roryaren-blog

[roryaren-blog]

Starting a veg garden

There's an area in my back yard that was my dad's veggie garden when my sister and I were little. It's been 12 years since Dad passed and at LEAST twice that long since there were any veggies there. Since then, it's become the area where we dump grass clippings, raked-up leaves, and fallen and clipped/chopped branches. I have now cleared the entire area of everything but the leaves and whatever sticks I missed among the leaves. In doing so, I discovered the old railroad ties Dad had used to mark the boundaries. Erm...the "compost" area has apparently more than doubled in size over the years. Oops, lol. I've cleared an area approx 9 feet by 19 feet and have started prepping it using the "lasagna" method with old newspaper at the bottom, then a few inches of raked leaves in various stages of decay. Next up: compost if I can find some for free, and if my son will help me shovel and transport it. (I'm almost 10 weeks out from rotator cuff surgery and while I'm healing well, I'm still very limited in what I can lift.) Then I'll spread the leftover bag of peat I've been using sparingly for the flowers for a couple years. Then more leaves, then dirt. And then I can hopefully barter some of my hostas for young veg plants. I've had a million ideas for fencing the area to keep out bunnies, wood chucks, raccoons, chipmunks, and whatever else might enjoy a free meal but haven't found anything that fits into my non-existent budget. Maybe I'll pick up some free wood pallets and see what I can fashion from those. Even if nothing gets planted this year, I've found this work to be great therapy. 💙💚💜