Welcome to the ongoing chronicles of my gardening adventure in suburbia. I believe that a lawn is such a dumb thing as it is just an ornament, displaces natural vegetation, and has no practical or nutritional value. So, last year, I decided it was time to reclaim a small section off the lawn, engage the family in a fruitful activity, and learn on the go while blogging the lessons and results. If one shot might sum it up so that I could get on to this update, maybe this would be it.

Last year

I managed to build the box and grow tomatoes, green peppers, cucumbers, green beans, and hot peppers really well. The corn was for fun and was devoured by squirrels, I learned the asparagus needs at least 3 years to grow to the point you can eat it, and the snap peas didn't do so well. No mater what, it resulted in a bumper crop of tomatoes and cucumbers, lots of time out doors, and a good start to our gardening legacy which will hopefully be adopted by the next generation.

This season

My big plans this year were to vary the tomatoes so that I didn't have 45 Beefsteak all ready to be eaten all at once, and vary the English cucumbers for the same reason. So, we added some pickle cucumbers and some roma tomatoes that could be processed and preserved. Once we planted all of those, added some carrots, and marigolds, we found that there was no room for Peppers!

How about we make use of some more wood reclaimed from other projects and make another raised bed? After seeing @lyndsaybowes post about her huge soil delivery and garden box expansion, I was inspired. https://steemit.com/dtube/@lyndsaybowes/c48gg26a Time to reclaim another square of land from the useless grass and build another raised box to hold this year's peppers!

I found this picture the funniest remembering @davedickeyyall heckling me justifiably for my messy yard, and the fact that it may have appeared to the neighbours like I was digging a shallow grave. I like before and after pictures but this during tells a tale that you often have to make a big mess in order to make something.

I started by deciding how big it was going to be based upon the measurements of the 2x10s I had left over from the ice rink I had built a few years back. Once that was decided and the boards cut, I took a spade and dig up the grass in a rectangle so that I would not have it growing up through my veggies. I transplanted the sod to areas where the grass had worn down and disappeared then started to build the first wall. A couple 2x4s sawed to points at the appropriate length dug down a big and hammered the last couple inches should do it for the supports. Left over deck screws worked perfectly to attach the sides to the supports.

Before putting the rest of the walls up, I turned the soil with a spade and a hoe so that it would loosen up a bit and mix nicely into the other layers. then up went the walls and it was about as straight and solid as it needed to be.

Next was a layer of peat moss. This was to take up some space, hold some moisture and allow the bed to be a little less dense so that tiny little roots could make their way down. You can see the difference in the light brown shade of the Peat Moss compared to the much darker shade of the 3-in-1 garden soil which is made up of a mix of peat, loam and compost. This made up most of the garden bed which I augmented with perlite and a ph-balanced black earth that had fertilizer built in for a nice, nutrient-filled, water retaining, mix that should be a perfect bed for my peppers! Worked for them last year in the bigger box and this one will have a bit more sun.

Once all the heavy lifting is done, then the help arrives in the form of one of my gelflings and the dog who want to investigate. I made this box a little more shallow than last years so that I wasn't mowing down alley ways and the girls could weed without having to reach and bend so much. Then it was planting time.

The green pepper plants don't produce too much in the Canadian climate but the girls love fresh green peppers for their salads, stir fries, and pizza.

I am trying habaneros this year for their incredible spiciness which I intend to leverage for my first batch of hot sauce, and some spicy relish I can make with the pickling cucumbers.

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Chili peppers were a hit last year and are less spicy but very tasty. Another good ingredient for the sauces and relish, and I like to dry it and add it to sauces to zing them up.

Jalapenos are the perfect blend of spice and taste and go on everything for me. Burgers, pizza, breakfast bagels, and will also be a great green for the relish and taste for the sauce.

I can't go the year with a variety of hot peppers and not venture into the Ghost Peppers. To me, they are too damn hot to the point where they blast the taste right away. They take tongue burning to a sporting level which I am for to a certain extent but the real reason for growing them is to impress the masochists, and add to the hot sauce in case it turns out to be not hot enough.

It's Pepper Time!

Well there you have it. New box, home for peppers, and another growing spot in the Pickle Palace that will star in the blog this summer. Seriously share your wisdom, lessons, or encouragement as I bumble my way through this and learn as I go. Ultimately, if I can inspire you to reuse some old wood, reclaim some useless lawn space, and convert it into a nutritional hobby, I will have succeeded no matter how I do this year.

Show me a picture of what you are growing!