We’ve done it! My Better Half and I planted our first round of vegetables in the new, raised beds we built last fall. Putting our trust in Weather.com, we made sure to head outside first thing in the morning to plant. That afternoon, our area was to receive some spring rainshowers.

After reading about a few different backyard, veggie gardening techniques, we settled on a mix of Lasagna Gardening and Square Foot Gardening. Lasagna Gardening allows us to build up beds and control the contents of our soil without having to drastically amend it. We utilized Square Foot Gardening for planning and planting the two 4’x4′ beds.

Here is what we planted, direct sowing the seed into the beds:

• Teton Hybrid Spinach
• Red Cored Chantenay Carrots
• French Breakfast Radish
• Green Onions
• Detroit Dark Red Beets
• Hybrid Granex Yellow PRR Onions
• Melting Sugar Snow Peas

When planning/planting, we tried to take into consideration which spaces in the garden can be reused within one growing season. For example, if all goes well, the radishes will be ready to harvest in 24 days. This space will then be free to plant warmer weather crops.

Also, some veggies like the radish, spinach and snow peas prefer the cooler weather. It is recommended these vegetables be planted in early spring and then again in late summer.

Finally, when planning the positions of the plants, we tried to take into consideration how sunlight would change over the growing season. Some plants are taller or grow upward as vines, possibly throwing shadows on the bed. There is also a large tree in our neighbor’s yard that is currently without leaves, but in a month will be blocking some late afternoon sun for at least one of the beds.

We’ve tried to prepare for our adventure into vegetable gardening, but I’m sure we’ll still learn a lot. I’m wondering what the skunk will think when she visits our backyard for the first time since her winter nap.

“What’s this? A salad bar just for me?! You shouldn’t have.”