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.

Simplify, Simplify, Simplify

Last year I wrote a blog about Cutting Back and listed everything that I can grow which I no longer bother to grow.  Well, this year is the same theme.  Having already finished the epic dry creek bed project, we are moving on to refurbishing the two car garage and building a deck at our side entrance.

The garage with its old shake shingles and
house wrap hides in the background

The garage is about 70 years old, has been routinely ignored in favor of all our other renovation projects and is in need of a major face lift.  I always try to leave it out of garden and landscape photos, but sometimes it sneaks in. 

"Needs to be refurbished" - ya think?
What it needs is a whole new foundation

Our side entrance has been on hold for years and has been dug up a few times in the past few, first to replace the septic system and then just last year to run city water into the house.  It presently consists of a non-glamorous set of steps, deteriorating railroad ties, an expanse of bare gravel, and a stalwart Porcelain Vine which does a lot towards covering up the air conditioner and distracting from the general lack of landscape.

The side entrance last year mid-water project

This is the year we plan to remedy all that, so the garden has been tightened up again to be low(er) maintenance.  I cut out more than half a dozen planters which are very time consuming as they require almost daily watering.   I successfully (for the first time ever) restrained myself to 5 tomato plants and no eggplants.  And that's really about it. Still, it will be a lot less daily work.  Here is a list of what is in the garden this year:

Zucchini and Yellow Squash
Out in the open the plants have to be protected
with a wire cage until they are mature enough to
be prickly and not appetizing to deer and rabbits

• Lettuce (lots of lettuce)
• Strawberries
• Peas
• Potatoes (in containers)
• Zucchini (way too many)
• Cucumbers
• Tomatoes (only 5 plants)
• Bell Peppers (in containers)
• Bush Beans (still to come)
• Various Herbs

Tomatoes surrounded by Nasturtium to keep
soil from splashing up onto the tomato leaves.  

Cucumbers shading the third planting of lettuce

Bell peppers in large landscape pots.
The Gro Thru grid will support the plants when
they become taller and heavy with peppers.

Right now, the strawberries are in their prime.  I pulled many runners to open up the bed, and to keep the plants away from the sides which is what caused my Strawberry Problem of 2016 where all of the plants grew through the cage making it almost impossible to remove for picking.  I am picking a couple of quarts every other day and what does not get eaten fresh goes into the freezer for Strawberry Crisp .

Peas are about ready to pick.  There are enough for nibbling but not yet for two servings at dinner.  I think probably if I feel around in the potato pots, I will find enough new potatoes for supper.

tall Wando peas

Maestro peas almost ready to pick

Potatoes in tubs
To harvest, I just dump one tub.  And I never damage
one like you might when digging

In addition to refurbishing, we also have a lot of seasonal maintenance.  The garden shed has been washed down and the doors painted.  The doors are white fiberglass, and you would not believe how much dirt they collected just from rain and atmosphere.  Within a couple of months, they would be grey with grunge.  This bronze color which matches our outdoor furniture and deck boxes will hide a lot of that.

So that's what' going on in the garden.  The weather has been beautiful, pests have been minimal, and everything is growing by leaps and bounds.  Time to start on summer projects.

The Garden Shed

The Garden Shed / Chicken Coop is finished. Tim and I each have one part of the project left. His is the chicken fence, and mine is the window shades in the garden shed to keep it cooler in the summer.

So here is the Before when we moved it from the house next door (that we sold to Mike and Shelly):

And the After:

It has doubled in size, and Tim has finished the walkway and the deck so that we don't have mud splashing up on the siding, and we aren't tracking in all kinds of dirt. You can't imagine how much dirt sticks to dewy work boots. Because of the electric lines being dug in, there has been a nice patch of dirt right in front of the door for months.

See the apple tree in the tube in the foreground? That is one of the scions I sent down to Horse Creek back in the spring of 2009. It is growing by leaps and bounds and we had to add to the tube to keep the deer from trimming it. The second one is in the foreground of the picture below and is growing, but not as vigorously.

The gravel right behind the shed will be part of the chicken run, and the mulched area is my "perennial foods" garden where I relocated my strawberries, rhubarb and horseradish. Next spring I will add a row of asparagus. I decided to leave my first asparagus bed where it was to see if it can't make a go of it since it seems to be improving now in year 3. The Rhubarb has more than quadrupled in size since transplanting, and the Horseradish has come back to life.

Tim went above and beyond the call of duty inside the shed. We chose maple cabinets from the discount outlet and bought a small refrigerator which is great for storing "excess produce". Aside from a few cucumbers, it mostly holds beer, wine and mixers. It does make it nicer to grab a refreshment when working or socialising outdoors, and cuts down on the foot traffic in and out of the house.

Tim removed the center of the face frame and reattached it to the right hand door so the base cabinets open all the way making it easier to tuck all my larger items away.

The long handled tools are hung on the opposite wall, and the third wall has commercial shelving for storage of tomato ladders, window boxes and other plant supports.

I have a few neat garden collectables to display in here, but we haven't gotten around to cutseying it up yet.

Electrical

Yesterday my husband dug the electrical line from the house to the garden shed. Can you tell? Neither could I. Here's a hint.

Winter ~ Dreaming of Gardening

With seed starting still almost a month away, I have finally allowed myself to think about gardening.... just for a minute. I went through my old seed packets, cleaned house, consulted my garden layout, and made a list of things to order. Next I sourced some of my favorite hard to find items such as White Pearl Cucumbers, and Ichiban Eggplants. Thank you Google! Next week I will begin ordering.

