The Farmer and the Flower Girl -- Birth of the Urban Farm

Earlier this year, the Riverman started talking about having a garden -- "not flowers, mind you. I'm talking food," he said with a hint of a smile that told me he wasn't really saying flower gardening wasn't real gardening. I told him it sounded like an awesome idea and I'd help in whatever way I could. He squinted at me like I had just set him adrift on an ice floe. "Hey," I teased him back, "It's your project. You're the farmer! I'm just the flower girl. " Being a little more helpful, I told him I thought a raised bed would work well and that we could put it in the front -- where I'd placed the veggie boxes in the fall of 2010. See the post Sunny Sunday in the Garden for info about the veggie boxes (and a super cute snapshot of Monty the wonder dog).

Riverman Plants the Raised Bed

We talked for weeks about building the raised bed -- how big should it be and where would it get the most sun? Where would we move the existing veggie boxes? We discussed "the crops" we'd grow. I put in my bid for a couple of tomatoes and some squash. He had a hankering for radishes, carrots, peas, and beans. We also got cukes, brussels sprouts, beets, peppers, onions, and strawberries.

In Early May, we went to the local garden center and picked out some seeds and seedlings. The following week, I cleared some space for the new raised bed (8 x 4) and on Mother's Day weekend, we built and filled and planted the bed.

Squash and Cukes

On Wednesday, we planted 5 blueberries -- 2 North Country, 2 Patriot, and a Chippewa. By Thursday (Syttende Mai), we had radishes sprouting out of the ground! The Urban Farm project is underway!