Fresh Start

Today was a good day. Good days aren’t as common now as they used to be, or at least I should say they haven’t been as common…but today was a truly good day.

I started my day by waking up nice and early, on my own (as usual). I can’t remember the last time I actually needed an alarm. I am up and ready to go by about 7am, whether I like it or not. Luckily this doesn’t bother me a bit. The earlier I get up, the more I get out of my day. Anyway (I feel like I’m rambling today)… I woke up bright and early and took a bike ride with my pal (and flatmate) Paul down to the coffee shop for coffee and a bagel. * side-note: Yes, I realize calling my roommate my “flatmate” makes me sound like a want-to-be-British, hipster twat, but “roommate seems odd (since he technically rents a room in my house) and I refuse to call him a “renter” because it doesn’t sound friendly, and he’s one of my favorite friends. SO…anyway…

After breakfast, we road home and then drove over to Lowes, where be bought soil and plants to start a garden. This was only possible due to a gift card my parents gave me (most likely the best gift for a homeowner EVER). The gift card turned out to be the exact amount we needed for everything.

Building the garden was simple and fast, as we used cinder blocks and ready-to-use organic garden soil, designed for raised gardens. Once the soil was in, watered, and packed properly, we measured out square foot grids on the garden to help with plant placement.

Here’s our organic vegetable & herb garden (along with a list of what we planted):

I’ve also started a little daily journal that we’ll be using for the garden. Since we’re all learning as we go, the plan is to note everything…from watering schedules to bug damage. At least this way, if we screw something up, we can hopefully look back and figure out what we did. We’re also including photos, memories & anecdotes…anything regarding the garden, really. Gardening is going to be a bit therapeutic for me. I’ve been having a bit of a hard time lately (though it’s getting better thanks to a great therapist and a lot of work). There’s a great combination of relaxation and pride that comes from working on a garden (says the big shot, fist-day gardener) and I think it could really be helpful to me. I want to get as much out of this experience as possible. I want to savor the joy that comes from putting work into the garden and reaping the rewards of my efforts…just as I want to do with life.

Exciting times ahead folks…exciting times, indeed.

I look forward to working on myself, my garden and hopefully, this little blog much more in the future.