Finished!

Start a project in June of 2008... finish it in March of 2009. That's how we roll.

Last June we started the porch extension.
In October we began the second phase.

Today, I completed the project.



It's long and skinny but functional and with a few more chairs I think it'll be a pretty nice place to sit and visit with some folks. Or at least as nice as you can get using most of what you already have and spending as little money as possible.

My First Garden

Last year I bought a couple of starter plants and a package of carrot seeds. The carrots made it but the others didn't. The goal was to see if I could grow food and eat it. I'd say I was 33% successful.

Last fall my sweetie and I built a raised vegetable bed. A few weeks ago my uncle and I modified the bed we'd built last spring to a bigger size and he helped me add a bed for my herbs.

I was going to plant last week but the weather turned much colder so I waited. This week is it. I'll be planting carrots, lettuce, onion, spinach and broccoli outside in two separate beds. The raised bed will take all of those items except the broccoli. I'll be putting that in the larger bed we modified.

I also bought a seed starting tray. In it I will plant corn, cowpeas, tomatoes and 2 types of okra as well as chives, oregano, thyme and 2 types of basil. When the weather warms I'll plant cilantro and dill directly into the herb bed.

This seems like a lot to me sometimes and also sometimes too little. I hope to have a greater success rate this year. Only trying and learning will get me where I want to be. I look forward to being a person with a successful working vegetable garden, year after year.