My first garden

My friend Ryan decided to start a garden. He has a nice-sized backyard and built four four-by-four feet boxes to contain the beds. He asked myself and another friend to share this communal garden. None of us have gardening experience, but were guided by a gardening book and an experienced gardener and friend.

Both mornings last weekend were spent shopping for vegetables and herbs at the farmers market. Romaine lettuce, mixed greens, kale, swiss chard, cabbage, cucumbers, pole beans, cherry tomatoes, squash, cantaloupe, peppers, and several varieties of flowers and herbs were purchased.

We planned out which plants would go into each of the four-by-four boxes, according to how much space each plant needed and what made sense together (greens and lettuces were planted together). We decided to designate a box to herbs and to sprinkle some flowers throughout each box. We intend on building stakes soon, so the tomatoes and pole beans can grow vertically.

It was amazing to spend most of the weekend outside with my hands in the soil instead of inside on the computer. I'm looking forward to that more often as the garden will definitely require work. Hopefully this is successful and I'll eat most of my vegetables and herbs this summer from the garden! I think I'm most excited about the cucumbers and Sungold tomatoes.

Now I guess we just water and pray these plants grow. Do any of you have a garden? Any tips and tricks for first-timers? Hope your weekend was great!