It’s a start
When we moved into this house 7 years ago there was no landscaping to speak of and the attic and basement were full of random objects left behind. The previous owners had lived out of state and rented it out as a group home. One of the left behind objects was a partial set of the original wooden shutters. Old fashioned with a coat of white paint over a coat of red and hinges so they could fold out over the window, these shutters were too precious to throw away so I left them there in the attic. I had no use for them–they had been replaced with decorative aluminum shutters and I was not going to try to put them back. Still I hoped I would find a use for them someday so I left them in the attic.
Over the years since that time we have gradually landscaped our front and side yard. I am no gardener and my husband is not an outdoorsman. However my dad has donated plenty of old rocks for us to build a flower garden of sorts around the front porch and at one point we edged the side of the house that counts–the one you can actually see from the road, with rocks and tried to plant perennials. Some of them lived some of them didn’t. They make for a pitiful display once summer comes though in early spring and fall our daylilies and azaleas try to make a showing. Still we have large sections where there is nothing but weeds and a little periwinkle.
Today it all came together. For the last few weeks I have had the urge for a garden in the back of my mind. I usually do at this time of year but with our fill and clay for top soil our attempts at gardens have been poor indeed. This year felt different somehow. I mentioned it to my husband and he practically giggled at my silliness. Still the urge continued. Then I started seeing hints at how to go about it. One site talked about making seed starters out of toilet paper tubes, another talked about starting seeds in the basement with a grow light, another talked about raised gardens. Click. It all came together.
Yesterday I mentioned the raised gardens to my husband and he said as long as they were in the bare spots on the side of the house and not where they would block his mowing. I had been planning onusing some old wooden crates from the basement to buiild but held back because the wood was very splintered and made me nervous (I get hair splinters when I cut hair so wood splinters are a big deal.) Now that I had the go ahead I was thinking about those shutters and realized that they were the perfect size and shape which meant no cutting. They were also designed to be outside so we didn’t have to do anything to prepare them. All we needed to do was move the hinges from the top to the side and we would have our boxes. Better yet I called my dad who is our family gardener and he said they would be perfect–seldom does he approve my halfway plans so this is a big deal. 🙂 Not only that but he offered topsoil to get them started. So, other than the seeds and time this project is free (which is good since my husband is leery of my “gardening” projects–he knows how much I “love” being outside in hot weather weeding and whatnot.:) ) The lure of homegrown vegetables is just too much for me and the kids just want the chance to play in the dirt and eat all the vegetables while playing outside. It will be a great homeschool project, don’t you think?