Nearly a year later

I started this blog all excited about it, I had intended to put lots and lots of stuff on it.  As it turns out I didn’t bother doing anything with it at all and so I haven’t made a single post in nearly a year.  That’s not to say that I haven’t been doing anything at all, I just haven’t been doing very much.
Growing food – nope
Zero cost living – a little bit
Increasing income – not nearly enough
Losing weight – I’ve done well with this

So basically been a lazy dog 🙁

I am going to make a commitment to improving everything and following through on it.  In my next post I will detail my plans.

Building a raised bed

I decided that I would install a raised bed for growing the veggies.  I think it will look better and will mean that I won’t have to bend over quite so far.  I also think that it gives better growing conditions for the plants, mind you that might be wrong, I don’t know for sure.

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Raised bed

Construction was pretty easy, I just used some old fencing panels that I had left over from a previous job.  I got some small stakes, screwed it all together and then set it around the bed area and knocked it into the ground.

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The wood will probably rot over the course of a year or two, but will be easily replaceable.  I had considered other materials and construction methods, but this was both the cheapest and easiest and it used materials that were just lying around.

Digging in the garden

I decided last year that I would start to grow my own vegetables, however I never did get around to it.  So this year I have decided to grab the bull by the horns and get stuck in. 

First thing I did was read lots of books and magazines, it has helped a little but I still don’t really know what I’m doing.  I think that basically I just need to do it and learn from experience.

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Pre-digging

The second thing I did was start to put together a raised bed in the garden, I have included a few photos to show progress.

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First dig

At this point all I have done is dig the ground over and left it to sit, I believe that if the weather gets to it that it will get rid of some weeds and prepare the ground for planting.  I still need to put sides on and get more compost, then I’ll be good to go.