Ah, rain.

Posted on May 27, 2015 by Daisy

The rain barrels are not set up yet, and I’m not stressing about it. This steady, ongoing rain is absolutely the right thing for my garden plot right now. It’ll soak the ground and soak it some more so that the soil will be moist and ready when I go to plant.

My seedlings are more than ready to make the move. They’re falling all over each other on the shelves outside the door. Tonight is only the second night I haven’t covered them with plastic; temperatures are finally warming up.

Chuck made a suggestion today that I might take seriously. I’ve been shoveling and carting soil left over from the garage project, aiming to fill the raised beds and then plant. He suggested I fill one or two sections and then plant those areas before I continue shoveling and carting. That has potential. I have two sections that are nearly ready if I follow his rationale. I need to work through a few possible objections first.

What if I misjudge the wheelbarrow and end up running over a precious tomato seedling or burying it? What if…oh, well, what if I somehow screw it up?

I’ll think about this approach. It just might work.

Gardening Tips I Found Elsewhere

Posted on May 26, 2015 by Daisy

subtitle: And my reaction.

Tip: The next time you boil or steam vegetables, don’t pour the water down the drain, use it to water potted patio plants, and you’ll be amazed at how the plants respond to the “vegetable soup.”

Daisy says: Down the drain? No way. The water left after steaming vegetables becomes part of a soup broth. The water leftover after washing dishes in the sink – now that can water the plants.

Tip: Water in the morning. This will give plants a chance to drink their fill before the sun and warm winds evaporate the moisture. With a morning watering, plant leaves will dry easily with no risk of getting mildewed overnight.

Daisy says: Well, maybe. I prefer watering in the evening. I put on mosquito repellent, hook my watering can under the spigot on a rain barrel, and water section by section at the root of the plants. Only the smallest of plants will get their leaves wet; that’s only a danger when using a sprinkler. With a sprinkler, a large portion of water will evaporate. What a waste!

Tip: “Farm to Table” is a trend that’s past its prime.

Daisy says: What?! Garden to table and farm to table and farm market to freezer are still popular. If the trend isn’t making headlines any more, maybe it’s no longer a trend. Maybe, just maybe, eating fresh and local foods is becoming a habit, not a fad.

Readers, expect more posts like these as I skim the newspaper and the interwebs for gardening ideas. If I find good advice, I’ll pass that on, too.

I Love a Parade – encore

Posted on May 22, 2015 by Daisy

From a few years ago – we go to the Memorial Day parade every year. This year, Amigo has a gig with the Barbershop Quartet Chorus. They’ll be singing all patriotic songs, of course, and he’s loving it.

Every year we start Memorial Day by throwing our lawn chairs in Amigo’s bike basket and hitting the road for half a block to stake our claim on a good place to watch the parade. Seriously, it’s half a block from our home. We watch from the front yard, and when the police are putting the traffic barriers up, we head over and park ourselves in the road under our favorite shade tree. Here’s Amigo and MIL cheering on the municipal city band. Chuck? He was relaxing.

Amigo didn’t look excited to see my alma mater march past. Well, at least he applauded.

I tried to get my neighbor’s son in this shot with his baritone – instead, it looks like part of the seventy-six trombone section from Music Man.

And then we went home. Home, to help out our “real live veteran in our front yard,” as Amigo put it. FIL didn’t want to struggle all the way down the street with his walker, so he settled under our mock cherry tree and read a book. We gave him a little flag next to his lawn chair so he could be part of the festivities.

Happy Memorial Day, everyone. May your family members in the services stay safe and return to you soon.

Attack of the Rhubarb

Posted on May 21, 2015 by Daisy

Or – the rhubarb that took over my kitchen

Or – the day the rhubarb swallowed the world

Or – oh, okay, you get the idea.

I brought up my big strainers with the idea that I’d fill one or both with rhubarb. Hahaha. What was I thinking?

Where’s my big white strainer?

I brought the crop inside, and I had to move things off the counter to make room for the huge quantity of the red fruity stalks. This was scary. The rhubarb monster almost covered the coffee pot!

Where’s the bread machine?

About 40 minutes and two trips to the compost bin later, I had won. I earned this!

I tamed the red menace.

Bwahahahahaha!

For my next task: cook it!

Could be worse.

Posted on May 19, 2015 by Daisy

I’m in a nasty standoff with a manipulative, um, client at work.
It’s windy enough and cold enough that my plants could die overnight.
I didn’t turn the bread machine on before we left to run errands, so I now have to stay up later than usual to get the pizza crust made for tomorrow night’s supper.

Ugh. Let’s see if I can turn this around.

The, ahem, client has just been forced to face reality. I’m just the unfortunate target.
We covered the seedlings with a clear plastic bag big enough to cover the shelves. I’m pretty sure it was the bag from the mattress we bought for the trundle bed. Why did we keep it? No matter, I’m glad we did.
We’re having homemade pizza tomorrow night!

