4.10.2011

Table Top Garden

I know you have all been wondering what the big news and project is, well it's finally time for you to find out!  As the title suggests, we built our own tabletop garden.  Since we live in an apartment, actually planting the garden in the ground was out of the question.

After 2 hours at our local Home Depot, $100, and a bit of muscle, we now have our garden box and herbs ready to go!  Now it's just a matter of time to be able to plant everything.

The original idea for the table top garden came from Frugal Dad, one of my favorite blogs to follow.

The Garden
Step 1: Building the Box
We read someplace that cedar is the best wood to use, since it's untreated and will last the longest compared to other woods.  We built at 4x2 box -- we figured it's best to start small so it's easier to move whenever we move from this apartment.

Materials needed to build box:
-2 6x8 pieces of cedar cut size
-4x2 piece of plywood for the bottom
-8 - 1 1/2 inch screws (2 for each corner)
-12 or so 3/4 screws for screwing the plywood to the top.
-6 L brackets for additional support on the corners and middle of the box


Step 2: Tweaking the Box
Once the box was built, we had to drill drainage holes in the bottom.  We also added a garbage bag liner in order to "protect" the plywood, in hopes of it lasting longer.  This we also added holes to.  After adding the liner, we added some All Purpose Stone, to help with drainage as well.  We are not going to let our veggies get moldy!!!  


Step 3: Fill with Soil
We purchased Miracle Grow soil specific for veggies and plants.  It stated on the bag for "in ground" use only, however we had multiple people from Home Depot tell us it should be fine.  We will be dividing it up in eight 12" squares and plan on putting some dividers and labels.  That will be coming in the next update once everything is planted and labeled.

Step 4: Plant Foods
We haven't planted most of the plants yet since it's not quite time.  Since this is the first year for our garden, we decided to go with starter plants rather than seeds.  This is a bit more expensive, but figured it was the best option for starting out the first time.

Here are the things we plan on planting:
          -Strawberries
          -Zuccini
          -Cucumbers
          -Radishes
          -Jalepenos
          -Tomatoes
          -Garlic
          -TBD
We've also planted a pot of marigolds, as they keep the pests away. 

The Herbs
For the Herbs we purchased plain terracotta pots and painted them ourselves to add a bit of spice (pun intended), for just under $3 each --- the painted pots at the store are over $5.  Again, since this is our first year with a garden and herbs, we decided to go small on the herbs too.  We purchased 3 different herbs: Mint, Basil and Cilantro (for making homemade salsa!!)


I will keep everyone posted as we get everything planted, as well as the progress on our FIRST GARDEN EVER!!  Has anyone else made or used a table top garden??  If you guys have any tips, let us know, as I'm sure we could use them. 

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