Another newbie from Michigan!

Hello all! I am so excited to try sfg this year. My husband and I bought our first house a year and a half ago, but last summer we were kept busy with a brand new baby girl. So I'm hoping this year she and I can get out gardening! We have an open, sunny spot on the west side of the garage that's just aching to be filled. I've just got to convince the hubby to invest in the materials... wish me luck

Hey there. Welcome aboard. You have found a great rest stop on your SFG adventure....the online forum.

Congrats on all the happenin's goin's on in your life. It sure happens fast, huh? 12 years ago, my wife and I were just off the hitching post ourselves. Within 3 months, we had a house. Within 364 days we had our daughter. Sounds like you are right on track. But, beware......we had our son 14 months after our daughter and life has been a blur ever since! LOL. (Wouldn't trade any of it.)

Convincing the hubby can be interesting depending on the hubby. If I can make one recommendation, have you read Mel's new SFG book yet? If so, try and get hubby to read it. He may come around all by his lonesome....and that will make life really easy for you when it comes to SFG. That book explains the cost-effectiveness of SFG so well. If he is like me (a bit frugal, to be polite), SFG will make so much common sense it will be laughable. However, if he is like my wife, he won't want to hear that from you. He wants to find that out on his own. (I tried to teach my wife to play golf because I was a teaching pro for years. She wanted no part of it. When a buddy gave her a tip, she became all ears.....and it was the exact same advice I was giving.) Such is life.

So glad to have you here. No question is too simple. Ask away, and get involved!

Thanks! I did read the book (late last summer), but unfortunately my husband's not a reader at all. He's a math teacher, and it's hard enough for him to find the time (and desire) to complete required reading for his master's classes... I'm afraid he is one who would see the start-up cost of SFG and just go dig up the ground instead (actually probably tell me to dig up the ground instead!)

Maybe I'll have to get the book from the library again and brush up on the cost-effectiveness argument... and conveniently leave it out so he can page through it if he so desires!

Yeah, that's the problem with my suggestion. When one spouse goes after something so quickly, it's usually because the other didn't see the need yet. They come around, usually. But, it takes some patience.....like your garden.

Just start planting seeds. The more you plant, and the better you plant them, the better you reap.

Find his hot-buttons and hit 'em hard and often. Like they say in My Big Fat Greek Wedding.....the woman is the neck, and she can turn the head any way she wants.

Hi, welcome to the forum. When you're ready to do those cost comparisons, we can help. A lot of folks forget the added cost of chiropractor and massage therapist visits when doing traditional gardening!

hahaha thanks guys

Hi Carrielynn, welcome to the forum and to SFG!

When you talk to your dh, make sure to mention amortization....that will get his attention! Yes, there is a start-up cost associated with building a SFG. I built "kinda" SFG beds in my front yard last year. This year, I am moving operations to the back yard with above-ground boxes and pure Mel's Mix. The reason: My HOA had a fit with my front yard garden. It was so productive that they didn't like the resultant plants EVERYWHERE! that I got. I can't wait to see what I'll actually get with pure MM.

Anyway, once you get the beds and trellises built (and irrigation, if you're doing that), and your MM made, it's pretty painless from there on out. You may buy new seeds (or just trade for them, or use some of your own), and after a year you could have your own compost to replenish your MM with after you harvest from each square. You may want to invest in canning supplies, too, but even those are re-usable except for the lids, which are cheap.

Thanks for the advice Megan! I figure if I'm going to do it, I want to do it right. I hope to do a lot of freezing (don't like canned vegetables...) -- I grew up in a family where my mom had a HUGE traditional garden (like 100x100) and did a lot of freezing and canning. It's in my blood!!