think she approves.

Garden Boxes Planted

I got my garden boxes planted yesterday.  Since I did all the hard work of box prep last year, this year the planting went really fast.  I cleared out all the dead leaves and other debris.  I used a pitchfork and loosened the soil, turning it and mixing it up.  Then I turned in a few inches of fresh compost, smoothed it out and dropped in seeds.  Fast and fun.

Box 1 contains basil, tomatoes, (great companion plants!) and jalapeno peppers.  I bought seedlings for all three of those. 

Box 2 has green bell peppers (seedlings), zucchini and beets.

Box 3 has yellow squash, eggplant and radish

Box 4 has cucumbers and kale.

And all four boxes have marigold borders for natural pest control.

I feel as though I got my boxes planted sort of late this year -- especially for the kale -- but I should be okay.

I learned last week that my asparagus crowns won't ship until April due to the suppliers fields still being covered in snow, but it's all good because I don't have the area for them chosen and ready yet anyway!

Grow, Baby, Grow!

I have a few radish sprouts! They are the first plants "out of the box."