Inspired in part by the Hive community, I began reclaiming lawn space, building raised boxes, and blogging about my adventures in gardening. This might be year #5 of the ever-growing garden that officially launches this weekend every year.
This weekend Victoria Day long weekend in Canada though most, self-respecting townies I know have called it May Two-Four weekend. Fewer beers are consumed decades later and attention is focussed upon getting the garden fully planted.
This is how we ended up last year. Let us see how we started this one!
Rough Start
Winters are rather unkind to my back yard. Everything dies, gets covered in a blanket of white, and is neglected a good 6 months. It doesn't start out very pretty.
This year, the trampoline took an escalated priority as weather warmed quickly and exercise became that much more important. So much cleaning up, building and plating to do. Let's get at it.
After some clean up, it is time to hit the market for some materials and inspiration. I try and plant as many perennials as I can and harvest seeds from each year's crop for the next. Supplies this year will include herbs and veggie seeds, topsoil, garden box wood, and some annual flowers for colour and mid season pollen for my allergies...er bees.
This year's delivery of a yard of triple mix garden soil is delivered to the spot close to the farthest from its end destination on the property. For those waiting for a big reveal from the Guess how many wheelbarrows of soil are in a yard! contest, the answer is 13. That is how many trips it took me mothers day weekend to get this all loaded to the back for the garden boxes.
After much chopping, rototilling, sawing, screwing, rolling, stapling and shoveling, the latest garden box is added to the ones built the last 2 years.
This one will debut as a long lettuce and greens mound so I wrapped it up tight with chicken wire to fend off the burrowing varmints! I feel like Yosemite Sam!
All planted as of this afternoon and we have the flourishing strawberry patch, the lofty hot pepper box, and the new one with 5 kinds of lettuce and leafy stuff, along with a row of carrots along the divider.
The original box is still holding together and is almost full of soil as I add a half yard per year. Sweet peppers, snap peas, green beans, cucumbers, big and small tomatoes, asparagus, and oregano sprinkled in patches. I like to stick a couple of patches of marigolds in there for a splash of orange and I have heard it told they fend off pests.
We are already looking pretty good to start the year and I can't wait to track it as we go.
As things sprout from seeds, bloom and flower, I will get a little more into the varieties of each planted and my thinking behind each. I will also grab my camera after a rain when all of the early flowers have popped for a colourful jaunt through my attempt at pleasing the ladies and the bees.
For now, here is my 
I always figured I could grow stuff. Motivated by so many blockchain blogging gardeners, I figured I would plant and share and learn and at least reclaim as much grass space as I could. It has turned out to be a fruitful experience and I hope to inspire others to sow and grow no matter what your experience level is.
Then, blog about it using #gardenjournal and one of the many other whole foods, outdoors, photography and other green thumb tags and communities.
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