building a raised bed

I've had about 50 raised beds pinned on pinterest before I even considered building one myself. I told my dad (he's a wood working genius!) about my plans to get some advice on what kind of wood to buy. He suggested recycling an old shelf that he's had in his workshop for years. It's genius - he cut all the pieces and we assembled it in my garage. It only took us about 45mins. The holes are great for drainage. I've considered painting it but I haven't found any natural paint in a bright color I liked yet.

My mom helped me fill it. We used branches for the bottom (we found them in the garden) and I bought four bags of soil. I'll add some compost on top for manuring sometime soon.

The first plants I planted were some basil and a zucchini plant that I planted in a tiny greenhouse on my windowsill.


Last week I bought a couple of tomato plants and a strawberry plant. I'll plant most of the tomato plants in containers so I can put them in my basement when it's super rainy/windy.

The raised bed is at the back of the house (facing south so there's lots of sunshine!) and it's pretty much impossible to see unless you go to the small part of the garden where the clothes lines are. Many people told me about strangers stealing their fruits/veggies so I'm really glad my little garden can't be seen from the street :)

Let's hope the great weather keeps up for a little bit longer so my plants get to make themselves at home before the rain comes back again.

around here

There's so much going on around here lately - lots of soil, fabrics and yarn!
Lina loves hanging out by my sewing machine - though she prefers sleeping on my phone than any of my new creations. In case you should ever find yourself in my apartment looking for your phone - look underneath Lina first. Also speaking of her, I've been suspecting her of playing with my seedlings for days but I've never caught her do it. Just soil on my floor or desk from time to time... I guess the picture of my zucchini seedling with one of her hairs on it proves I'm right.

Have I mentioned that I love growing plants? Like 'from scratch'? Sure, buying commercial plants and harvesting the first vegetables after a couple of days sounds tempting but I prefer growing my own plants. So far my zucchini and basil seedlings are thriving. The sorrel seedlings have yet to reach the sunlight but they are only two days old - no worries yet. Have you ever used some of those 'pop-up' seedling pellets? You pour water on it that is soaked up and you can put your seed in it. They came with the containers I bought so I figured I could just as well give them a try. I'll let you know how it works in a couple of weeks.

Tomorrow is a public holiday (Ascension Day) in Germany so I'm looking forward to a lazy day at home. My future apartment mate (she's moving in in June - can't wait!) is coming over tomorrow and we'll cook something and get to know each other a little better. It's gonna be rad to have a 'like-minded' apartment mate!! I'll introduce her on the blog once she's moved in and we know each other a little better :)

planted.

The weather is finally spring-like enough over here to start growing some plants. So yesterday I got my gardening gloves out and the seeds I bought a couple weeks ago. I always buy organic seeds because I prefer chemical-free food and also a million other reasons that you can google if you're interested. I filled this container thingy (I think it's called cell flats?) with soil outside because it's always a huge mess. I added the seeds inside because it was rather stormy outside and I was afraid the light basil seeds might get blown away.

Have I mentioned that Lina likes flowers? As in she tries everything to eat them; once I put some flowers on my fridge to keep them out of her reach and she did a crazy stunt to jump from a chair to the fridge. She becomes a cat with superpowers as soon as plants are involved!

So naturally my planting actions weren't unnoticed and soon Lina was there to expect her future food. Or so she hopes.

I planted ten zucchini seeds. My parents have an awesome spot in their garden where I grew zucchini last year and they were huge and super tasty! I wanna plant some seedlings there but I'm also planning to plant some in the garden of the apartment house I live in. I'm somewhat paranoid thought that neighbors might steal my vegetables...

I also planted some basil because, well, it's basil. It's awesome and I use it for just about every meal I make. Have I mentioned that I like Italian food? I'm gonna make some pesto this season so I'll need looots of basil! :)

So the seeds are sitting (and hopefully growing soon!) on my window sill where Lina can keep an eye on them. I've seen her stare at the containers several times as if she expects something grand to happen. I guess I finally found someone who's as excited about my little plants as I am ;)