#53207

It's late March, and according to my gardening books, I'm way behind. But I'm no expert gardener. I didn't spend my winter browsing seed catalogs or nursing my leftover seeds. I have no tools and no growing lights. I better get started.

First off, let me fill you in on the details: I share my lawn with neighbors, so I still don't have a space of my own to garden. However, I was able to purchase a 4x8ft lot at the Hide House Community Garden in Bayview (another reason I love my neighborhood). The garden is close, just a few blocks from my house, so it won't be difficult to get down there daily. The garden consists of raised bed of various sizes, mine bed runs on the smaller end of the scale, but that's ok with me (less room to fail?).

Raised Beds at the Hide House Community Garden

I decided I couldn't do this alone, so I headed to the library to get a few references. The two books I've found most helpful are The Midwest Fruit and Vegitable Book: Wisconsin Edition (how's that for specific?) by James A. Fizzell and Cubed Foot Gardening by Christopher O. Bird. I started with Bird's book to understand the basics of raised bed gardening. From what I've gathered so far, a raised bed is more convenient for the gardener. After all, why break your back digging up your lawn, when you can just create a raised bed and fill it with soil? According to my reading, it's also better for your plants, with healthier soil and more effective drainage.

Meanwhile, Fizzell's book has been very helpful to pick out the best plants for our Wisconsin growing season. I was able to narrow down the plants I'll grow to peppers, tomatoes, beans, lettuce, cucumbers and garlic. I'm going to buy my seeds from Burpee, they have an amazing selection, and the cost isn't bad either.