paradise ali

It began when I was trying to think of ways to downsize our food budget.  We already drastically reduced the frequency of our takeout meals and eating out.  That, in and of itself, was a huge savings.  (I ain’t gonna lie.  We still hit the evil McD’s dollar menu on rare occasions.  It keeps the kids on their toes.)  So the next step was, what my hanai mom called, “stretching it.”  You know, instead of one steak per person for one meal, we’d have five or six meals of stir fry or stew or soup or something?  So there I was at our local grocery store craving stir fried green beans and when I saw the sign that said, “$6.00/lb.” I just about fainted!  I knew it was expensive but that was just ridiculous!  Ever since then, I’ve wanted to plant a garden in my backyard. 

When I was growing up we had a “hippie garden.”  Guess that was the unofficial local slang for organic?  I remember a lot of digging, long rows and rows of all kinds of vegetables and my folks weeding and fertilizing and watering and picking off any insect brave enough to snack on their crops.  To this day, I’m not sure if they gardened out of necessity and made it seem like an enjoyable hobby or if they truly enjoyed the hard work and the whole process.  I suspect the later.

A few years ago, the previous renters of our old house left an empty raised bed garden.  I planted mostly herbs like basil, thyme, lemon grass, rosemary, Thai basil, lemon basil, fennel, several types of mint, oregano along with the ever present green onions.  Once I planted them, they just grew like weeds on their own.  No maintenance.  It was gorgeous and the aroma wafting on the breeze was heavenly.  I didn’t really know how to use all of those herbs but I gave it away to friends and neighbors and savored what I could.  Now, I wish I would have grown vegetables.  I thought it was too work intensive and you know I was a couch potato back then.  But I digress . . .

The soil in my backyard is poor to nonexistent with lava rock patches here and there so I knew I’d have to do up another raised bed.  I started researching it and found this method called “square foot gardening.”  What I like in this method is that it utilizes a raised bed, there’s very little weeding, watering or fertilizing, and you can grow more in less space.  No need for those long row plantings my folks slaved over!  According to “All New Square Foot Gardening” by Mel Bartholomew, it uses (for the most part) only six inches of a growing medium called “Mel’s Mix.”  The garden can be placed in small spaces like on  an apartment lanai, on a patio, in boxes on steps, even on a table to allow for gardening while in a wheelchair.  How cool is that?!  There’s an official site, too.

I’ve started the string beans by a window in the laundry room and we should be able to transplant them and be up and running with the garden this weekend.  (Crossing my fingers and toes for good weather.)  We’ll see how it goes!