My First Vegetable Garden - Part 1

Hello everyone! This is my inaugural blog that I am writing about my experiences starting a vegetable garden. 

Biography

Just a bit about myself...I'm 37 years old and about to be 38 soon and I  live in southwestern Pennsylvania.  I have always been interested in gardening ever since I was a little boy. I liked being outside, digging in the dirt, and basking in the sunshine while I made something come to life. As a boy this was just something as simple as planting marigold seeds in a little peat pellet inside a foam cup, watering it, and putting it in a plastic bag on the windowsill.

My first job in high school was at a nursery and garden center in 1994. It was a small operation owned and operated by a family...a very nice family.  That was, and is still today, my favorite job that I have ever had.  It was here that I learned so much about flowers and vegetables and how to care for them that it really fostered in me a desire to do so much more.

It has been a long time since I have had a garden, but this year, 2016, I've returned to that lovable pastime of mine.

Even though it is mid July, I have taken multiple photographs over the past few months to document my development of the garden.  It would be a great honor for me to share with you all my experiences growing and developing my backyard for you to read about and to see.  This is something that I have been wanting to do for a long time.  Earlier in the winter I would read article after article and watch video after video on all types of gardening subjects.  Sometimes I would be so excited I couldn't sleep.  But enough with the preliminaries and on with the show....

Beginning of a Wonderful Project 

I wish I had a photograph of what the Garden area looked like before I took it over.  Basically it looked like a jungle. but over time--maybe a few weeks when it was warm in November and December of last year--I cleared everything up.  Since the majority of the area is on a slope, raised beds would be optimal for this area.  Due to the fact that I do not have a lot of money, I do what I can with free stuff...especially all that stuff on Craigslist.  I knew that lumber would cost several hundred dollars so I acquired used shipping pallets for free.

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Initially I planned out and measured the area for three beds, but after some miscalculations, I settled on 2 beds.  All work was done by hand and all the tools that I used were a shovel, a digging bar, twine and stakes, a level, hand saw, power drill, and of course a tape measure.

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To be Continued....              #NewToSteem