Adventures in Raised Bed Gardening (or How to Go Insane in a Few Easy Steps)

Spring is finally in the air - I think - and that means it's time to get the vegetable garden going. In the case of my husband and me, by going, I actually mean starting from scratch. No simple planting of seeds and transferring of plants for us. Oh, no...we need to build everything.

Lest you think we are new to this gardening thing, let me assure you that we have been here before - a couple of different times. The first time we tried it many years ago, we got started late and kind of just threw everything together. We did get a pretty good harvest, but it was nowhere near what we envisioned. 

After a year or two of starting too late in the season and staying busy with small kids, we decided it was time to try again with the garden thing. We were going to be serious this time. Nothing was going to stop us. Nothing except the two dogs we now had. Who knew how much dogs like vegetables (or at least the dirt they grow in)?? Since we had decided to raise a zoo (2 dogs, 5 cats, 5 kids), time was lost, and the garden was abandoned and eventually dismantled.

Fast-forward to this year. The kids, cats, and dogs are still around, but we miss having fresh vegetables, so we're giving it another shot. And that's where the insanity comes in. We have plans, people. Big plans. Ok, nothing too earth-shattering, but the garden WILL succeed this time. My stomach is counting on it.