I’ve now added another hat to my ever growing collection, it is the “gardener” hat. I wear it proudly along with my other hats which include mommy, wifey, designer, blogger, cook and terrible driver. Spring was my target date to plant a garden, but once I did a little gardening questioning with anyone who would listen, I soon discovered NOW is the perfect time to get a FALL garden planted here in the South.

How do you like my little scarecrow garden markers? Stay tuned as I plan on offering a fun tutorial and free print-your-own garden marker project next week.

My gardening curiosity began when Farmer D Organics opened this cute little gardening shop close to my house. The retro logo is what caught my attention and everyone knows I’m a sucker for an eye catching design.  But could I garden? I mean wouldn’t that include a TON of work, not to mention hard labor and renting something called a “tiller” and chomping up my Georgia red clay backyard? That was way too much for me to ever wrap my head around so I settled for just admiring this store from afar and having a crush on anyone who is taking the time to grow their own fruits and vegetables. I mean have you seen the price of red peppers lately? Geez.

Suncast Raised Cedar Garden Bed

Then while shopping at Lowe’s,  I spotted a raised cedar garden bed. A what? When I read the box I realized I wouldn’t have to rent one of those tillers, all I had to do was put this sucker together, add some dirt and seeds and I’d be SET! I could already see the sprouts sprouting and deciding to turn my back against meat and become a vegetarian. Ok, after I got a little carried away I came back down to Earth and devised a plan… a MASTER plan.

Farmer D Organics was my next stop and to download gardening information directly to my brain from any staff member I could corner.  After all these years of just driving past this store, I finally get to walk right in and act like I know what I’m doing there.  This was more fun to me than buying a dozen cupcakes that have more frosting than cake.

What took me so long? This store is just over the top and the staff was more helpful than I could have ever dreamed. Kevin (my organic gardening guru) suggested before I even plant my first seed I should read a book called All New Square Foot Gardening because that’s what he did when he first started. Well… if it’s good enough for my guru, it’s good enough for me! He also informed me that if I wanted a Fall crop, I needed to get my seeds in asap. This meant I had exactly 24 hours to assemble and plant my garden because the following weekends were booked. No sweat. Well… actually there was lots of sweat because it was 120 degrees in the shade.

I went home, devoured this book and became armed and dangerous with organic gardening knowledge. OK, really just gardening knowledge since the only reason it’s going to be an organic garden is because that’s the only kind of seeds, dirt, fertilizer, etc.. that Farmer D Sells.  I’m ok with a pesticide and chemical free garden for my family, so it’s worth the extra $ and effort. This book breaks down (into simple terms even I can handle) exactly how to garden in small spaces. The reason it’s called “square foot” gardening is because it has you break down your garden plan into 1 foot square blocks. This keeps things organized and simple. Organized and simple? That I like! My new garden kit was (approximately) a 4 foot x 4 foot square so this should be a breeze to handle once the veggies start growing, right? Ask me again in the Fall.

Please allow me to break down exactly how my family and I spent last Sunday, creating a true “family garden” together. I must be one heck of a sales person because what was supposed to be “my” project, turned into forced family fun:) simply because it was the hottest August day I could ever remember and you don’t plant a garden in the shade.  I chose the space off to the side of my backyard, but left enough room to walk around the back. My fancy cedar bed even came with a trellis, perfect for staking tomatoes, which are not a Fall crop but in the South there is plenty of growing time left on the books. When choosing your kit you will find several options and sizes. I chose one that was closest to a 4 foot square only because that’s the size my book kept using as an example, plus it’s a great place to start, right?

Make sure you have everything you need in one place. Once I read my handy book, I visited my gardening guru once again and he helped me calculate exactly how much organic dirt and fertilizer I would need. My space is 4 x 4 feet and 9 inches deep, so it took more dirt than I cared to carry into my backyard. Even our dog thought he could contribute to my fertilizer pile.

This is the most important (and fun) part of the project. I love my gardening team!

Here is where I need to level with ya…get it? Our yard is on a slope and as much as I just wanted to say the heck with it and place my garden right on the slope, I knew it wasn’t a good idea. If your garden is on a slope, the water will pool to one side and all your hard work will be wasted.  Trust me when I say my husband earned his STRIPES on this task! Thanks honey.

First things first! Don’t forget the weed screen. A raised garden bed means there is no bottom, perfect for draining and for WEEDS. The bed was super easy to assemble, just make sure you read the directions thoroughly and don’t have any screws leftover. There were a couple arguments between my handsome hubby and I during these steps, but I think it was due to the heat not my inability to use a screwdriver when the twisting got tough.

Mixing the dirt and fertilizer was simple enough. Boy was the fertilizer ever aromatic? I never knew these ingredients all mixed together would smell like an outhouse?

Since I was doing a “square foot garden” I needed to make a wooden grid to nail onto the top of my garden bed. This would make the 1 foot squares I would need for planting my seeds. My kit did not come with a grid, but lucky for me I married a pretty handy guy, plus have a 5 year old that wants to help (all the time). Pretty cute watching father and son bonding time if I don’t say so myself.

If the sun wasn’t bad enough, now that dusk was upon us… so were the SKEETERS! yikes.

Thanks to my gardening guru and my book, I new what types of vegetables to plant in order to have a most plentiful (fingers crossed) Fall garden. The idea is to plant seeds (directions right on the package for spacing) inside the 1 foot squares from my grid, meaning I have 16 squares/spaces to plant seeds.  I think I took this to mean I could plant 16 different veggies, I’m such a beginner:) I planned exactly where to put mesculin, my tomato transplant, kale, broccoli, brussels sprouts, onions, lettuce, turnips, carrots, cauliflower, bok choi and beets. YUM.

Perfect way to keep seeds organized, Garden Rolodex via Martha Stewart

The moment we have been waiting for all day! Now my son can stop asking “when is it time to plant the seeds?” it’s like “are we there yet?” when on a long car trip. He did a great job placing each and every seed. There were a few seeds that got stuck to his sweaty little hand so I might end up with bok choi in my carrots:) It’s all good.

Here you have it! Our finished family masterpiece, what do you think? I asked my son what he’d like to name our new garden…his answer is on the little sign shown.

Fast forward just 3 days later and can you believe we already had sprouts? In fact my husband thought they were weeds.

To sum up our family organic garden project I have to say.. GO FOR IT! It was certainly easier than I imagined, heck once you take out having to till soil as a step, anything seems easy, right? Involving my ever curious 5 year old in the process will hopefully create some fun memories for him to look back upon. Blogging about the experience is also a way to share your progress with your friends and family. I really can’t wait to show you what we have at harvest time in the Fall. Keep your fingers crossed that all my seeds take or that the squirrels don’t get them.  I hope I have inspired you to create a garden, if so I’d like to hear about it. Feel free to leave me a post here on the blog.

Look, more weeds:) Yes, after a week my husband still thinks this is “clover”. Can’t wait to ask him how is clover salad is this Fall. Stay tuned as I plan to post side by side weekly pictures for you all to see.

Thanks so much for hanging out with me today and if you have any questions about organic gardening 101, I’ll do my best to answer.