raised beds & lil' asparagi

Last year I bought some asparagus... and now this little lone baby spear popped up. If that's the only one that grows, I can't imagine eating it... there will have to be some sort of sacrificial ceremony involved.



I like seeing who else is sprouting... or blooming.



The big news is:

This weekend I constructed my last two raised garden beds...



The wood is cedar. Contents include: soil, lime, peatmoss, "homemade" compost, etc. Still need to prep a little, start seedlings, and then it's on. I'm really hoping I can have some eggplant-related success.



I finally found a use for these old sun and moon metal pieces (hose guides on the corners)...

Garden Makeover - Part 1

So, finally after much hemming and hawing and investigating and considering, I decided to go ahead and try to make raised garden beds.

That's instead of 1) keeping the unruly garden as is. and 2) purchasing the beds or a kit.

Supposedly cedar will last 5+ years, and it seems it's the most common material besides composite. I couldn't find anything affordable in terms 2-inch width planks, so I went ahead with 1-inch wide.

I got two 12-ft boards and had one cut in half and the other cut in 4ths. (Thanks to my brother for giving me the wood, already cut, for my birthday). So the beds will be 3 ft by 6. I've only made one so far, but now that the garden makeover has started, I really want to go ahead and do more. I'm thinking three would be good.



I sort of followed some directions I found online, and more or less just built a wooden frame. I used wood screws, some (pine?) wood blocks for reinforcement. Tools included the power drill. Oh yeah, and the level. I'm so prone to do things haphazardly but I figured it's better to start it out level than deal with a slope down the road.




I bought 2 bags of 3-cu ft of garden soil and 2 bags of 40 lb top soil and a big cube of sphagnum moss (which was not at all the texture I expected). I also lined the bed with newspaper and included some compost and other additives. I have a general idea of the cost of the materials for all this... and it's not cheap... though certainly less expensive than purchasing the beds ready made. I had been putting this off for a while now, so I figured I'd just go with it.

This was all very labor intensive so I'm very achy now, but still want to do more ASAP.

The other thing about the garden makeover is the idea to do twice as well, with half as much. That should be my general life goal... maybe? At any rate, I "disassembled" an entire half of the garden, took away the landscaping timbers, weeded, gathered up what mulch was left. I transplanted a bunch of carrots out of the retired garden area and into the mostly full-of soil-and goodies raised bed. I hope they'll do OK. We shall see.

And then I planted grass seed in that space. For some reason planting grass seems like some overly important deal to me. I'm not sure why. But I'm hoping it grows! I didn't have any hay to put on top... but I followed the directions on the bag, used lawn fertilizer and watered it.

I'm looking forward to the garden being smaller, more manageable, more attractive and hopefully the raised beds will make watering easier and more efficient (that's supposed to be one of their advantages).

Now I'm thinking I should have taken a "before" photo to show off the "after" when this makeover is complete. Let me just say the garden had really gone wrong in so many ways, this has to be a vast improvement.

Just Flowers

The poppies are already gone.


Lilies of the Valley (and Lilacs) always remind me of my grandmother.



Johnny Jump Up



I think this is Dianthus.



Coral Bells?

Our spring weekend

garlic stalk!

This weekend I ventured out to check on the garden, did some tidying up (=2 garbage bags of leaves). The garlic I planted in the fall is well on its way... supposedly it will be ready in June.



Daffodils are out of course, and there are plenty of hidden things under the leaves, getting ready to sprout up.



I found a dead black bird and buried it.



Patches was enjoying the fresh air with the window open.

Despite my previous decision not to bother this time (based on the last two years of failures) I again have over purchased seed packs and started some things indoors. This year I'm trying some seeds planted in egg cartons. We'll see how the seedlings fare. I'll try to do some photographic documentation as well.

* * *

In non-gardeny news, I went out today and did some embroidery while lounging out of doors. Nearly finished Jack and the Beanstalk. I'd really like to get this to be a habit long enough to finish the "project."

The time and weather are throwing me for a loop. I'm trying to use it to my advantage to get some stuff done. Did some cleaning: mopped the floor, vacuumed, organized a little, put some things up for sale, added to some goodwill bags, made split pea soup.

Outside, lately

swallowtail caterpillar on carrot tops

these finally bloomed...

someone can tell me what they are, perhaps.

morningglory

(chrysanthe)mum

forget-me-nots

forget-me-nots with ant

I'm Not Outside Enough

The other day I spent a while doing various "chores" outside, mainly digging to make holes for some potted plants. Oh, I still need to mow the lawn, I just remembered.
Anyway, I've often lamented to myself after forgetting to write down or otherwise remember what I've planted where. With vegetables, it's kind of ridiculous not to know, but with flowers, it's almost fun. For example, I can't recall what the above plant is going to be, but I can see it's getting ready to bloom so it's exciting to wait and see. When I looked closely I saw that little bug on there just hanging out.

Goodbye Cilantro, Hello Coriander... (plus custom flipcats)

I'm not sure when and how I learned that cilantro and coriander are the same thing... well, from the same plant anyway. So all the green cilantro dried up and I attempted to harvest the seeds. I think it's pretty straightforward, I got them off the stems and sorted and washed them. I tried some crushed with mortar and pestle and mixed in with rice and they were quite nice.



In other news, I completed two custom flip cats for an etsy customer.
Patches said she doesn't mind. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and all.



I have some other post topics at the ready, so stay tuned.

Potatoes, the popularity of buttermilk, and pig collecting

So, what's been going on? (You ask.) (I ask.)

