The dirty plot.

I've started this site to document the beginnings, middles, never endings and forever givings of growing a new garden from seed.

It's only January but there is a lot of work to be done to assure a productive garden and fruitful harvest. 

To Do in January:

 -- To avoid a lot of digging I laid a tarp down to kill the grass. When the rain stops and I have some time I'll replace the tarp with a few layers of newspaper and organic mulch to hold it down. That way it kills the grass and creates a fantastic nutrient rich base to a veggie garden.
-- because the backyard is a bit of a swamp I will need raised beds with sandy soil. I've started scavenging back alleys for untreated building materials to begin building the boxes.
-- build compost bin, the city now collects kitchen waste, but I love the idea of creating a cycle from the kitchen, to the compost, to the garden and eventually back to the kitchen again.
-- start collecting seeds and drafting plot plans
-- pull out some weeds

The backyard from the deck. That's the garden plot under the tarp. I want to double its size.

 

This is the temporary grass killing tarp (white probably isn't the best). Will be replaced with newspaper and mulch asap.

 

I picked up this barrel on craigslist a few weeks ago. It's set up for collecting rain water and has a nifty  tap, it also came with a hose. It's been sitting under the gutter and nearly half full.

 

Signs of a huge clematis (or morning glory!) in the front garden.