My compost pile. We renovated our deck last summer and I saved the old wood to build a compost bin.

Some young plants getting ready to transplant.

This year I am stepping the gardening game up from the container garden I had last year (with less than spectacular results) to a 4 X 4 raised bed this year. I started composting last summer so I have plenty of dark, rich compost to use as a base. I mixed in 4 40lb bads of Potting Soil, and 8 bags of Top Soil. I think it should be a pretty good mix. It’s loose, airy soil so it should drain well. I will be planting tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, sweet peppers, hot peppers, peas, lima beans, herbs and even some cantaloupe.

The garden will be all organic. No synthetic fertilizer and no toxic pesticides/herbicides. I’m hoping a variety of strong plants, plenty of air and sunshine and a healthy soil ecosystem will yeild me the bumper crop of my dreams.

I am doing this because I love to grow stuff and I’m curious to see how much food I could grow in a small suburban backyard. I also wanted to reduce my waste in the form of food scraps that would end up in a landfill- and use this same stuff in a compost>garden>compost life cycle.

So there are a few pics to kick off the official garden launch. I got the bed filled and transplanted everything – I ll be adding more pics soon.