Looking back...early spring preparations

Back in the early spring, I started dreaming about my garden plot...I spent many nights falling asleep and waking up to the thoughts of what I wanted to do there.  I didn't know what it looked like, but I was told it would be 12' X 8' with full sun and more than ample protection against the deer that make gardening in my own back yard nearly impossible.  First I needed to figure out what it was that I really wanted to get out of my patch of dirt.  Putting fresh food on my table, making a fun garden for my children to learn and play in, and experimenting with new sustainable practices and materials were my main priorities.  I started by searching on the internet for a book that might set me on my path.

I found "The Sustainable Vegetable Garden: A Backyard Guide to Healthy Soil and Higher Yields". Getting as much food as possible while improving the soil conditions sounded like a good direction.  The idea is that by putting a large initial investment into the soil preparation, you can create dense beds that are low on maintenance and water consumption and high on yield.   

The next step was deciding what I would actually want to plant in my garden.   I wanted to start as much as I could handle from seed, but with little good space to grow seedlings I knew I would have to make careful choices.  I purchased a seed kit from Bountiful Gardens, a company that distributes heirloom, untreated, open pollenated seeds. http://www.bountifulgardens.org   The tomatoes seedlings did well despite the fact that I planted them about a month too late.  I think I got about viable 35 seedlings, which really saved a lot of money when it finally came time to get plants into the ground.