How did that sound? Better? I thought so. Now I’ll grab a refreshing beverage and sit down with my laptop and read blogs until the bread machine beeps.

Could be worse. Could be raining!

Squirrels – the wild guerrilla gardeners

Posted on May 17, 2015 by Daisy

Dear Squirrel;

It’s not an even trade. I’m sure you meant well, leaving something behind for me when you nibbled on my garlic scapes, but it wasn’t enough. The little token you left in the basket isn’t edible. I can’t plant it. It’s not even picturesque, but I took a picture anyway.

Ahem.

So hear me now, loud and clear. You, small furry creature, I’m talking to you.

Get out of my garlic, punk.

Potential – encore

Posted on May 14, 2015 by Daisy

This area no longer exists. About two thirds of it is now garage (concrete slab, at the moment) and the rest is a huge pile of dirt, er, soil. I salvaged enough raspberry canes to start over, but there won’t be a lot of room. Fortunately, Chuck expanded the raised beds for me last year, and I’ve been playing around with container gardening on the deck and around the house. Enjoy the look back.

>A few weeks ago, my garden was just a deep brown color, waiting for seeds and seedlings. Now it has little hints of green here and there.

Peas and beans! The peas already look healthier than they did a year ago.

Cauliflower and (maybe) broccoli emerge, seeking sun and water.

But the bunny food section? I must get those maple tree seeds out of this area. It’s a lettuce bed, not a helicopter pad!

And While the Garage Project goes on

Posted on May 13, 2015 by Daisy

You saw the garage falling down with a little help from a big machine.

You saw the concrete slab waiting for more.

Before the concrete came in, our neighbors loaned us a metal detector. We didn’t find anything valuable, but we did find a few fun artifacts.

Let’s start with the little bottle. We think it might be an old medicine bottle. It’s thick glass, and it stands about two inches tall. It’s very cute. You also see *to the left and behind the bottle) part of a clay pipe. We’re not sure exactly why the pipe was there or what it did. Then there are two blocks of cement (from two different eras), and a few interesting rocks. That’s all.

Yellow Brick Road remains?

We found shards of yellow brick, mostly fragile (limestone or sandstone based?), but not enough to indicate an outbuilding or driveway made of the stuff.

That’s Chuck’s feet and my shadow, by the way.

All the scraps and shards ended up in my rock garden. Whoever told me the rock garden wouldn’t grow? they were wrong. It grows every year.

Another Project In Progress – the Garage

Posted on May 12, 2015 by Daisy

Here it is, or was, the day of the demo crew. They said it came down easily. We weren’t surprised.

Timber!!

That was the view from the kitchen during demolition. It was rather fascinating. The process is very methodical and planned.

garage slab

Now you can get an idea of how big the garage will be. I know we will love it (I keep telling myself) because of the additional space. But do you see what’s behind the garage-to-be?

Behind The Slab

The firewood isn’t mine. Don’t worry about that. It’s the Big Pile of Dirt. I knew we’d have soil left over. In fact, I planned on it. But whoa, baby, that’s a lot of topsoil that needs to be moved to my raised bed. It’ll get done. I just hope I can get it done before planting time.

A Project – Before

Posted on May 10, 2015 by Daisy

This is embarrassing. I took pictures of the “before” status and then…and then…I didn’t do anything to fix the problem. Not yet. I will! Hold me to it, folks. I will rearrange the shelves that hold my random containers.

This

Top Shelf

This is one of three shelves that holds containers in random sizes and shapes. It’s overflowing now because it’s spring! In August, these containers would be full and in the freezer. Right now, the freezers have empty space (I sense a defrost project in my future), but the cupboard in the basement is a mess.

Shelf in the middle

This one is so full I can’t put any more containers on it. I have a stack sitting on my planting table.

Lowest shelf

There must be a better home for these pieces. My food mill, an extra silverware holder, a few nice holiday plates…these don’t even belong together.

My goal: move what I can to better locations, find a bin or bucket for the oddest and smallest pieces, and then sort and stack those that work together. Eventually. I’ll get back to you, readers.

Compost Happens

Taking care of family, garden, and coffee and sharing it with the online world

Ah, rain.

Gardening Tips I Found Elsewhere

I Love a Parade – encore

Attack of the Rhubarb

Could be worse.

Squirrels – the wild guerrilla gardeners

Potential – encore

And While the Garage Project goes on

Another Project In Progress – the Garage

A Project – Before

Share and Enjoy !

Share and Enjoy !

Share and Enjoy !

Share and Enjoy !

Share and Enjoy !

Share and Enjoy !

Share and Enjoy !

Share and Enjoy !

Share and Enjoy !

Share and Enjoy !

Share

Copy short link