Black Thumb goes Green (hopefully)

So I've been making a lot of changes recently and I decided that I could handle embarking upon a new endeavor - gardening. Some great folks at school have made it possible for us to have plots in a community garden space on campus. There will be a some start up costs to us (fencing, hoses, etc.) and then basically we are on our own.

I chose a 10' x 10' plot because I didn't want to be too ambitious (and because I'm scared that I can't even take care of 10 sq. ft.). If I'm honest, I've barely kept a shamrock plant alive since March - that's only 2 months, so my track record is slim. Our garden plots are behind the stables at school. I'm not sure what, if anything, was here previously, but the top soil that is there now was brought in from another spot on campus.

I went out last week to chose my plot from among the many that had been staked. I chose one close to the woods (welcome deer!). It turns out I also may have chosen the wettest plot available. It rained a small amount on Friday night, and then mostly drizzled with some heavier showers on Saturday. This photo was taken on Sunday morning when I arrived at my plot.

My plan for Sunday was to turn over the topsoil (and maybe go down about 6 inches) to see what life, if any, I could find. I wanted to add in some manure, too, to help add nutrients to the soil. It was a muddy morning, but it could have been worse, I suppose. After about 2 1/2 hours, I had spaded most of the soil, added in manure and moved it around with a cultivator. The top soil (which had been brought to the site and then tilled) was relatively loose, but underneath there was some thicker, clayier soil that really took some work. I found a variety of stones, rocks, tree limbs, roots, landscaping plastic and even part of a tiller disc, but almost zero signs of life. The only bugs were the gnats flying around my head and I felt sort of like WALL-E when I found one tiny little sprout of grass in the topsoil. Here's what the post-turning soil looked like:

Here's another shot with the slight berm on the high side of the plot.

I'm hoping to dig some trenches just outside the plot to direct the water around and not pouring through my soil. I've also dug a ponding trench on the far (lower in elevation) side of the plot to capture the water and hold it until it gets absorbed back into the soil in the plot.


Now I'm going to sit back and wait a few days to see what happens. There are storms predicted all week so I'm not sure if I will really be able to plant anything until next Sunday. My predicted crops: tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, zucchini, watermelons, and green beans. I eat most of these and can make zucchini bread with the extra squash.

I'm going to put a time and money tally at the end of each post to show what I've spent on creating this garden...

time:
Thursday, 5/12: 30 minutes (chose plot)
Sunday, 5/15: 150 minutes (turned soil, spread manure)

money:
implements & manure: $46