Having a yard of our own for the first time in years, we’ve decided to try our hands at a vegetable garden this year. The past two weekends have been wonderfully productive in preparing the garden plot and planting the first seeds (indoors and out).

What originally was a large pile of sticks and brush has been cleared out and cut back. Some of the leaves from last fall were left to compost over the area. We spread the compost over the whole area to be tilled.

We rented a tiller from Home Depot, and after some trial and error got the whole plot turned over.
    

Sunday started off with building a fence to keep out our friendly neighborhood munchers.

And ended with the planting of tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapenos, and habaneros to sprout indoors. After they sprout and after May 15 (our official final frost date here), they’ll be relocated outside.

This weekend included plotting out where everything will go in the garden, digging the rows and paths, and finally planting the lettuce, spinach, and peas.
Fortunately there was a little something to inspire me on Saturday morning. After only 5.5 days, we had sprouts!

After a full 7 days, nearly all the tomato cells have sprouted. The hot peppers are quite small, but we can see them coming. Still nothing to be seen of the bell peppers. To help balance the heat/light that they’ve seen, we turned the tray around and have added a light (not a grow light, but a regular CFL) to add just a bit of warmth to the hot peppers. We want to ensure they get a good start!!