Slow - Construction Ahead

Spring is here and we have a lot of plans for outside improvements.  Some are a carry over from last year.  Some have been rolling over for more than one year.

Why did we not put a sidewalk here ^ to begin with?  It's just begging for a walkway.  And - we're tired of the gravel getting in the mulch and the mulch getting in the gravel/  Never ever put mulch next to gravel.  It will drive you nuts.  Always put a good hard edge between gravel and anything!  Preferably a surface that can be swept.

That is the shortest distance between the garden shed and the compost area.  If it isn't muddy I will cut across the lawn rather than go around the long way down the other side of the garden.  This week I dug out the daffodils and day lilies and set them aside.  Next we will dig out the six inches of nice decaying mulch full of earthworms that runs along the fence and set that aside for compost.

To construct the walkway we have to tear up the patio on the right where the cold frame and a pair of chaise lounges have been.  We need exactly that many (24) pavers to make the new walkway.  And I need another large bed to rotate potatoes and squash into.  The cold frame is reaching the end of it's useful life and is slated for recycling.  We plan to replace it with a greenhouse which will be located about where the above photo is taken from.

After 10 years we have finally gotten the garden shed organized to our satisfaction.Tim put up two deep shelves along the empty wall to get all of the machinery up off the floor.  All of the weed whackers, chain saws and leaf blowers have a home along with all of their maintenance items and gas cans.

Behind the door, the string trimmer is mounted on the wall and so is its battery charger!

Now it won't scoot out of the corner without warning and the charger isn't taking up space on the counter..   The DeWalt battery operate tools are really nice.  Last year we got a Home Depot Father's Day special with a string trimmer and little leaf blower and we use them to trim and blow around the garden shed patios each time we mow.

The stick tools were always tidy, but you can see the deep shelves to the left.  The lower one doubles as a work surface because it is just the right height.

 I bought wire baskets for all of my killing stuff (on the left) and growing stuff (on the right).  It is amazing how much more room there is in the cupboard if you just contain things in a basket.  And instead of rummaging around and making a mess, just grab the basket you want and pull it out into the open where you can access what you're looking for.

Speaking of containing things and more room - the contents of these two containers was just laying on the bottom of the cabinet in a cascading pile, or crammed into my large tool box (which now contains only hand tools).  Lots more room.  The top portion of each container is a divided tray which holds smaller items like rolls of tape and snaps and eye bolts etc.  Tape measure, duct tape and WD-40 are items I reach for quite often.

The Broccoli and Cauliflower MUST be getting bigger.  Right?

Waiting is tough.

Lettuce babies are still pretty small.  I sort of abused these, barely hardened them off and just set them on a patio to fend for themselves but I think I only lost three.

I had a lot of seedlings left over still in the seed tray.  Last night I planted a triple row in the bed which will also have a row of cucumbers.  I don't plan on babying these.  They can thin themselves out.  Hence the triple row.  Survival of the fittest.

Second planting of peas from Easter Sunday is just breaking through.  The established row was planted four weeks before that.

There are mounds of daffodils everywhere but the primrose are looking especially nice this spring.  Still waiting on wood hyacinths.  If I don't put these wire cloches over the primrose both deer and rabbits consider them snacks.