Finding north (and a backup plan) - a few words about our pre-gardening adventures

One of the things we were looking most forward to here was planting a vegetable garden. The nursery suggested we try to get it started around Memorial Day weekend...It seemed like a reasonable goal, but here we are - a good two weeks later - and we haven't even gotten the raised bed constructed. The power tools to do the job only arrived this week (you should have seen H's face light up when he unpacked the box - he had the most boyish grin I've seen in a long time). People keep assuring me it's not to late to plant, so with any luck (and some cooperative weather), we'll be good to grow this weekend.

To help get us started on this little gardening adventure, I went to a really cool free lecture at our local library a few weeks back. The master gardener guy who ran the workshop spent lots of time on the importance of finding the right spot for things (and rotating each year!): ideally at least 8 hours of sun, good north/south alignment and the likes. All pretty common sense stuff, but I loved it (and need all the tips I can get).

We've got lots of lovely forest and shade around here, so it's taken a while (and a few trips around the property with the compass, I'm not kidding) to decide what's best...especially keeping in mind that I didn't really want a front a center spot for this project, as everything needs to be cordoned off (6ft deer fencing is recommended) to keep out all of the wild animal friends.

Finally, it looks like we'll try out planting on the little stretch of land behind the barn. It's maybe not the most practical (close to the house and hose) solution for a garden, but it's got great exposure and lots of room to expand if things go well this summer.  If the plants we picked are anything like the berry bushes that are already over there, we'll have tomatoes and squash going gangbusters in no time.

And just in case we really fail at this farming exercise, we joined a local CSA (community supported agriculture program) for the summer which guarantees a little box of local fresh produce every week. We're both excited about the 'surprise' factor of this and hope it will also give us some ideas about what grows well here. Last weekend, we took a ride to check things out in person before joining. The farm we chose is very au natural (they use draft horses!) and off the beaten path - we both thought the pastures look a bit like the ones in the Jura mountains, near to where we lived in Switzerland. And the best part is, there's a great drop-off/pick-up point for our weekly box of goodies, just a 5 minute walk from our doorstep. Yes, there's lots to like about where we live here...