Hey sorry for the late reply. I was out running errands all afternoon and forgot to charge my phone. Anyway to answer your question from yesterday about the weekend schedule. We are still on for Saturday morning at the park but it looks like the weather might turn in the afternoon. My sister said she can bring the extra chairs so we do not need to worry about that. I think we should plan to meet around nine thirty near the north entrance where the big oak tree is. That spot usually has shade and it is close to the restrooms which makes it easier with the kids. Bring a blanket if you have one because the grass might still be damp from the overnight rain. I am going to pack some sandwiches and a thermos of coffee for us. Do you want me to grab anything else while I am at the store later tonight. Let me know before eight if you can. Also do not forget the folding table for the snacks because last time we had to balance everything on the cooler and it got messy. I will text you in the morning when I am leaving the house so you know what time to expect me. Talk soon and hope the rest of your week is going well.

One more thing my neighbor asked if they could come along and I said it should be fine as long as we keep the group under ten people. They have a small dog but he is very calm and stays close. Just wanted to give you a heads up in case anyone has allergies or anything like that. Should be a nice low key morning and then we can decide if we want to grab lunch somewhere nearby. I heard there is a new sandwich place on elm street that opened last month and they have outdoor seating. Could be worth checking out after the park if everyone is still hungry. Anyway that is all for now talk to you later.

So you asked me to walk you through how I set up the backyard garden boxes last spring and honestly it was not that complicated once I got the soil mix right. I started with two cedar boxes each one about four feet by two feet and maybe ten inches deep. I lined the bottom with a layer of cardboard to keep the weeds from creeping up and then filled them with a blend of topsoil compost and a little bit of sand for drainage. For the tomatoes I planted them about eighteen inches apart and put a small cage around each one right away. The peppers went in after the last frost and they took a few weeks to really get going but once the weather warmed up they took off. I watered everything in the mornings before work and that seemed to keep the leaves from getting too much sun stress. If I did it again I would probably add a drip line instead of using the hose every day because it got a little tedious by mid summer. The basil did great in the corner and it grew faster than I could use it. I ended up giving a bunch to my neighbor and they made pesto with it. The thing that surprised me most was how much the zucchini spread out. Next time I will give it its own box entirely. Anyway that is the basic run down if you want to try it yourself.

One tip I learned the hard way is to not overcrowd the box with too many seed starts. I got excited early on and put way too many cucumber seeds in one corner and they all sprouted and then fought each other for space. I had to pull out half of them which felt wasteful but the ones that stayed ended up much stronger. Also adding a thin layer of straw on top helped keep the moisture in and the soil from baking on the really hot days. If you have a south facing wall that gets good afternoon sun that would be the spot. I moved one box mid season and it set everything back a bit because the roots do not love being disturbed once they are established. Overall though it was a good use of the side yard and the produce was better than anything from the store. Let me know if you end up building something similar I can send you a rough sketch. Oh and wear gloves when you are working with the compost it gets under your nails like crazy.