Gardening requires lots of water - most of it in the form of perspiration.

Gardening requires lots of water - most of it in the form of perspiration.
-  Lou Erickson 

So I did it! Last weekend, I started my first garden. I'm very excited. I've been telling my husband since we moved in the house in August that I wanted a garden. We go through so many veggies that not only would I not have to make as many trips to the store but it will save a ton of money. There were two catches though. First off, my yard is a mess. The people that lived there before us left it a mess with garbage all over and it was not taken care of. So although we did clean up a lot before winter, there's a little more to do. Also, I was told that this is "my garden," not his. If I want a garden, I need to do the research. He'll help me with getting it all set up and taking care of but I needed to do all the groundwork first. I guess this came to be because when we moved into our house, there was a fish tank and I wanted that fish tank. Well, months later, I still have a fish tank but he takes care of it. I refuse to stick my hand in the water. Haha, I know, I'm such a wuss. Do you blame me though?  Fish poop grosses me out. Yuck!

So anyways, about a month ago, I went out and bought this bad boy. 

 

Can I just tell you? For anyone starting their first garden or even if you have started one already, this is an AMAZING book. So easy to follow and I love how the chapters are divided up. Not only do they cover care and maintenance in the chapters but each chapter is also divided up according to that type of vegetable. And they cover how to grow indoors. Oh and my favorite, it covers strawberries, blueberries and raspberries, too! 

Well, I have read about 60% of the book and am still reading. I've learned a lot so my husband and I decided to go to Home Depot and pick out our crops so we could start growing the seedlings indoors.  Let me just say this. It's very overwhelming with how many choices you have. And being a newbie at all this, I felt so much anxiety. At one point, I even told Brian, "I'm not ready for this." Haha, I guess I don't want to fail. I have to remember though, with all our seeds, it was only $30 and we got A LOT. So if it does fail, I don't feel too bad. If my seedlings do not grow properly, I can always just go out and buy the plants. 

We chose the seeds and for the most part, I went with the Burpee brand. Their website has a ton of information on gardening as well. I highly recommend visiting it.  Okay, okay, I did go a little crazy but I have wishful thinking that these will all grow. Oh and not all of these are "my seeds." My husband, who is in love with peppers, had about 6 different ones in this bunch below. So he's to blame a little bit. ;)

 

We went with Romaine lettuce, 2 types of tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, yellow squash, carrots, 3 types of onions, spinach, sweet basil, lemon basil dill, cilantro, parsley, rosemary, chives, garlic chives, green onions, watermelon, sugar pie pumpkins, eggplant, habaneros, jalapenos, sweet bell peppers, green chilies, garlic, Anaheim peppers and a bunch more that I'm forgetting. I also picked up onion bulbs, russett potatoes and sweet potatoes to plant in the future. I want to do tomatillos as well since we make a lot of green salsas but I haven't found those in the stores yet.

We also bought this Burpee kit that has everything I needed to start my seeds.

 

According to their description, this is what it included: "the big, reusable 72-cell tray makes it easy to start all your seeds in one unit. Each long-lasting kit includes a watering tray, 72-cell plant tray, plant stand, self-watering mat, greenhouse top, 72 Burpee Super Growing Cubes, and 12 convenient plant markers."

Just a little advice though, make sure you completely read the directions. You think being a teacher, I know better but I read them all for the most part but missed a step. Toward the end, I became confused and  I ended up with a cover not fitting correctly so I ended up cutting the tray but then I figured the correct way to assemble. Oh well, live and learn, right.

One of the things the pocket book suggested was, once I had my seeds, to sit down with the calendar and circle the last frost date which in my area is April 21st. Then depending on what seeds they were, to count back of when they would be needed to be planted indoors.  So I did just that. 

After that, it was time to plant about half of my seeds so I did that this past weekend. There were 72 cells in the tray so I cut it in half and used half of them. The other half will be used in the upcoming weeks. I have to laugh though, I think I was mesmerized by the Burpee Super Growing Cubes. Once you poured warm water on them, they expanded. Pure genius, I tell ya. I had seriously had so much fun doing this. Here is what I ended up with for now: 

 

I had a picture with the greenhouse cover on it but it somehow got deleted. Ooops. 

Guess what?!?!?! Yesterday, I noticed my Romaine lettuce had sprouts! Yay! Even my husband was excited. I can't wait to see what else starts to grow. Hopefully, it will be a huge success. I still have A LOT to learn as far as taking care of the seedlings, transplanting them to bigger pots and then to the garden but for now, I'm thrilled with the progress. 

Now if only, I can find a way to keep my "assistant" out of the garden so I don't come out to the yard and see him running around with a tomato in his mouth. 

 

More to come on this gardening experience! I'm trying to convince my husband on strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and a peach tree! Oh and planting flowers in the front of the house. We'll see how well that works out!  

Baby Steps!