I've compiled the shopping list. I've submitted it to the rest of the people in the building for feedback. Then I'm going to give it to the apartment manager and devoutly hope he doesn't have a bunch of questions!
The biggest challenge so far is figuring out the size of the bed. One of the residents did some calculating and figuring, and suggested two 4x4 beds. We've got room for 6 beds of that size, but we're starting smallish to see how it goes.
Do you know how much dirt it takes to fill 16 square feet? It takes a lot of dirt. At first I was calculating 20 inches deep, but from what I could find, that's overkill. I changed the numbers so we're figuring on an average of 14 inches deep (more like 12 in one and 16 in the other, I think) and it's STILL a lot of dirt. We're looking at about $150 in dirt alone.
We could do it cheaper, but none of us have a truck, we'd have to drive a minimum of an hour round trip, and it would make a huge mess - not to mention taking lots of time. Even if I could find someone to deliver a bunch of dirt, we couldn't back the truck up to the prospective bed area, because it's fenced in, so we'd have to, what... get wheelbarrows and buckets?? Yeah that would be more work and mess.
So, I've made the list and will hold my breath til we find out if we get all the stuff. Fingers crossed!
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a master gardener i know suggests nothing wider than 4' for your beds because you only have a reach of about 2'. anything wider, and you end up having to tramp in the middle of your beds, and that's not good! so 4x4' sounds perfect! she also suggests a 1:1:1 mixture of dirt, compost and vermiculite. have fun with your dirt!
ReplyDeleteThanks Meghan! I also was reading about adding compost & vermiculite to the dirt. I think if we DO wind up getting already-fancy potting planting stuff, we'll add the compost & vermiculite in subsequent years to freshen it up.
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