Another Busy Day

Today was another busy day spent working in the garden. Jeff dismantled the frame for the greenhouse and re-assembled the pieces to use as trellis for the raised beds(l) and in the gutter garden. A little garden net and some encouragement and the boxes were set. I know they look like soccer nets but soon they will be supporting beans...like these black beans that Jeff sprouted by wrapping a handful of dry beans in a wet paper towel and storing it in a ziplock bag for a couple of days. He just transferred them to a bed of potting soil in a covered plastic container. When they root and form leaves they will be planted in the the 4th corner box in the garden.

I got some more lawn mowed and Jeff re-seeded what had been an ill-placed flower bed that was more bother and it was worth. The daffodil bulbs were easy to dig up but the ferns and day lilies were another story and took me several days to get all of them dug up and moved. We put up the 2 hummingbird feeders and I hung a pot of red petunias in the pine tree. Hope that enough to encourage the hummingbirds to visit. There's a pot of Wave Petunias for the gutter garden, too. Neither of us liked the dead pine branches that hung over the fire pit so today I got my hack saw intending to do a little pruning but Jeff took the hint and did the job with the saws-all. Much easier for me coz I would have had to get the ladder and he didn't need it! Now it's much sunnier sitting there during the day. It was always a nice spot to sit and knit but now it's even better. I proved it by working on a sock for a friend's wife this afternoon during my 'breaks'.

I'm beginning to think we have a zoo what with the snakes, chipmunks and now this turtle. Couldn't tell if it was a small snapper and didn't want to get close enough to find out. He moves pretty fast, too! Saw him in the driveway when we came in and by the time we parked the car and walked back to him, he had made it into the field across from the house.

A Busy Day

We kept very busy today...Jeff mixed soil to fill the 3rd corner box in the garden and to 'hill' the potato tubs in the gutter system. We got some herb plants at Lowe's yesterday for the corner box and after Jeff filled the box I transplanted them. Here they are waiting for me.(l) Later he gave them and some seedlings he transplanted in the square foot rows ...and the entire garden...some compost 'tea' to help them get established. While he was mixing the soil (top soil, peat moss, vermiculite, cow manure and compost) I tried to mow the lawn around the gutter garden but the support poles of the greenhouse were in my way so after sitting in the sun for awhile...and actually napping for a few minutes...I moved some bee balm to the new perennial bed right behind where we sit and worked on the fire pit making it bigger, then lining it with rocks and edging it with old patio blocks that use to make up a raised bed that didn't quite work.

Jeff found that old grate that just spans the pit. He figures if he can find a camp coffee pot he can make coffee right there! That's his hat sitting in for the coffeepot. (r) After supper I cut more of the lawn while Jeff cut up some of last year's garden poles to try out in the new fire pit. Works pretty good, too, (below) except for a couple of POPS from either a rock exploding or a sap pocket in the

wood (remember those garden poles were mostly saplings Jeff cut down). There is room for 4-6 chairs around the fire...

kind of close to the garden....you can see one of the flower clusters at the end of a row in the photo with the hat...but last year I kept making jokes about how much we enjoyed sitting there watching the garden grow. Hope we can say the same thing this year! Join us some time and see for yourself what I'm talking about.

Keeping Busy

I've been trying to do a little bit of everything lately...getting almost nothing done! My order from Webs of red, white and navy sock yarn (a washable wool/nylon blend) arrived Wednesday and I tore open the package before getting out of the car...actually while I was driving...very slowly...up the driveway. It's better than I had hoped!! I left in on the rocking chair in the tv room so I can see it from the kitchen and touch it when I went into room to watch tv. And that's about all I've done with it so far. The only not-so-nice-coz-it's-not-a-bad-thing about the yarn is that it's in hanks(not skeins) and will have to be balled. Oh, well, not such a bad thing, really. Just need the time to do it!

Three of the garden rows have flowering annuals planted in a circle of rocks at each end. It's suppose to encourage pollinators...ie bees...but that fat bumblebee still prefers the clover. I want to finish the ends of all the rows tonight or tomorrow but I've got to get some more plants.

I'm using our abundant crop of rocks to finish off the plantings. Every time Jeff tills he's dug up more rocks! There are a couple that are the size/shape of cannon balls!! While I got to plant pretty flowers, Jeff was busy turning the compost and meeting the 3 snakes that were living there...uninvited! Two of them just slithered away when he disturbed them but the 3rd one had a small problem...he/it had become very well acquainted with the working end of the pitchfork. He had to step on it to hold it down to pull out the pitchfork and it repaid his kindness by striking at his shoe. Telling of his adventure at supper gave Jeff the opportunity to express his dislike for the Crocs I like to wear. But since I'm not planning to turn compost...or step on a stuck snake...any time soon it won't cause me to throw out any of my pairs.

Jeff went to his sister's yesterday to build her a gutter garden and I went up after supper to pick him up...and stopped at the Tractor Supply to get a lawn glider/chair that was on sale. Of course it wouldn't fit in my car...it was the floor model ...so the manager offered to take it apart. When we tried to load it in the car again, I noticed one of the wooden back slats was broken. Got my money back. She checked on line and called several other stores to see if anyone had another one in stock but no luck so I saved $150. Hopefully I'll find something in one of the end of season sales that should be starting soon. Darn!! I was looking forward to sitting and gliding by the fire this weekend watching the garden grow.

How The Garden Grows..., er, Is Planted!

Gutter Garden Uncovered!

