Build it, but will they grow?

The day had finally come. A day of action. A day, whose activities had been played out countless time and lodged in the back recesses of my mind. A day soon to become a memory. The day, we create our garden.

I can say with certainty now, that I have spent more than enough time surveying our soil. During my stint ripping out the sod/weeds and the subsequent silent beating I felt the lawn had given me, I learned that our little postage stamp was predominately composed of clay. Clay containing very little organic material, silt or sand, and sticky when wet, hard as a rock when dry. Yuck! So, on the eve of "the day", I visited the happy little garden department at our local Lowes, and purchases 12 cubic feet of (8 bags ) of garden soil/compost, 2 cubic feet of steer manure (2 bags), and 250 pounds of play sand (9 bags).

The following morning, with my dad in tow and mom with my girls, I visited the nearest Home Depot, specifically their rental department (No rentals at Lowes...bummer). We were not disappointed. We got the largest rear-tine tiller they had, and ramps to load it into the back of the truck. As the well seasoned employee express, cost of ramp rental is a lot cheaper than the cost of a chiropractor. Too right!

Nothing to do now, but get dirty. My mother and father, and I worked, cleaning the remaining weeds around the parameter of the garden; spreading the soil amendments; tilling the soil amendments; and planting the plant pods. What a day! At least the weather was cool and cloudy. I imagined it to be similar to working in salinas, only without the faint ocean air.

I should mention that I only plant those pod that were actually growing. I learned, that more than many seeds in the pods simple never took, which I found somewhat unexpected. I think the lesson learned, is to over seed, with the ability to thin later. Otherwise, I am extremely happy with the way our postage stamp has been transformed.