In the meantime, my husband and I have had gardening in the back of our minds. I am looking forward to putting in raised beds. My husband, prone to flights of fancy, has (as usual) deviated from "things important to me", and created his own project. He has been watching too much Living With Ed and has decided my garden should be completely off the grid. He has obtained a free 500 gallon tank, and has scrubbed it to within an inch of it's life, and is now planning to bury it next to the garden shed and route all the downspouts into it to collect water for watering the garden. He was also planning to put in a solar panel and batteries, so he doesn't have to dig an electric line out there. Thankfully, it was cost prohibitive. Estimated to be around $2000, and since I'm in the garden shed after dark, well, NEVER, that ought to have paid itself off in about 40 years. I will probably regret this when we get chickens again, and want the heat and lights on timers to increase egg production, but for right now, I'm glad he has given up the solar idea. Now if I can only get him out of the garage and focused on actually building the raised beds.....

Potting Benches

I have been wanting a potting bench for a very very long time. I always end up potting something, divided perennials, rescued perennials, stuff that won't fit in my garden... and I always do it on the ground, bent over or on my knees, trying to keep spillage to a minimum. At least this year I used my collection of galvanised washtubs to dump the bags of potting mix in. This was a huge help. I put the pots in the wheel barrow, put my vintage grain sifter on the top of the pot, and filled with large scoops of soil. The grain sifter is great if you get a bag that has a high percentage of bark and you are trying to fill small pots, or when mixing in some half used dirt. Now, finally, I have a good place to put a bench, months of winter ahead, and a properly motivated husband. The possibilities are endless! With Tim's exacting attention to detail, I may even end up with something resembling fine cabinetry.

I've collected pictures from magazines and catalogs, and flipped through pages and pages of web images. Of course, I'd be quite happy with a simple greenhouse bench at the proper height.

But the decorator in me wants something "cute" that I can accessorise.

I would be happy to buy one premade, but when I showed my husband the costs of the benches and additional shipping, he volunteered to help me out. Which means, I am in the enviable position of being to combine the best features into just the right bench for me.

For starters, we have a heavy old maple top to a shop bench to work with. My husband is convinced I need a hole cut to sweep dirt back down into a container, and I agree.

Probably with some sort of grid over it so I don't lose counterspace.

I think I need one shelf below not only to hold the dirt container, but to keep things up off the floor so I can sweep under. I like the dirt stopper on this bench and think we need to have at least a 4-6 inch curb not only across the back but also wrapping around the back corners.

I also need at least one shelf above and I really like the cubby idea. I think we are going to center the bench on a window, so we would have to modify this to have a row of cubbies on each side.

In browsing for ideas, I've found some great gardening blogs and sites. Here are a few of the most notable...

A cute do-it-yourself bench

Vegetable Gardener.com

This guy even hooked running water up to his....

Un-Gardening

All the perennials have been cut and the mulch is raked clean and piled around tender roots leaving a clean slate for next spring.


The garden shed add on is complete, and we will spend the winter on details such as a potting bench and hanging some of my garden collectibles where I can enjoy them. Next year we will put a "deck" from the door on the left around the front and landscape around it. I also have plans for a cold frame on the south wall.

My pots, planters and seedling flats have been scrubbed with bleach water and stacked away.


The fencing and grow through grids and seasonal yard decorations have found a home in the "outhouse" which used to house my gardening equipment. This building was free and sports our old bathroom door. My husband once started to shingle it, but decided it didn't improve it's looks any. It has been moved 4 times since we got it, and is now stuck back in the woods where we can't see it. If there is enough scrap left over after we side the garage next year it might get a refinish. It is a nice out of the way place to store things we don't need often because it is just small enough to be a real hassle to get in and out of. Which is why it failed as a garden shed. If there's no room to step up in, you have a tendency to set things just inside the door. Yes, that is one clutter trap I will not miss!

Garden Shed and YTD Report

Looky Looky what I've got! This is the addition to my chicken coop. It's 8x12 with 2 windows and a 9 lite door. This will replace the sorry hand-me-down "outhouse" that I have piled my garden equipment in for the past 5 years. Hooray! My husband keeps his yard tools in the coop, so those will be moved to the garden shed part, leaving the chicken coop for strictly chickens and chicken supplies.

This is the view from the front of the coop. Those double doors will probably be replaced with an insulated 9 lite door, since the coop is insulated, and those doors are saggy and heavy (yet quaint). The door to the garden shed will be to the left behind where I now have my pots of tomatoes and eggplants.

I think we'll replace the horizontal window in the coop with a regular double hung to match the garden shed.

This is the back view of the "chicken porch" where the chicken run will be. My chickens used to sit along the rail on their little porch. There were always more chickens wanting to be on the rail than there was room. One would fall off one end, then run back around to the other, bumping the next hen off, and so on and so forth.

I haven't blogged much this growing season, because... well, not much has happened. The artichokes were a success, and fascinating as a perennial, and I have some started for next year.

I made a pesto dip for the artichokes. I didn't like it much. I preferred it as still life.

This was my best year for onions ever! These are Walla Wall, a gift from my neighbor, which were planted at Mom's house. Thanks Mom! And some elephant garlic which was also a gift from a friend and lived in a whiskey barrel in the perennial bed. They were a disappointment, but still much better than my last attempt. I don't use much anyway, so this will be replanted.

Sweet Pickle Pepper plant that I grew strictly as an ornamental... doing it's job.

This was a banner year for eggplants. Last year I got 2 off of four plants. This year each plant has upwards of 6 each. They're so pretty. These are Prosperosa. I'm still sad my Round Mauves didn't germinate. Next year I will buy fresh seed. I got a lot of tomatoes, but the plants look so ratty, I haven't taken photos. I will take some pictures of the actual tomatoes (although that delays the actual eating of them, and I still haven't had my fill!)

It was also an excellent year for blackberries. I've had so many, I've even decided to share a few. Look at his little left hand reaching up!