every new beginning

We've been talking about making a garden ever since we moved in... three years ago.  We only just now took the action to make it happen.  We had a bunch of stuff around the house (such as the herb trough and a power tiller), so we decided to use whatever we could find whenever possible to minimize costs.

We started with the herbs.  Had to fix the trough.  Had to sand and stain.  Then we got the dirt in and planted the herbs.  The problem?  We didn't really know when to plant and our basil is probably a write-off.  That's it on the left.

Next step, the actual garden.  We cleared away topsoil and put stakes in the ground and were ready for the power tiller.

After about an hour of tinkering and more money that I'd have liked to spend on gas, we gave up.  It seems the power tiller is also a write-off.

Fortunately, my brother isn't afraid of hard work and tilled the entire garden (about 18ftx8ft) using a pickaxe that we also found on our property.  While the men worked on tilling, I sanded and stained the picnic table that's been sitting in our front yard since we moved in:

Now we have a place to eat if the wind ever dies down.  And, you know, if are gardening skills can be honed enough to produce anything edible.

So far, here it is:

We've planted an artichoke and onions and are just praying at this point.