How Our Garden Grows || 2 Tuesday Talk

We're making progress on the garden, lately and it's the second week of Tuesday Talk! My mom is arriving TOMORROW night and I can't wait to have her Greene thumb (pun on her last name, there *wink) working with me on getting our garden started! 

I am happy to report that the grass has deadened quite a bit since my last garden update! If you remember, we left off with the plot covered in tarps and concrete tiles with thick green grass underneath. We'd purchased some tools and gloves and laid in wait to utilize them! 

Here are the progress pictures from our labors! My husband worked the rake and hoe (which we got for free!!) to start getting at the grass roots, and I would work after him with the garden claw. The best time to work the garden and remove the grass was on a cloudy day, after the rain. The soil was loosened and damp, and therefore easier to till. 

Step 1 || REMOVE the tarps and concrete slabs. The grass looks much deader, eh?! Some tough ol' grass was still growing strong in the tarp seams, but for the most part, I think our coverage work was a success. I planned on reusing those trash bags, but ahem... I'm not sure where they ended up. No need to complain, though, because I'm thankful for my husband's help!

Step 2 || RIP UP THE GRASS - Dead grass doesn't just disappear, apparently :) unless it was covered forever -- ours was covered for about a month. The garden hoe worked well for chopping up the long grassroots and worked much better than the metal rake for this job. 

STEP 3 || Was the DETAIL WORK to get to the actual soil. I grabbed these tools and dug away for a nice sit-down task. I'm not quite done with the whole garden, but I decided to give my body a rest and not strain too much -- hello 3rd trimester :)

And there you have it! No additional cost for this stage of the gardening process (unless you needed to buy a hoe or rake) -- only some grunt work on your part! Check out that contrast below! Progress, people, progress :)

Check out Part One of the How Our Garden Grows series HERE

For my blogger friends, this week is our second Tuesday Talk! Grab our Tuesday Talk button, and please party responsibly [see rules below!] :) Find some new blogs and make friends, that's what this is all about, so enjoy!

Your lovely hostesses::

Becky from BYBMG || Beth from Our Pretty Little Girls

Chelsea from The Contented Wife || Elizabeth from All Kinds of Things || Tara from Mrs. Coach Sims || Keri from Living in This Season || Sarah from Abiding In Grace || Lauren from Simply Free || Andrea {ME!!}from Mitchael Journey || Jessica & Katie from Sweet Little Ones || Mandy from Almond Place  || Teressa from Teressa Jane

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Have you ever started a garden? Comment below if you have any tips or posts that may help!

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How Our Garden Grows || 1

Step 1 in our gardening adventure was to PICK A LOCATION for the garden

For our gardening, we need pretty much full sun -- so we chose a spot in our side yard based on the fact that the sun rises in front with the fence behind and beside the garden - our garden is the recommended "north to south". There will be some shade on the left side as the day progresses, so we'll plant accordingly. I'm sure I'll figure out the most fruitful area of the garden and may rotate crops with my mulch pile (which I've been keeping in the blue tub) as I learn.

Step 2 to creating our South Florida Garden has been to KILL THE GRASS

My gardening goal this month was to kill the grass, and we are well on our way! Josh and I hauled concrete bricks, stones, and wooden slabs to cover up the grass in order to smother it. Since our garden is going to be bigger than the amount of heavy objects, we added black trash bags to the mix, pinning down the corners. Covering the plot is actually beneficial to planting as well -- keeping the soil nice and warm for germinating. The grass underneath is already starting to look yellowed and sad ... which makes me happy!

Step 3 is creating my veggie list and CHOOSING WHAT TO PLANT

While I kill time as the grass dies, I get to dream a bit! Here is my current list of what I want to plant, and in what form::

• Spring green mixed [SEEDS] - lots o' salad!
• Tomatoes [PLANT] - I'm thinking 3-5 plants of different varieties
• Banana Peppers [PLANT] - 2-3 plants, I believe, for starters
• Garlic [CLOVES] - I'll probably plant 3-5, need to learn more about how they grow/multiply
• Carrots [CUTTINGS] - I've started some carrots from cuttings!
  
  They already have roots and shoots, which gets me excited!
• Potatoes [SPROUTED] - I'll have to reserve a few from my current Red Potatoes bag to sprout
• Small Pumpkins [SEEDS] - not right away, but in time for next fall!
• Green Onions [CUTTINGS] - I bought some today, so I'll save the bases for regrowth.
• Basil [SEEDS] 
• Cilantro [SEEDS]
• Parsley [SEEDS] - but I probably will just grow this for the butterflies :) we'll see if any Black Swallowtail beauties come by our yard to lay their babies on carrot tops or parsley!
  
  
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Step 4 for me was to begin making some TOOL PURCHASES

You could definitely save some $ in the tools realm if you already have some or purchase second-hand. I had no gardening tools to my name, so we purchased a few items new, choosing items we really wanted.

Josh's Gloves - $12.00 || Andrea's Gloves - $9.00 || Hand Shovel - $6.00 || Hand Tiller - $6.00

MONEY IN for gardening so far:: $33.00

There you have it, here's to all my hopes and dreams for this little plot! We'll see how our garden grows!

Have you ever started a garden? Comment below if you have any tips or posts that may help!

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