Adventures in Raised Bed Gardening - Part 1

When we moved into our house in August 2009, I was so excited that there was some space right next to the house for a little garden.
My mom had grown tomatoes growing up and it was always fun to go out and pick the sweet red cherry tomatoes and eat them before we could get inside.  I knew that come spring, I wanted to a garden of my own.  With the help from my wonderful hubby we set to work that first spring to create a garden.

The space is about 15 ft by 3 ft. Over the past 3 summers, I've grown strawberries, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, chives, sage, peppers, green beans, cucumbers, cabbage, spinach, and probably something else I'm forgetting.  I never grow very much of any one thing, but it's always part of my spring/summer that I look forward to.

This year, I've been Pinspired to create a raised bed.  My gardening board on Pinterest is a source of great information and fun ideas.  I knew I wanted to do something totally different this year.  I wanted first to move my garden away from the house because I can't get to the backside of it and the weeds always grow back there.  I also really wanted to take a stab at a raised bed. I've seen lots of different versions of raised beds - pre-made kits, fence posts, plain wood, and cinder block. For my garden, this year I've decided to use cinder blocks for my raised beds.  These are some of my pins that pinspired me!

I'm so excited to get started!  I've got my list of supplies, my layout planned, and my seeds planted (indoors)!  I can't wait to show off the process and progress of my new gardens! Our last freeze date is April 15 so this next week, I will be in full garden mode!