Making Space

Growing ever more excited about our project, we spent the day dedicating space to the garden - outside as well as inside.

The recent warm weather had given us a reprieve from the snow, and we were able to lay out logs to frame our outdoor space. The logs were temporary borders so I could spy on the movement of the sun, to see the angle of direction and to watch the shadows of the many trees on our property.

We only had a certain amount of space that received full sun, was surrounded by a shorter, mowed lawn, and wasn't so low that it would flood. Flooding is a definite problem in that area of the property.

We had been watching the water levels the previous season, and had decided on the which part of the highest ground we would build our raised beds. Now, however, we needed to actually lay it out and be sure the scattered oak and gum trees and the forest edge would not throw shadows onto our plants.

While I watched the sun throughout the day, we busied ourselves with a similar indoor version of our project - where to start the seeds and nurture the seedlings until the season allowed for transplant.

Again at the mercy of the sun, we decided on a small room near the back of the house that had single corner windows facing both south and west. Although it wasn't a large area, it was ideal lighting.

We cleared away the previous items in that space, and measured the amount of light the room would receive closest to the window. We figured that even though the room was well lit, there was at the most about three square foot of direct sunlight available. Fortunately for us, the windows are tall.

We decided that if we situate the pots correctly and purchase or make shelving units that will be grated and allow the light to flow through each shelf, we could have plants stacked as high as five feet.

We drew up a design, and the search is now on for the perfect seedling shelving unit on a tight budget.

And the verdict on our outdoor space?

Perfect.

A Little Bit Every Day

Today is Monday, and the free paper comes on Mondays. I retrieved it carefully from its snow covered bag, adding it to my growing collection.

We are going to use newspapers at the bottom of our raised beds, and we are going to need a lot of newspapers. It is a simple step that we can start now, and it helps us keep focused on our project.

Little things like this, I hope, will get us into the habit of spending a minimum of 5-10 minutes every day on the garden. If the habit is strong by spring, I hope to transfer this to 5 minutes of watering or 5 minutes of weeding.

I hope!

The Family Garden Experiment Begins

The day after Christmas, December 26th, 2010. It is both an odd and somehow perfect time to begin a project that has been pushed back for years - our Family Garden Experiment.

With snow on the ground, I sit with my pencil and paper, measuring out the dimensions of our master plan.

Why on December 26th, 2010?

It just seemed like a good day to begin. In my family, 2010 has marked the end and the beginning of many things.

It is the year I finally graduated from college after a decade of balancing work, family, and school. It is the year I became a Certified Public Accountant, and put the countless hours of studying and sacrifice behind us, and the family stood ready as a whole to begin reaping the rewards.

It is the year my husband and I finally came to terms with who we were as a couple, and as individuals, after thirteen years of marriage, and began the quest of living together in a new and different light. It was the year our children both reached middle school and became more independent.

On top of these milestones, it was the year we began our quest to live a healthy, active lifestyle - and actually stuck with it until it became a habit ingrained in our very souls.

It was the end of an era, and as one era ends, another begins.

So we begin our new era just shy of January 1st, hoping in this way to avoid the failures of "New Year's Resolutions" of the past. We look forward anxiously to the day when the experiment involves more than pencil and paper drawings, lying on desks in front of windows looking out at blankets of snow.

We plan, and we wait, and we imagine all the good things to come.