How to Make a Raised Bed Garden.....

....from a spot of yard that used to be a parking lot for an apartment building and before that the foundation for a garage. Oh, and add to that a limited and unwilling budget.

First, construct the boxes. We used scrap wood from other projects, cut them into 4 ft lengths and 1x1 stakes at the corners to screw, (not nail) them together. The above photo shows the box upside down. The stake gets pounded into the ground so the end is cut at an angle to make that a bit easier. Dearest thinks it might be a good idea to use 4x4's instead, but 1x's are what we had on hand.


These are the two new boxes lined up where they will go so we can mark where the sod needs to be cut/dug out. Still upside down.


Now, here's the thing. Our yard used to be a parking lot when our house was cut up into 9 apartments. Before that there was a garage that burned down in this spot. So various parts of the yard have ft deep of gravel, concrete, or this:


Foundation stone, rebar rods, glass, and other debris. Then the clay soil has to be dug through and removed because of the lead in the soil. MUST be done. Our area has the highest rate of juvenile lead poisoning in the entire USA. We also have Lil'Bug tested regularly, just in case.



Anyway, the soil must be removed 12-18 inches. This is beneficial too, because clay soil is not ideal for vegetable gardening. We use the soil to build up around our foundation.



Haul away debris and bad soil. Then set the boxes with the long steak side down. Level them. Do your best anyway. Ours are levelish.


Then fill with compost, top soil, and cow manure. Top with deep cedar mulch. Plant plants.

We still don't do root veggies like carrots or beets or potatoes because of the lead issue. Can't be too careful with developing brains. Lil'Bug helped a lot with almost every step of the process. The handyman who did the heavy work (Dearest) is camera shy when in work mode.

What is in a Name?

A Baby by any other name.....

Yes, naming a baby is an enormous task. We still have not settled on a name and have actually been calling her June Bug. We have a month or less to decide and still nada. Dearest Husband thinks he has a good name, Lil'Bug has a different one, and Nana has a third name she's decided on. Great.

With Lil'Bug it was easy, inspiration hit and that was it. This time, not so much and every name I have come up with has been either yucked at, decided that...."it's a good name for a pet fish," or just plain discarded by me a day later.

Snuzzel and Afrog

Lil'Bug has a vocabulary that is growing by leaps and bounds and sometimes adds new words to our repertoire: "Snuzzeling" is a snuggle and a cuddle initiated by a nose rubbing. She says it's what giraffes do. Ok.

Then there is Afrog the lallygagging alligator. She saw Muppet's' Treasure Island and loves the word lallygagging. Not sure she knows what it means, but still very cute. Afrog, she says, is a funny name for an alligator because he's not a frog. Chomp chomp chomp, mmmmm, yum yum yum.

Soupy is her bear. Purple Baby, who's other name is Kate, is her baby. And then there are a whole host of other animals and babies that she plays with too. She named a pair of hotwheels, Dog and Cat. Dog is the orange one and she says a girl gets to drive Dog. Why? Because it's fast!

I think it is funnier than she finds it that she gets amusement by "naming" things other things that they are not. Does that make sense? :) Needleroozer will get it. ;)

Driving Podkayne

Driving. I thought I could handle the 2-5 minute rule. Seemed easy enough.

Not.

We went to a park, no problem today to meet friends. Then driving home a car almost hit us. I hit the break in time but 1)barely, my toes extended to completely compress said brake pedal and 2) I am way to close to the steering wheel and 3)OMG OMG OMG I cannot apparently handle the stress of a close call.

Bugger that. We have plans for next week that we may just have to cancel.