I'm soaked and muddy...

Here I am in my favorite, most comfortable shoes... my Keen sandals... all covered in mud!

Got my 8" deep carrot box filled

with Mel's Mix and with Carrots! Yeah!!! I planted a variety that gets about 5"

long.

Also got about 1/2

of one of my 4x8 boxes filled!!! Making good progress here!

Look... a blossom on one of tomato plants! Whooo hooo!!!!

Waiting... ever so patiently to be "grounded" are my 30 Roma Tomato plants.

Out playing in the rain...

I'm on a mission... a gardening mission...

My mission is to get my remaining 4 boxes filled with Mel's Mix this week!!!

So... with that in mind... I was out playing in the light rainfall and filled what will be my carrot box! Yeah!!!

You should see my shoes! All caked with mud!

Those of you who have traversed this journey... know that... it is NO small feat to accomplish this goal...

For local readers of my blog, who may still be filling their boxes or looking for Mel's Mix ingredients...

Try here:

Peat: The Lumber yard on Main St in Lovell has 4cu' bales of peat for under $7!!!!

Vermiculite: The coop in Powell has it for under $27/bag for 4cu'!

Ran out of day...

Ran out of day...

I had thought that I'd be able to spend the whole day working on my SFG... but ended up taking my pre-teen to the dentist for a rescheduled appointment...

But! I did get another 4x4 filled with Mel's Mix... and my future carrot 4x4 (8" deep) is almost filled! As you know... that is a huge accomplishment!

You should see me! I'm so covered in grime... but loving it! Off to the bath!

Today, mix... mix... Mel's Mix

With the help of my teenage son, my 4x8 boxes are all built and leveled off!

Today I'm off to the garden to mix mix mix... lots of Mel's Mix to fill boxes!

I mix one shovel full of each Vermiculite, Peat, & Compost into one of the red 18 gallon buckets... then fill my SFG bed... wet it down... and mix up another batch until it's all filled.

I have about 30 Romas that need to get planted. And need to get carrots planted as well!

Planted Mandan Corn

Inspired by Steve, the midnight gardener, I worked out in the garden tonight till about 11pm. What a beautiful night!

I mixed up enough Mel's Mix to fill 2 4x4 boxes... I'd say by moon light... but couldn't see the moon in the star filled sky... I dragged out one of our construction lights and worked and worked (loving it of course...)!

On a recent trip to the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, MT, I purchased some heirloom Mandan corn seed at the gift shop. Not knowing any about it... including whether it was just ornamental or edible... I decided to do some research... more info on this link.

So... after learning that it was a staple of the Mandan Indians... I planted a whole 4x4 bed with it!!! Look at those beautiful colors!

I'll plant another 4x4 with sweet yellow corn... maybe tomorrow... I've got the box all filled with Mel's Mix!!

Still to get planted... CARROTS...

My SFG grows...

I was thinking today how much I'm enjoying all the time that I've spent creating my very first SFG. Must be the creative aspect of it all!

Isn't the process of planting seedlings... then transplanting... or directly planting seeds into the SFG... AMAZING? I love watching those tender plants grow!!!!

I decided to put my SFG in my front yard of our new (still in the finishing stages) home. And it's really taking shape! So far... I have 6 4x4 boxes filled and 1 4x8 filled!

In front of the cottonwood trees on the East/South side, I've placed a 2x2 bed with a Giant Pumpkin plant. I hope to spread the vine around the tree.

I have 3 other Giant Pumpkins to plant, each in their own 2x2 box. I thought that it would be so much fun to see 400-500 pound pumpkins growing across the front of our property... So now I have to decide where they will be placed.

Planned for this week

Build it/Mix it/Fill it

-build 3 more 4x8 boxes **update** DONE 5/25!

-build 3 more 2x2 boxes **update** DONE 5/25!

-build flower beds???

-mix... mix... mix... more of Mel's Mix

-fill remaining boxes

-build trellises

Plant

-corn

-carrots

-Romas

-watermellon

-cantalope

-giant pumpkin plants

-sunflowers

-black eyed susans

-daisy plants

I hope to get the rest of my garden planted this week! I'm under the gun to get all this done because the 1st week in June I have to begin tiling bathrooms in our new home!

Filling the 3rd 4x4 box!

Wooo hoo!!! I'll have 3 boxes filled with Mel's Mix shortly... complete with grids and ready to plant! Big Step for me!!!

In order to make sure that I have my proportions correct... I'm mixing it by the shovel full.