I think Jeff has been staying up late nights planning this year's garden. Going with the square foot concept we picked up those discarded booth bases from Applebee's dumpster and adapted them for the corners. Once the grid was installed in them, Jeff got busy filling and planting the two in the lower or driveway corners. He's got catnip in both top squares and a variety of veggies in the other levels. Over the weekend he tilled the main part of the garden and measured off a double square foot row. It took 2 days...and most of the seedlings in my tv room but it's planted...with tomatoes, peppers, beets, onions and carrots. More than I thought would possibly fit but the concept is why plant an entire 'farm' row when you're going to thin it to...whatever? Just plant the seedlings or seed that distance apart to start with. It looks very organized especially with the groups changing every foot down the row. There's room for 2 more double square rows for whatever and a farm row for potatoes. Jeff took the plastic off the peas and romaine and is planning on putting corn on both sides to finish the row. Peppers,

tomatoes and eggplant are in square foot groups between the boxes across the driveway side.other. We have 2 'spaceship landing crafts'...oops, I mean, pvc bean towers for climbing beans, cukes, squash and melons. They will be covered with garden netting and hopefully covered with green vines and fruit. The blackberries and raspberries got planted yesterday in their pvc cages. Got to get some net to cover them so the birds don't feast on the fruit before I get to pick some... like last year. The greenhouse over the gutter garden was on borrowed time and was taken down yesterday. It did it's job starting the season a couple of weeks early.

Potato Tubs #2 & #1 (l-r)

Everything is growing nicely in the gutters. I still like the idea of the self-watering gutter system! The potatoes in tub #1 need to be 'hilled' again. We're not sure the tubs will be deep enough to make it thru the season! Maybe we'll use plastic garbage pails next year. Jeff started a tub

of 'compost tea' Sunday to give the transplants a boost. We've used up just about all of the compost that formed this winter mixing it with bagged soil and peat moss to fill the boxes in the garden and

Strawberry planter

the pails in the gutters. I'm planning on putting flowers at each end of the double rows, along the driveway sides of the boxes and near the gutters to encourage bees. This weekend we shared our shady spot with one big, fat yellow & black bumblebee who was feasting in the clover but we all ignored each other and lived to tell about it. Jeff wanted me to start putting in the flowers yesterday but things have started to sell in the shop and I didn't want to stop knitting to play in the dirt. I want to finish a sweater and some baseball hats to get in there for this weekend. It's been raining gently off and on since I got home from work and Jeff worked outside before and after supper trying to get things planted. Instead of sitting and knitting I was the gofer bring out the seedlings. I've got 2 hats done in white worsted weight cotton ready for the embroidery to make them look like baseballs and after we came in tonight I finished the 2nd sleeve on a size 9months v-neck raglan from the neckdown sweater. With a little luck the rest of the sweater will be done tomorrow. Since it's in acrylic I'll have to do a hat to go with it. It may mean a fast trip to Cooperstown...maybe Saturday morning. We'll see.

POTATOES!

Jeff decided to check the potatoes in the gutter garden in the greenhouse today and this photo(center) shows just sprouted seedling in tub #2. The seedlings in tub #1(left) are about 2 weeks old and seem to be doing very good. In fact, they need to be 'hilled' so he mixed up some soil and added it to the pots, burying most of the seedlings. (rt). He plans on checking the tubs every week and adding soil as the plants grow. If the tub system works when it's time to harvest the potatoes he'll just dump the tubs into the garden and collect the potatoes. Last year we learned that no matter how careful you are digging potatoes, some get nicked or cut by the shovel. Hopefully, this way we'll avoid bruised potatoes!

Tuesday after work I met Jeff and his sister in Utica to pick up her new lawnmower (wouldn't fit in the trunk of her car) and after leaving them at her house went over to JoAnn Fabrics by myself (ahaa!). I had a partial skein of red Bamboo & Ewe sock yarn and hoped I could get some in solid navy and white to make baby socks to go with the baseball hats that sell so well in the shop. No luck with the yarn and I ended up driving home in rush-hour traffic in a terrible rainstorm. I checked the yarn catalogs I had but couldn't find any that I really liked but I ended up ordering some red, white and navy superwool from Webs in Massachusetts. I hope I like what I get coz I ordered 2 skeins each of the red & navy and 1 of the white and when you're making baby socks on size US 0's that should last me a couple of seasons!!

True!!!

MAKING DO

Jeff had planned on taking apart some wooden pallets to make multi-tiered corner units for the garden but as we were driving from Walmart to Agway past Applebee's after work on May 1st

he noticed that Applebee's had pulled out their booths and had them stacked between the sidewalk and the curb next to the dumpster. We turned around and went back to check them out and after consideration he thought he could make them work as the corner units. A quick dash to Jeff's for some hand tools...and then to my house for the power tools...and he took 5 of the booths apart so they would fit on/in my car. It took 2 trips to get the app 4x4', 12" deep 3/4" plywood boxes home. Boy, now that was when we wished we had a

pick-up truck...or that some of the people we know who do drive trucks would go

by Applebee's while he was working on them...but, of course, none did! After more work at home, he ended up with 4 3-tier boxes each app 4x4', 2x2' and 1x1, and 2 4x4' boxes all 6" deep. He spent another afternoon placing them, leveling and squaring them. The bases are covered with green vinyl and the other tiers with black carpet (they came that way!). Yesterday he started filling them with a soil-peat moss-manure mix and hopefully we'll be planting in them next week. It will make the garden look different!

Yesterday Jeff transplanted the ground cheeries into the last 2 buckets for the gutter garden in the greenhouse. The celery looks great...and the potatoes in the big

tubs have sprouted. The best part about the gutter garden...to me at least...is that it's self-watering!

In the meantime, I've been knitting baby hats in sugar & cream cotton. Got 3 finished with a sunbrim in 3 nights! Next will be a baseball hat or 2 and then a rolled brim hat with a knit flower sewed on the side. As usual there's a zip baggie in my pocketbook with a sock in progress!