So the garden is up and running. Phew.

I’m too tired to even type about it. Really.

There was a point last month when I was debating about whether to follow the easy gardening path (i.e., the square-foot gardening method). I didn’t realize that the “easy” gardening path would be so damn hard.

Matt and I pretty much devoted an entire day to constructing those boxes. Yes, power tools are fun, but they are more fun if you actually know how to use them. Fortunately for us, our super-friendly landlord was hanging out on the premises, fixing a few odds and ends. He was able to solve major conundrums in … Read More

In the square-foot gardening book, Mel advises to start out small. Matt and I shirked his advice and decided that we wanted to have enough vegetables for a salad and dinner (for each of us!) every day for the entire growing season. That amounts to 65 square feet. We broke out the graph paper and decided to arrange our 65 square feet as follows:

(1) 2ft x 6ft bed for vertical gardening (cantaloupe, watermelons, and pumpkins)
(1) 2ft x 3ft bed
(5) 2ft x 4ft beds (with plywood bottoms, so they can be easily moved, since we’re not sure how much sun stuff will need)
(1) 2ft x 2ft bed … Read More

We decided what to plant in our garden. In order to reach consensus about the decision, Matt and I implemented a new process. 1) We brainstormed all the possible ideas. During this time, we did not comment on each other’s ideas. I know, I know, that’s the actual definition of a brainstorm, but I’m not good at holding myself to this kind openness. The judgmentalness that my grandmother bequeathed to me forces me to critique and question every idea. It’s an annoying habit. And because of it I am not much fun to collaborate with.

2) Once we brainstormed all the ideas, we agreed upon the criteria for decided which … Read More