Oh joy!

Do you know what I have been looking forward to? Composting. How many of us waste veggies and fruits that wilt, spoil, or rot before we can eat them? Well, not anymore. That celery that has been in my fridge's veggie bin since (cough) Christmas will be put to good use. Speaking of Christmas, it sure felt like the holidays when I got home today to find this on my porch...




And so the fun begins! I can't wait to make plant super-food out of wilted lettuce, coffee grounds, newspaper scraps, and leaves. Check it out!




Now, I also have another little trick up my sleeve. What's cooler than an Aqua Globe and a Sham-Wow (and a little less cool than a Snuggie)?




A Topsy Turvy!!! I plan to grow my tomatoes, hot peppers, and strawberries upside-down on shepherd's hooks in my garden.

Lastly, today's special shipment of garden goodies is special for another reason. All of this cardboard will be part of the first layer in my "lasagna" garden. Look at me, I'm a little green!

Using my handy dandy drill!

Tonight Melina and I built 3 garden boxes for my garden (we plan to build her boxes on Friday night).

This picture shows our starting wood pile.




The first finished box! It's not a flattering picture, but it definitely captures my joy! This looks fairly easy but there was definitely some sweat involved and a few sparks flew off of the duct taped end of my husband's power drill. We even tripped a breaker. Nothing two tough girls can't handle, right?




All 3 finished boxes, we're ready for Saturday!




On Saturday, we plan to meet very early and begin our garden "lasagna" layers. We will have a full day of work ahead of us (and maybe some Starbucks to keep us going).

Also, I just couldn't wait until Spring to start planting (I am WAY too excited for that!), so I started a little mini-herb garden. It's so cute and it is safe in my kitchen from all the cold and frost outside. I also have some more indoor plants to start soon (once they are delivered), but I'll save that story for another day.

And so it begins...

I have been wanting to start a garden for a few years now, but I haven't made the time.  This year I am ready to do it!  I have a few motivations for wanting to grow my own fruits and veggies.  First, it's just plain cool to grow something out of a little seed, water, sun, and dirt.  Second, I have been on a money-saving mission lately (that's a whole other story, but I have a new found obsession with coupons).  Third, call me a "prepper"...if a disaster strikes (economic, natural, etc.), I've got food in the ground.  Fourth, what better way to be healthy than to have an abundant (hopefully) supply of organic fruits and vegetables in my own backyard.  Lastly, I enjoy a new adventure and I think this will be fun! 

So, I am not doing this alone.  My dear friend Melina is going to be starting a garden also.  Together we will figure this out and help each other along the way.  Her motivation is similar to mine and to say we are excited is a total understatement. 

We plan to do a raised-bed lasagna garden (http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf582744.tip.html).  Our raised beds will be 4'x8' constructed out of 2"x8" boards.  Yep, we are making these ourselves.  Tonight was quite an adventure as we went to Home Depot to buy the supplies.  We loaded down the back of Melina's Chevy Trailblazer...it was quite a sight!  We plan to construct these raised beds on Saturday.

Here are some pics of our Home Depot adventure. It's only January so I think we are both hoping we don't get tired of this gardening business before Spring rolls around.