Plastic Pool Raised Beds

Josiah really wanted a garden. It started with him learning about Johnny Appleseed. He planted apple seeds and since then he has had some big garden and orchard ideas. I didn't think this was the year to start a garden with me being pregnant and such. But we kept talked and dreaming and I started thinking that raised beds were the way to go. That led me to Pinterest which led me to the idea of using plastic kiddie pools for raised beds. All of a sudden a garden didn't seem out of reach and I got really excited about the possibilities.

It didn't take much convincing to get Chrissy to go with me to Home Depot to buy gardening supplies. She's had her own garden and is good at making sure I make good decisions. =) We got mulch, garden soil, top soil and after a stop at Michaels we ended up at Walmart for 2 plastic swimming pools. I could have maybe saved a few bucks if I had asked around to see if anyone had old plastic pools they wanted to get rid of, but I didn't.

Josiah wanted to go along last night, but I really needed a night out so I promised that I would not buy seeds without him. This morning we bought seeds. We ended up with more than plenty seeds.

It was close to lunch time when we got home, but Josiah was ready to get right to work. Power tools aren't my thing, but Josiah's enthusiasm spurned me on to greatness! How hard can a drill be? He was completely confident that we could figure it out! And we did. It wasn't too hard at all. We did a little experimenting and in no time at all we had drainage holes in our gardens.

Then it was lunch and school. We couldn't work any more on the garden until school was finished. That included a nap for Josiah. I guess drilling all those holes wore my little man out. First we put mulch in the bottom of each pool.

The children and I finished the first pool before supper, but I just couldn't lift the last bag of garden dirt out of the trunk...and I needed a couple more bags of topsoil. So Jeremy helped after supper.

Josiah was most excited to plant watermelon. I have no idea how watermelon will do. I know they will take over and spread out. Here Josiah is supervising Anna in planting watermelon.

Watermelon and cucumbers in this garden.

Carrots, broccoli, chives and some flowers in this pool.

There is a cherry tomato plant in between the pools and zucchini on the right end. There are also 2 pots with Josiah's apple seeds.

I don't have a whole lot of confidence with my gardening skills, but it's a fun experiment nonetheless.

There is a part 2 to the garden story that will come along next week. =)