Eat Your Veggies (Part I)

Photo courtesy of Martha Stewart Living, May 2008

I am so excited about my new project! It all started with a large, ugly pile of dirt behind our garage. This pile came about when Jesse (using all of his manly power) dug out lots of dirt from the side of the garage (a very uninteresting story in which I will explain no more). Piles of dirt are difficult to get rid of (i.e. dirt cannot go into the yard waste bin that the city picks up, so it must be loaded into a truck and taken to the dump, which we have done before and is very time consuming and not fun at all). Therefore, it sat there through the fall and winter and began to grow weeds. I'm sure our neighbors were pleased. Yes, we are "those" people in the neighborhood. You're welcome, neighbors.

Now that spring has sprung the snow has melted revealing to us again just how large and ugly this pile of dirt really is.

Well, what shall we do with it?

Turn it into a vegetable garden, of course! Oh, my father will be proud. And, my Grandpa 'Kowski would have been so proud. Now, if I will only be able to make it grow. Hmmm . . . we'll see.

I've never had much of a green thumb. I only have one house plant that has survived, and that is only because of Grandma George's intervention. It is an ivy plant . . . shouldn't be difficult, right? So, a veggie garden is probably not wise. But, why not give it a try?

I spent the better part of my Saturday last weekend with a hoe in hand digging out the weeds of our pile of dirt. I did a number on my hamstrings and had difficulty walking for the next three days. Nevertheless, I managed to get partly there with planning out my lot. You can see it marked below . . . using beer bottles, of course. A little insight into us living life in Iowa! (For all concerned family and friends . . . we're not truly redneck, I promise! At least in comparison to some folks here. The beer bottles were just the only "stake-like" contraption I could find in the garage.)


The plan for the next couple of weeks is to finish the plot. And, then . . . I will finally be able to plant some seed. I'll post with updates. Get excited!