here we go again...

it's garden season again folks. while i have been away for these last weeks much has happened. me and the hubby bought a new house and renovations are under way, although there really isn't too much that needs to be done before we can move everything over. just a new kitchen floor, refinish the hardwoods on the main level, and paint the front two rooms and hallway. but mostly this moves means starting from scratch again with the backyard garden. while i have big big plans swirling around in my head, i need to be patient and think small for this first year. so for now i am concentration on getting two 4x10 raised beds set up and will build from there in the future. step #1: get my soil tested for lead and other heavy metals to determine the height and structure of said garden beds. i'm dropping off the soil sample this afternoon and will post the results as soon as i get them back. being in an urban setting, i suspect that the results will not be great, but i'm crossing my fingers nonetheless. so bye bye little rental backyard, and hello even smaller new house backyard. can't wait to get to know ya!!!!

 rental backyard garden plots all cleaned out and awaiting... yuck.... grass seed.

new house backyard garden area!!!!!!!! 

i see raised beds, hoop houses, mini green house and cold frames.

i see vertical gardening, sunflowers, and a few small fruit trees. 

unfortunately, due to space issues and the need for play areas for the puppernutz, 

i don't see an orchard, honey bees, or.... sniff sniff..... chickens.

with so much work to do inside the new house, the outside is going to have to wait a few weeks before i can get any kind of veggies going. fortunately i can still get to producing some food at my new community garden site down the street. our group installed the beds last saturday and since then i have put up a trellis and direct sowed two rows of peas. in the next few days i also hope to start some turnips, kohlrabi, and celery.

 

 isn't she pretty. 

i hope to add some sort of vertical structure to the back of the bed to maximize my space.

 i'm thinking something similar to the raised bed that i wrote about here.