To Start a Vegetable Garden

Like most families these days who are trying to live a little greener, my husband and I try to come up with as many ways as possible to tread lightly, go organic and save money. We've been toying with the idea of starting our own vegetable garden for awhile now, but we have one huge problem: We have no gardening skills. My mother bought us an orange tree several years ago. It sprouted a few juicy oranges the first year...then our non-existant skills came into play and it's been black and withered ever since (see photo). We live in Florida. Orange Trees should grow like weeds. In the front of our house we have a couple of pots of dirt and sticks that used to be plants. I'm at the point that I feel guilty picking out a plant from the garden center because I know that its death sentence was just written.

So here we are planning a garden. I had planned on a small garden to test the waters. My husband goes big with everything... so we are in the process of planning out a good-sized back yard vegetable garden. I have these fantasies of a gorgeous garden alive with bees and hummingbirds while tomatoes, potatoes and squash are bursting at the seams. I imagine mint and lavender scents drifting through the yard. But I know better. I fear a dreadful failure. I fear a large dirt rectangle that becomes a favorite place for the dogs to dig, the kids to play and never ever sprouts a single plant. This blog will document our path toward creating our first home vegetable garden using no inate gardening skills - just books, websites and the advice of friends. They say that humans are at the top of the evolutionary food chain because we have opposable thumbs - can a garden be successfully created by two people without opposable green thumbs? Wish us luck! We're sure to need it.