My friend Katie helped me build my 8′ x 4′ x 10” raised bed planters in March. I’ve been trying on different careers, and Katie suggested that I become a Life Coach via High Density or Urban Gardening. I believe she said that people who could afford a life coach would benefit from getting a little dirt under their nails, but only if they didn’t have to sit on the ground. When I told her I’d be up in Nebraska for a little while, she said I could help put in her garden.

I’ve read a few Square Foot Gardening and High Density Gardening websites. When I planted my garden, my parents influenced much of the layout, wanting to plant things in rows. Also, the soil was chosen for me: cotton gin waste with healthy lumps of gray clay. So far, winging it, everything has turned out great…even a little scary. While I was in Nebraska, Ty wrote to tell me he counted 23 tiny tomatoes. Last night he came in and claimed to have counted 90. (Keep in mind many of these are just Cherry Tomatoes!) The scary part is being able to eat everything before it goes bad, or before the next vegetable becomes ripe.

Katie and I are of similar logical minds, but she tends to go more by the book. This is possibly because she remembers more of the book, or had the energy to actually track down the book.

The Joseph Family has a very special smaller planter containing their hops plants. We crisscrossed that planter with lettuce and spinach. The hops are a rhizome, and will come back every year. They’ll produce for the first time next year. Katie’s husband Amos Joseph has become a avid brew master over the years, and he’ll use them in next year’s kegs.

Katie and I planted most of the 48 square foot plots on Saturday morning. She planted the 8 tomatoes on the end, and trellised them using the recommended square food gardening net and conduit.

The next row over we planted squash and cucumbers, to either train them up the trellis, or train them over the edge of the planter. We ended up filling the rest of the squares with spinach, lettuce, carrots, beets, peas, beans, radishes, and swiss chard.

It was very weird planting a new garden, while leaving my almost full grown one for Ty to care and water. He did a very good job peeling off the suckers on the tomatoes, and keeping the spinach, lettuce, snap peas, and radishes harvested.

The back yard of the Joseph house recently suffered the loss of a gigantic maple tree. After falling on their garage, this got them a practically new garage and a back yard opened to the sun. To give the back yard some more character, Katie wanted 2 rosemary plants in large planters. The idea is to bring in the plants during the winter, and then use them as shrubbery, air freshener, and fish seasoning for the rest of the year. We looked all over town for rosemary plants. We finally ended up at the high-end Finke Garden Center, who had the last 2 rosemary plants in town. The plants were huge! They were the perfect size for people who intend to keep the plants going for years.

The Joseph hound, Hank, appreciated the new shrubbery in red pots. Hank is a blue healer/basset hound mix. I really love the blue healer, part dingo breed because that is the dog my father really bonds with. They are very smart, and love to please, but can be a little too energetic. Hank’s basset hound part of the family makes him the dog I wish my dad’s dog Sophie could be. Sophie will only rest with you late at night, thinks everything is a licking game, and never gets tired. Hank needs a few naps a day, knows when you should take one, and curls right up against you to help on your way to dreamland.