Sunday, March 18, 2012

The Turtle Garden

Every once in a while the thought of returning to a small farm is enough to put the house up for sale! I realize that working a small family farm is probably too much for just one person so I put away the idea. So, I often think of how to turn my small yard into that farm that I so miss?

This year I have a few new ideas to keep me from searching the list of farms for sale. I am thinking of a new herb garden, adding asparagus and rhubarb to the garden mainstays and how about a few raised beds? Without sufficient building knowledge I looked around my yard to see what I already had.

Hmmm....the turtle sandbox caught my eye. I bought this when Matthew and Jonah were small. They have spent lots of hours with neighborhood children playing in this tiny sandbox. Holly and Brianna only visit in the winter, so they never even enjoyed it!

On Saturday we took a neighborhood vote...can we get rid of the sandbox for a raised bed?? It was unanimous to turn it into a giant tossed salad!

With the help of the kids I transformed the small play area into a great big turtle garden! We took out the sand, cut holes in the bottom for drainage, filled it up with good manure and top soil, and planted lettuce and spinach.

We were just in time as the soft gentle spring rain came this morning.

In the weeks to come, I will keep you posted on this interesting success.

Maybe you have an old kid's swimming pool you could convert as well. I say we grow as much food as we can this summer and save a few $$$$ at the grocery store. Of course, supporting our local farmer's market is the next best way!

Here are a few photos of our project!



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