I've been very very busy and tired and tired of being busy. My previous attempt to make a "holiday"-themed product did better than I expected with the addition of Father Daughter Robot Flip Book . I think I sold 12 copies of it since my last posting, almost too much to keep up with on top of my other assembly duties. Production in general has been held up due to an series of setbacks and inconveniences.

My car was rear-ended a few weeks ago. And that has slowed down production, not to mention turning me into a car-shopping/insurance-cringing/pill-popping/wheel-screeching mess. My car is "totalled" although it is still currently driveable, I'm trying to find an alternative. It takes too much time. And there's too much to find out about cars that I don't know or don't want to know or don't know I need or want or don't want to know. Sorry, this is my current thought process of chaos and being overwhelmed by everything.

So last Friday I took a field trip to see a vehicle out of town. All did not go as hoped, but I won't tell the sad story here - suffice it to say we turned toward home still in the duct-taped-together auto.



Luckily we happened across Allman's Bar-B-Q in Fredericksburg and they were kind enough to let us in just before the lunch rush, as well as let me photograph some of the pig collection. Mr. Pork Chop would be proud.



And I'd like to say something witty about the popularity and price of buttermilk these days, but I really don't know what that might be.

In other news, I dug up some russet potatoes, which surprised me with their varied sizes:





And, there's other things.

I'm trying to make lookability.com, but right now it's just a booby trap leading you in circles back and forth from hither and yon. I have nearly everything that exists about web design to learn and then forget and then learn again and then learn it's obsolete once I've finally memorized it... but I'm hoping I can get something going there, if only for practice.

So, more later.

Being bad at the thrift store, plus begonia, butterfly bush and upcoming catnip franchise

I was bad. I totally broke the rules again. Oh well.



Today I got this big box of sewing stuffs at the thrift store. I feel a little odd splaying its contents all over the place, because I wonder what happened to the original owner... but then I think if for some reason that owner can no longer use sewing supplies, I'm sure she'd want someone to have them and be using them. There was also some papers outlining a sewing class, so maybe this box is the sewing class treasure chest.

I kept going back and rifling through this box trying to convince myself not to buy it. But there was so much crammed in there, I had to buy it.



This includes all sorts of ribbons, elastic, needles, fasteners, tracing papers,and so on and so forth.



Some of the more interesting things are: some kind of handmade double measuring tape contraption attached to a wooden spool with a string coming out the end; a blue thimble from Warrensburg, Mo.; a velvety and lacy brown ribbon; a Sears "gift to you from Kenmore" sewing kit; and a strange plastic squeezy bottle of some liquid substance (what is it!?).

So, I will have to use these products to justify the continued stock piling of craft supplies. I need to make some stuff, or else I really have to stop buying supplies.

* * *

Prior to my thrift store follies, I visited the farmer's market for the first time this year. I got some delicious citrus soy candles from Pure Light Candle Co., coffee, my favorite baked good by the No Wonder bread man, a begonia plant, sage and thyme, a butterfly bush AND a hanging basket of catnip. The hanging basket of catnip is going to be a hit, I'm sure of it. Patches and her suitor who was waiting outside the door already partook this evening. It's a pretty hefty catnip plant, so I'm hoping I can harvest the catnip and expand my cat related products to include sensory delights.

snake charmer and other backyard sideshows

Or perhaps, Snake C(harmer)



Today's episode of Fun with Neighborhood Cats featured thrilling hunt by feline vs. reptile. The snake charmer photo above reminds me of those cute photos you see of things like a hippo hanging out with a turtle, or a mouse playing with a parakeet, or a baby alligator swimming with a baby manatee. So I'm going to pretend this photo is all about peace and love of a sweet cat and a mild mannered snake, and maybe it really is after all, even if one of them had to play dead. (I'm pretty sure this snake was injured or just extremely stressed out. But later I moved him and I think he managed to get away, because he wasn't in the same place when I checked back).

In less charming back yard undertakings, I had a container for collecting grubs and another for worms. The grubs are for the birds (and to get them out of the garden), and the worms go back in after weeding and such.



So far in the garden, the peas are doing the best.

Unfortunately, once again I convinced myself after planting a row of something and leaving it unmarked that "Oh, I'll remember what I planted there." And now I can't remember.

For example:



The choices are: arugula, mesclun, lettuce, swiss chard, and something else I forgot. I think it's arugula. Someday I'll be the kind of wise person who can recognize plants (even seedlings) by sight.

Other things I planted and did not mark were: turnips, rhutabaga, kohlrabi. I know where these all are, I just don't know which row is which.

The things I marked include: carrots, spinach, radish (2-3 kinds), maybe something else I forgot.



And this was exciting: for the first time since whenever I planted it, this fruit tree is blooming. My memory must be shot, because not only do I not remember how long it's been there, I also don't know for 100% sure what it is... but I think it's pear. Maybe it will someday have pears?

Stay tuned for: non-edible strawberries.

cats who have pouches

No, this is not a rude comment about Patches' weight. Nor is it about the discovery of the amazing marsupial feline (that would be great).

It's about the newest gear in flip cat product line.

It's a zippy pouch made of "meow" cat fabric.



Which also can be used as a boat.




I found my directions for making lined zippy pouches. But it's still very time consuming. Plus, I don't have a zipper foot for the sewing machine. And if I did I don't know how to use one anyway. I keep planning to make a lot of zippy pouches of various sorts, but I can't seem to find the time. I need to operate in assembly line mode if I want to get more than one done in one sitting.

The background fabric is a bedspread I got at Urban Outfitters. I really love that fabric. It has turtles, snails, birds, leopards, deer and other stuff on it. Animal fabric is great, but I'd probably feel silly if I try to wear something made out of it.

photo hosting by flickr