A few weeks ago I received my heirloom seeds from Seed Savers. I also purchased Amish Pie Squash seeds but they were on backorder and now they are sold out! So my pumpkin need will be have to be filled elsewhere. Around May 18th I should be receiving my Seed Savers transplants, which are organic I think. I plan for everything in my garden to be as organic as possible. Here is my list of seeds, transplants as well as seeds I have not purchased or received yet:

Seeds

• Black Beauty Zucchini (I have 25 seeds but I am only planting two bushes, can you imagine 25 zucchini plants? That is the stuff of nightmare!)
• Empress Beans (these are a bush variety stringless green snap bean)
• Genovese Basil (your standard big leaf basil)
• Titan Sunflowers (these just sounded awesome)
• True Lemon Cucumbers

Transplants

• 1 Amish Paste tomato transplant
• 2 Hungarian Heart tomato transplants
• 1 Cherry Roma tomato transplant
• 1 Stupice tomato transplant
• 1 Aunt Molly’s ground cherry transplant

Yet To Come

• Purple Carrots (from Mom)
• Some kind of pole bean (from Mom)
• Pumpkins, unknown variety (from Andrea and Peter)
• Leaf Lettuce (buying a packet of seeds at the General Store)

This is the area of my backyard that is going to becoming the garden, over where those timbers are. The area is south facing and so receives a ton of sunlight throughout the day. I plan on building two 3×8 raised beds for the veggies, which will give me 48 feet square of growing space. The last frost is around May 3rd, so that is my target date for having the beds ready, we’ll see how it all goes. I would imagine in the years to come I will be adding more raised bed. I would love to grow potatoes, beets, broccoli, more kinds of sunflowers, peppers etc. I also am planning an herb garden around the deck but I’ll leave that for another post.

This is the breakdown of the cost so far. I feel it has been reasonable (and the first year start up is always most expensive:)

• Seeds – $17.75 – They are all heirloom varieties, so with luck I will be able to save some of their seeds for next year. I still have to buy a packet of leaf lettuce with will be a less the $2, it will not be heirloom this year.
• Transplants – $18 and I am told shipping will be around $12, so $30 – I should also be able to save some of their seeds too as they are heriloom and start my own transplants next year.
• Wood (for raised beds) – FREE – found it behind our garage. I am using old pallets from my neighbor and Michael’s work as well. I may have to buy a crowbar to break them apart though.
• Seed Starting Soil – $8ish – I am just going to buy a bag of of sterile mix from the store. The seeds being started indoors are being planted in the cardboard egg cartons that I have been saving.
• Garden Soil – Shannon knows where we can purchase topsoil for $16 a scoop (from a backhoe not a shovel) – assuming that is about a cubic yard, that is about what I need. Her step father has graciously offered the use of his trailer to transport it.
• Compost – freeish – I might be able to find it free somewhere in town (Craigslist is awesome) and I have started a compost pile, which is shortly going to be boxed in using the pallet method. The pallets are free.
• Garden Tools – unknown – Here is where the cost can rack up fast, we have budgeted $200 for tools but I doubt I will need that much. I want decent tools that will last, but I am not purchasing anything fancy either. I need a hose with sprayer, a digging shovel, a bow rake, a garden fork and a hoe. I am also considered buying this, or building something like it, to trellis my tomatoes. (I don’t know if we have grass so not sure about the whole lawn mower thing yet.)

Here is a little side request to the list above – if any of the local people who read my blog happen to have any of the tools I need (or ones you feel would benefit the garden) laying around, and they are in working condition, I would love to give them a good home. I would be more than happy to share some of my seeds with you in return, or my crop! (If you are not local and still want to help, you can check out our wishlist.) Oh, and books! I am learning almost everything online, so I would be grateful for any secondhand books, or links to wonderful gardening resources online.

So this is as far as I am in the planning phase, I am currently looking up pollinators and attracting them. (FYI mason bees are so fascinating!) I am curious to hear other people’s low cost suggestions as well as any tidbits of advice they might have. It feels good to be outside working on a project like this. Gardening puts me in such a spiritual mood. I cannot think of many things that make me feel more connected to the spirit of the Earth then by getting my hands dirty.