I think I could really get into this

Whew.
I've been out in the yard all morning working on my garden.  I've never tried vegetable gardening before although I've thought of it many times.  I'm excited to give it a whirl.  So lofty are my hopes that I've even started a gardening tab so I can keep tabs on my progress.

Thanks to my friend Julie's suggestion, I've been reading up on square foot gardening.  It seemed like the perfect solution for our backyard.  Let me share where I'm at as of right now (plopped down in the chair taking a breather would be the most accurate answer - heh)

But seriously. 
Since Pa built the frame for my garden on Monday - I've been antsy to get out there and start it right. I haven't had a spare second all week - and really don't have one today either - but it was a good procrastination filler. 

I emptied the box completely, raking out the grass clumps and pitching them - and I nailed some 2x4's where the dirt was leaking out (the ground was more uneven than we realized)

The ground now to my liking and raked even - I laid down 10 layers of newspaper as a weed barrier and grass killer.  I'm hoping that I won't have to use any chemicals on my garden since that's kinda the point.

That step done, I then began mixing my soil with the compost we've been creating since last fall.  Boy - does that stuff smell.  Once I had a good mix, I dumped it all back into the box

I was still pulling out a few more grass clumps as I shoveled dirt back in - and Brian kept scolding Mark, "Don't put Lion Dandy's in Mom's garden!!!"   It's for vegetables, don't you know.

Now for the grid.  The sites I've been reading highly recommend the grid to help keep things in place and basically it's what the whole square foot gardening idea is based on.  While my first thought was twine or rope - that wasn't as recommended as something more stable and solid simply because it breaks or tears.  So I went searching about the garage and house and came upon a stash of old curtain rods behind our bedroom door.  Perfect!  They nailed into place very easily!

I had three for the one direction, but couldn't find more for the other.  And then I remembered - just this past week the boys pulled down my sheers in the living room - they were on a spring tension rod.  Perfect!  I used both of those (Pa just mentioned yesterday that he'll make something more sturdy anyway) and was still left with one more spot.  I dug in the garage some more and found the rods from the crib that I threw out last week.  They didn't quite stretch the length, but by putting them together and using twine to tie them to the intersecting spots - they worked just fine. 

Now to get some things planted, I've got 16 spots to fill!  Farmers Market - here I come!!

(And any suggestions are very welcome - I'm completely a newbie at this) (And I will be planting some Marigolds to keep the critters away)