How to build a garden

I would like to start by saying we are beginner gardeners - this is our first 'real' attempt at gardening! If anyone has tips for us, please feel free to leave comments!

We started to build our raised garden beds this weekend. We used several 2x4's cut to our desired lengths (our beds are 6'x3') with 2x2's on the inside of each corner for support. Each of the 2x2's was pounded several inches into the ground before attaching to the 2x4's. We might place additional 2x2' along the longer sides for extra support. These could always be added to the outside of the beds once the garden is planted, if we decide we need it. I plan to stain our beds with some sort of weatherproofing agent once the weather improves a little more.

As you can see we only built 2 of the 4 beds (but pounded the supports for all 4) We are deciding if we want to place the others in a different area of the yard that may get more sun. (It's hard to tell how much sun they'll get with no leaves on the trees, and shorter days still)

We will cut down the supports to the same height as the beds, but we want to make sure the dogs don't get into them first. If the dogs are causing trouble, we will add chicken wire to the top of the supports to keep them out.

I took these photos through the windows (which explains the screen you can see) because it was raining and I didn't want to get wet outside :)

We found some great priced compost on Craigslist which we will mix with some garden soil for a nutrient rich garden! We need to decide if it would make more sense to purchase several bags of garden soil from somewhere like Home Depot, or have a truck load delivered from one of the local nurseries or landscape companies.

Today I picked up a jiffy greenhouse and planted all of my seeds that need to be started inside. This is really  my first attempt at planting seeds (and a garden for that matter) so I will keep you updated with my progress!

(Day 1 - just planted)

Today I planted two types of tomatoes, two types of peppers, and one of our lettuces. I also need to plant our peas and the rest of our lettuce once we get the soil in the bed - the peas should be planted before the last frost of the season, and the lettuce just after the last frost (how we know when exactly this will be, I am not sure - to be safe I am going to save a few seeds incase I need to replant anything)

Wish us luck!

Day 4 (Day 1 being planting day) lettuce seeds are sprouting!