From the Ground Up

So I have decided to start this blog. I love to garden, and some day I hope to go from it being just a small back yard thing to about a 20 acre thing. My husband and I would like to get as self sufficient as possible. But still live in the real world. We are by far not back woods folk. Many of my friends, family, and neighbors, tell me that I'm very talented in what I do, and that maybe I should think about teaching others how to do the same. So that has brought me here. I have been married for a little over 20 years, and have a large family. So gardening has fulfilled a few things in life for me. First it has helped feed my family. It has also given me the opportunity to share with my family, friends, and neighbors. I have also gotten to teach my children how to do this, and to recognize the benefits of gardening.  But the one thing that I love the most is that it has given me the chance to escape from the crazy world we live in and slow down and enjoy what  is around me. To get back down to earth again.

One of my favorite methods of gardening is to do it in raised beds. I like this for a few reasons.

• One I build my boxes to fit where I live and to maximize the space I have. but also to give myself room around each box so that I can weed it, plant it, and maintain it with out having to walk through it. 
• Two thanks to the understanding and hard work that my husband puts in on my "Projects" I have got a sprinkling system in  each of my boxes that have separate valves to each. That way I can control which boxes get water, when, and how much. That helps a ton in water conservation.
• Three, It also allows me to better rotate what I have planted and help keep the soil from depleting it nutrients.
• Four, again thanks to my husband for dealing with my ideas for new "Projects" I have covers for each of my boxes that allow me to garden year round. They are like miniature green houses which i can take on and off really easily, or trade around if what I planted has grown to tall.

 Later down the road I will add pictures on how to build a 3x6 cedar garden box, and how to build extended year covers. Also I will talk about soil, and composting. In this blog as a whole, I want to teach if I can on how to garden year round. Yes that's what I said "Year Round" and no I don't live in some perfect part of the country that has got awesome and ideal weather year round. We live in the 2nd largest city in Utah. Northern Utah at that! So trust me. I'm talking about below 0 temps, and snow, lots of snow. Before you start saying to yourself she's got to have some sort of heating system for those boxes. Your wrong. The only heating that those boxes get is from the sun each day. My plan is to up date this blog a couple times a week. Normally I would have everything that I was planning to grow for the season already in the ground. I start planting in mid March to mid April. But this year is going to be a little different. We are going to be moving into a new house, so not everything can be planted now. Some of it is going to have to wait until we move and then put in late. This year is going to be a little bit of an experiment. Cause there are a few things that I have planted, and are going to have to be transplanted. But I am hoping that they will have a chance to produce a good root system so that I will be able to dig them up and move them, like my pumpkins. Our family is crazy about Halloween, and we try and grow the biggest pumpkin we can every year to display in our front yard with all of the other decor. This blog is also about Urban Farming, Our family has a small flock of poultry. Two Ducks which have been apart of our family since they were 3 days old. They are now 6 years old. We have one drake, and one hen. Also we have 10 chickens, 2 rosters, and 8 hens. They have been apart of our family now for a year. I love my neighbors, cause they love my rosters. I'm afraid that I am going to have to find new homes for my 2 rosters. I don't think my new neighbors are going to like them the way my neighbors I have now do. Have you ever had a Farm Fresh Egg? Oh man are they ever good!

In my future posts, I will be brining you up to speed on what I have been doing since the first part of March this year, and what I started in the ground last fall that is currently growing now. Until next time, "Happy Gardening!"