Garden Kickoff

On May 14, we began digging our raised garden bed.  Actually, we began digging 10 garden beds with a group of volunteers who are helping to create the first community garden in the Willow Brook condominium/townhouse community.  Our plot is 4' x 6', quite a bit smaller than I was used to a decade ago when I gardened in my backyard in Virginia.  However, I am optimistic that we will have an abundant harvest for what we will use, and we will spend much less time maintaining the garden because we will be forced to be efficient!

On May 15, we used recycled 2" x 10" lumber from ReSource (Boulder) to create the raised bed.  We lined the bottom of the bed with Weed Block Pro landscape fabric and stapled it to the lumber to keep weeds from growing up from the soil underneath while allowing water penetration (it's an experiment).  The soil mix we chose was:

1. 4 bags (4 x 1.5 cu.ft.) Eko Compost Original organic compost
2. 5 bags (5 x 1.5 cu.ft.) Miracle-Gro Organic Choice Garden Soil
3. 1 bag (3 cu.ft.) Peat Moss
4. 2 bags (2 x 2 cu.ft.) Vemiculite
5. 2/3 bag (0.67 x 2 cu.ft.) Perlite

 We added the soil componets a little at a time and mixed in layers so that we could get an evenly distributed mix. 

The garden will be completely organic.  No more Sevin or pesticides, as I used a decade ago (before moving to Boulder, go figure).  We'll try organic options:  Dipel and Thuricide (thanks Mom), and good ol' manure to raise our plants.