The Garden...Step 1

Brian and I started our first garden project this weekend. Its still too cold start seedlings, but we were determined to find a way to start tomato, pepper, and cauliflower seeds without having to do it inside. Two indoor labs+lots of seedlings and dirt=disaster. Thankfully we're not the first couple in Iowa who want to start garden plants outside. The obvious solution would be to buy a little greenhouse and set it up in the yard. However, with the constant wind here on the prairie, that wasn't an option. A co-worker of mine, Debi (who lives just down the road), said that we should come out and see the seed-starter that her husband Dean designed and built. Once we saw what they use we decided that we needed one of our own.

Here are some photos of their (awesome) seed starter: As you can see, it works just like a greenhouse, but is shorter and more durable to handle the wind. The lid lifts up, so the seedlings can breath on hot days, but you can close it and keep everything warm during the cooler nights and evenings. Brilliant, isn't it?!

Oh yes, and here is a picture of their pup Ozzie. Ozzie is a 7-month old long-haired German Shepard. He's a big (and I stress big) ball of love and is deserving of having his photo in our blog!So, immediately after we took a trip to Menard's and bought all the supplies that we needed to construct our own box. We decided that we didn't need our seed box to be as big as Deb and Dean's (12 feet) because we won't be planting quite as many flowers and vegetables. Not wanting to bite off more than we can chew (*Brian's words*), we (*Brian*) constructed an eight foot box.

Here are some construction photos. As you can see, the dogs were being very helpful running around with a stick. They love hanging out outside with us- especially in the sunshine!

It is the ugly time of year in Iowa. The fields are bare and everything is brown, but some of the trees have buds, so we're hoping in the next few weeks things will start to turn green.I wanted to show the seed box in relation to our garden. In the photo below you can see Brian in the distance on the corner of our property. That's where the box will receive the most amount of sun. Behind him is the (very large) garden. On the left in the foreground is the composting area. More to the right is the asparagus patch and then our grapevine trellis. Here's the final product! It needs a bit more tweaking, but should work like a charm! April 1 is generally the day to start seeds around here (or so I'm told), so only a few more weeks! I can't wait!

Afterwards, while I was creating this post, Brian napped on the couch. He worked very hard and was deserving of a break. Thanks Brian!