THIS JUST IN: There are no plants in my bathtub.
They’re all in the ground!
We are leaving this afternoon to spend the weekend in a yurt, so we were under the gun to get everything planted. Each evening, John has been in the garage or on the hill, working to finish up the screen protection for the garden boxes.
Last night, the last screen went on. Aside from a dark stain on the wood, the garden structures were complete!
This morning, I sipped my coffee in the sunshine and finally planted our beautiful garden. Not a bad way to start the day.
There are two long planter boxes, each with 6 screen doors that hinge from the top. We have an irrigation faucet right next to the garden, which is on a timer with the rest of the sprinkler zones. When harvest time comes, we can access the plants from either side. We think we may need a hook or latch of some kind on the bottom of the screens, to keep out the more clever of the critters who might be interested in munching our plants. In winter, we’ll remove the tops to store and just leave the planter boxes.
The wider box includes: cucumber, zucchini, different kinds of romaine lettuce, thyme, dill, chives, cilantro, and basil.
The taller box includes: four different kinds of tomatoes, and hot peppers: two Serranos, a jalapeno, a cayenne, and a Thai chili.
(We still have Italian parsley, a green bell pepper, and four more Serrano chilis to plant in big planters on our front porch.) We bought all of the plants from our local nursery, organic whenever possible.
We have no idea if we’ll be successful, gardening at 6500 feet in Park City with a super short growing season. It’s our year to learn! Even if we only get a couple of salads out of the garden, the process has been fun– hard work, but rewarding.
Here’s how it went down, dollar-wise!
- Lumber, screws, hinges, and chicken wire: $617.23
- Veggies and herbs: $61.94
- Soaker hoses, clamps, and stakes: $50.40
- Compost and soil: $258.43
Now, we just have to be patient until it’s time to eat from our own garden. I can’t wait to share our first harvest with you!
Happy summer!
Read about our mountain gardening adventure from the beginning: start HERE, then go HERE, and then HERE!
the usual bliss 
What a fun project (and a handy man)! It looks gorgeous. I’m enjoying city living right now, but one day, I hope to have a vegetable garden with a sprinkling of flowers in it too. Enjoy the sun and the dirt! I can’t imagine a better way to wake up.
He’s usually not this handy- so I’m feeling extra happy that the project is mostly done! I was JUST thinking that I should sprinkle some sunflower seeds behind the taller planter box and see what happens… big yellow blooms would be awesome! 🙂
I was right, you have the most amazing garden ever, I can’t wait to see your first harvest!
I hope it works out! We put a lot of love into it!
Love that your man is handy and creative! You have a great plant watch pup too – ha! Happy Weekend – Enjoy Yurting:)
I think he’s really proud that his idea has come to life. It will be an extra special harvest.
The yurt should be an adventure!! Stay tuned!
Like Mr. Craves would say it is “special” because I made it with love – sweet! Enjoy & Have Fun:)
Always! So cute!
I don’t think I’ve spent $1,000 in 5 years on my garden! But then again, we have a year round growing season, only the 6-legged pests to share with, and more than 100 trees, not to mention wasteful, er uh, GRACIOUS neighbors for loads of organic gold. No need to spend any money here.
I am rather jealous of your hubby’s bed building skills. That is some outstanding work!! I, for one, can foresee only epic success with your brilliantly architect’d arrangement. Cheers!
We had to do a little investing this year, but next year we’ll already have the structure and we’ll have our own compost. The cost will be minimal! *crossed fingers*
Well, you KNOW this Texas girl will be watching. We’re gonna wind up somewhere out west in the mountains, so I’m taking notes on your successes — and failures. I’m very unoriginal. Especially when it comes to exploiting the soil for my immediate benefit.
It looks amazing!! I’m very jealous. I want a garden like that:) Enjoy
It will be amazing only if I eventually eat something out of it. 🙂
Yay for your mountainside garden (and that amazing view!) I wish you the greenest of thumbs and that Cholula continues to be such a good helper. A garden isn’t really happening for us this year, so I tried starting a windowsill herb garden… I accidentally knocked all my little sprouts to the ground last week in a grand spray of soil, chaos and the end of a short-lived plant project.
Oh well, here’s to trying again!
I hope you had a good weekend. Happy summer, Amber 🙂
Thank you so much, Jessy! Our lettuces weren’t too happy when we returned from our weekend getaway, but everything else seems to be doing well. We’ll see! Cheers to your sweet little windowsill garden! 🙂