In the Beginning...

 

A little factoid about me: I have very little patience. If I have an idea, I want to try it NOW. So, I tend to jump in head first into projects and then do research later. This is the exact approach I took in starting my garden. As I have previously stated, I have no idea what I am doing. I mean, I get the basic concept: you stick seeds in the ground, add water and, viola, veggies! So that's what I did.

I figured I live in Houston and it usually starts warming up in mid February, so, that's when I started. I found out later that the average last frost date in Houston is February 15.  I was right about when to start putting things into the ground, but I probably should have started my whole process in December... woopsies.

Anyways, I started planting a few things in various pots I had laying around to get them started while I took care of a little problem.  I decided I wanted my garden to be located along my neighbor's house (we have a zero-lot-line) and the fence. But before I could get started I had to dig up a whole lot of rocks.  This is what I should have started in December.

The remaining pile of rock that I will dig up before next season.

This has no value to you.  I just thought I would share because I have been quite annoyed with this since we moved into this house. The previous owners thought it necessary to put rocks in every flower bed and along the neighbors house and along the sidewalk.

The problem is not just that I have put a ton of time into removing these rocks, but also when my husband mows the yard, every time, he inevitably hits a rock and sends it flying.  Furthermore, they have migrated deep into the soil.  I constantly run into them when I dig hole.

Okay, back to the important stuff... The plants I started out with this year are: carrots, green onion, onion, asparagus, cucumber, lettuce, bell pepper, zucchini, tomato, dill, chives, parsley and basil. I plan to post about my experiences and what I learn about each of these at a later date.

I decided I would keep track of the money I have spent on gardening so that perhaps someone wanting to get started might get an idea of how much they are going to need to spend.  I will keep the total on the right side of the screen with my lists.

These are my initial costs.

Item	Cost
Seeds	$15.00
Soil	$12.00
Tools	$10.00
Book	$4.00
Gloves	$1.00
Tomato Plant	$1.50
Total	$43.50

The book that I purchased was an e-book titled, 'Frugal Gardening 101.' I have not read the book in its entirety, however, the sections I have read have been quite helpful to my endeavor. 

My garden on July 16, 2013. Not much to look at, but I'm cool with that.