Play in the Dirt... ITS GOOD FOR YOU!

Photo is from June of 2010

As far back as I can remember, I've had a garden at my house. Its been easy to slack this year in gardening due to the crappy ass weather we've had.

Honestly I don't EVER remember EVER it snowing in May. Well Its happend more then once this year/month and frankly.... This weather just sucks.

So to my suprise my sister in law Amanda, brought me some plants a few days ago.

A cute little flat of pansies and the perfect amount of strawberries to fill my strawberry pot!

And So it shall Begin!!!!

The Theme for Today's Blog is to keep Gardening Simple, and Gardening will keep your Sanity :)

A few years ago The Hubz and I started doing "Square Foot Gardening" after reading about it in Mother Earth News---- Yeah, its a magazine that is just as hippy sounding as the name. BUT... Don't fear the hippies... I secretly am one myself!

And now your asking.. "What is Square foot gardening??

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_foot_gardening

To put it simply, Raised Bed gardening . Instead of using the Row method, use one foot squares. You grid out your garden and plant within the square. You can plant/grow according to how many people are in your household too. I highly recomend getting this book if you are a gardener.

Remember those days of it taking hours to weed a huge garden. That won't happen anymore when you SFG. Your only weeding a 4x4 box . The soil is so light that a few pinches and the weeds are gone.

The soil is a mix of Organic Composted Manure,Pearlite, and Peat Moss. You don't walk on it like you would a regular garden so the soil is always light and moisture rich.

The only fertilzer you need is Blood meal or Bone meal. This way your keeping it chemical free.

I still do a standard garden for things like corn (You can do them in the SFG, but I dont want to use up that kind of space for a few stalks of corn)

I grow potatos in huge plastic buckets that you would get at Target,Menards,Home depot . I use light potting soil for them so I can use my hands to dig them out.

I have started calling my gardening hobby "Dirt Therapy". On the days that I'm feeling especially disconnected with things and I need a reality check. I head out to the back yard and cram my hand in the dirt and start planting, plucking, seeding, sifting , digging, searching sometimes eating what is growing. It helps a lot. Some people meditate, I play in the dirt.