Helping others garden

We all know that times are changing. Gas is getting so expensive that we can barely afford to leave our homes. I have been encouraging others to put in gardens this year. It's one of the best ways to get delicious affordable food. So I helped my mom put in a garden and yesterday I helped one of my very best friends put in her FIRST EVER GARDEN! We had a few difficulties to overcome however. First she lives in a sub division so the garden had to be pretty to look at. Second the sub division has nicely put the houses on slabs and her back yard is nothing but 2 inches of sod and a bunch of rocks. And third, like most of us, she didn't have alot of money to spend. So here was the solution we came up with.

We went to Lowes and bought 4 2x6x10 ft boards and had them cut 1 4x6x16 ft board into four peices. We used my wonderful power tools that my father gave my for christmas to make two 4x10 ft beds. Total cost for the boards was $25. We then laid down 3-4 layers of newspaper over the grass and filled one of the beds (I ran out of room in my car) with 8 bags of top soil and 2 bags of manure. The cost of the soil for 1 bed was $32. We then planted 4 tomato plants, a parsley plant and seeds of kale, lettuce, swiss chard, cilantro and bok choy. In the second bed we will plant sweet peppers, eggplant, cucumber, bush beans and whatever else we can manage to fit in it.

For under $100 and a few hours work she will have fresh vegetables beginning in about 4-6 weeks and the beds are right outside her back door so she will be able to easily take care of them. If she wants to, she will be able to throw some plastic sheeting over the bed and grow winter hardy greens and lettuces all winter as well. For most of the summer she will be able to produce enough food to meet about 50% of the food needs for her and her daughter.

It is my hope that more people will realize how easy this can be. I'll share more pictures of her garden as well once it starts producing.