A green thumb, I do not have! I have always loved the idea of having flowers and a vegetable garden in my yard. Each year, I chose the flowers that I think are the prettiest, a variety of vegetables seeds and a few veggie plants and away I go. Some survive better than others. My approach to yard maintenance is: weed when I see weeds, cut the grass when it gets long and water when I have time. As you can see, no science involved.  

A year ago, at the end of June, my family and I moved into our new home. It is an older home with a mature yard and landscaping. We have many perennials, shrubs, bushes, and a lovely garden box. When we moved in, everything was in bloom. I am starting from scratch this spring. My goal is to figure out what kinds of plants and shrubs I have and how to best maintain them. I would like to find out what vegetables are best planted together, what are best for the location of my garden bed and how I should fertilize the soil and so on. We are fortunate to have underground sprinklers, which I have never had before. I would like to investigate best time of day to water and for how long as well as, when is the best time to cut the grass and what length to cut it to.

By the end of this semester, I hope that my thumb is a bit greener and my plants are happy!

Here are the before pictures, taken May 13, 2023.

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The warm weather has me dreaming about gardening as I begin to think about my major project. I have decided to tackle the learning project and learn about carpentry. Since I want to be outside as much as possible in the Spring, I figured what a better way to combine my love of gardening and learning about carpentry than to build a new raised garden bed in my current garden area. I love watching DIY shows but haven’t been brave enough to tackle anything on my own. I often have these big plans for my husband to build things for me but not this time! I am going to tackle this learning myself and even conquer a bit of a fear of power tools.

Although I remember taking an Industrial Arts class in high school, I do not recall any of the skills I learned back then. I have often held boards for my husband but that truly has been the extent of my carpentry skills. I do know how to use basic tools such as hammers and screwdrivers but that is all I know. I have used the power drill but often sink in the screws too far! I have never wanted to go near the saw. So I am thinking I need to start at the beginning and watch educational videos on tools and safety. I’ll admit that my biggest fear is using the power saw! This article from wikiHow is a great place to start my learning. Once I feel, I have a grasp on this information, I believe I will need to head to the garage and get a live lesson from my husband on using these tools. I believe I will need to practice using these tools until I feel confident to move on and start my carpentry project.

The next step in my learning process is to research and find answers to some inquiry based learning questions. Here are my essential questions I will be researching as I begin my learning project:

• What are some different garden bed designs that I would like to build?
• What type of wood is most durable for garden beds?
• What additional materials will I need to complete my project?
• Do I have all the tools I will need to build and complete my project?
• What dimensions will my garden bed be based on the outdoor area it will be placed in?
• How will I need to prepare the area for the garden bed?
• Are there any plans I could follow or step by step directions to complete my project?
• What types of plants and flowers will I fill my garden bed with?

I have the dream of being able to create a beautiful garden bed for our yard. However, I think it is going to take perseverance and a lot of patience to develop my learning and skills. Perhaps, this learning and skill development will give me the confidence to try other carpentry projects in the future! So, here I go diving into this adventure with a lot of hope and the excitement that I am going to learn to create something for our yard that we will enjoy for years to come! Stay tuned as I walk you through my weekly progress on this project. I look forward to your feedback and tips if you have any knowledge in this skill area. Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts!

-Kendra

The warm weather has me dreaming about gardening as I begin to think about my major project. I have decided to tackle the learning project and learn about carpentry. Since I want to be outside as much as possible in the Spring, I figured what a better way to combine my love of gardening and learning about carpentry than to build a new raised garden bed in my current garden area. I love watching DIY shows but haven’t been brave enough to tackle anything on my own. I often have these big plans for my husband to build things for me but not this time! I am going to tackle this learning myself and even conquer a bit of a fear of power tools.

Although I remember taking an Industrial Arts class in high school, I do not recall any of the skills I learned back then. I have often held boards for my husband but that truly has been the extent of my carpentry skills. I do know how to use basic tools such as hammers and screwdrivers but that is all I know. I have used the power drill but often sink in the screws too far! I have never wanted to go near the saw. So I am thinking I need to start at the beginning and watch educational videos on tools and safety. I’ll admit that my biggest fear is using the power saw! This article from wikiHow is a great place to start my learning. Once I feel, I have a grasp on this information, I believe I will need to head to the garage and get a live lesson from my husband on using these tools. I believe I will need to practice using these tools until I feel confident to move on and start my carpentry project.

The next step in my learning process is to research and find answers to some inquiry based learning questions. Here are my essential questions I will be researching as I begin my learning project:

• What are some different garden bed designs that I would like to build?
• What type of wood is most durable for garden beds?
• What additional materials will I need to complete my project?
• Do I have all the tools I will need to build and complete my project?
• What dimensions will my garden bed be based on the outdoor area it will be placed in?
• How will I need to prepare the area for the garden bed?
• Are there any plans I could follow or step by step directions to complete my project?
• What types of plants and flowers will I fill my garden bed with?

I have the dream of being able to create a beautiful garden bed for our yard. However, I think it is going to take perseverance and a lot of patience to develop my learning and skills. Perhaps, this learning and skill development will give me the confidence to try other carpentry projects in the future! So, here I go diving into this adventure with a lot of hope and the excitement that I am going to learn to create something for our yard that we will enjoy for years to come! Stay tuned as I walk you through my weekly progress on this project. I look forward to your feedback and tips if you have any knowledge in this skill area. Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts!

-Kendra