HULA CAT

I knew if I ever stopped at Turner's nursery, it would be expensive.

2008-05-15T11:18:45Z

And I was not wrong, but my heuchera (coral bells) collection is off to a good start. I also have enough perennials for the hummingbird garden now.

Yesterday's accomplishments:

Picked up Mom's computer from Sean at work.
Stopped by Home Depot, but they no longer had the liatris (gayfeather) bulbs-much internal weeping... Picked up some potting soil, pots, a couple of carpenter's pencils and a couple of plants instead.
Swung by Target and picked up a shirt and pants on the cheap.
Went to Turner's Nursery for the first time. Picked up another potted Liatris, three everbearing strawberries, three heuchera and a delphinium.
Started cleaning and re-arranging the garage for the chest freezer delivery today. I got the 1-5 slot, so I have time to finish up this morning.
Read four Loveless manga and two Fruits Basket manga. I was supposed to work in the kitchen...

But I am on vacation, after all. ;)

Moving stones and pavers wears you out...

2008-05-14T10:56:39Z

Yesterday's accomplishments in the garden:

Scrounged through the garage and found enough wood for one more raised bed. (Time to start taking the deck apart...)
Filled the three new beds by the fence half-way with half-rotted compost.
Put old magazines and catalogs down between the fence beds and topped them with pine mulch and three pavers for easy side access.
Weeded the border of the fence bed.
Lined the fence bed with rocks and bricks and pine mulch.
Topped off the fence bed closest to the lilac with potting soil and filled it with Little Marvel peas.
Put two bags of topsoil and the remains of a potting soil bag in the fence bed closest to the house. (It still needs more...)
Mulched the blueberry tank with a layer of oak leaves and a layer of pine mulch.
Weeded a quarter of the border of the white pine bed. (Crabgrass is a bitch!)
Unloaded the Home Depot haul: 12 new pavers (to match the old ones), three pages of compost and four bags of garden soil.
Picked up more bamboo stakes, a new hummingbird feeder and five bads of potting soil from the hardware store.
Picked up a Liatris spicata (gayfeather), delphinum, and a Purple Palace heuchera from the nursery.
Unloaded the five bags of potting soil.
Moved the potted plants temporarily to the middle fence bed and path for easy watering.
Weeded the deck border.
Top off the ComposTumbler with weeding refuse for my first full load.

Why do I feel like I got nothing done?...

I'm still public enemy number one...

2008-05-13T10:15:00Z

...but Ling is running around like a maniac! I think she has three or four teeth left and she was pretty lethargic yesterday evening, but this morning she seems like a kitten again.

I won't be needing to use the pain pills, but catching her to give her antibiotics is going to be fun. I told Sean he has to catch her since she's still running from me.

Errands day/Sunday gardening

2008-05-12T11:56:07Z

Ling goes to the kitty dentist at 10 this morning. She has at least one abscess and they're going to take x-rays to make sure they take care of all her dental needs in one shot. I'll be stressed until she wakes up. A teeth cleaning is what started Touper's decline. Although Ling is much younger (10) than Touper was (19).

I'm going to swing by Home Depot on the way back. It's time to buy a chest freezer for the garage. Thanks to meat gifts from family members, our refrigerator freezer is nearly useless and there will be garden produce coming. I thought it would be good to have it delivered while I'm on vacation.

I also need to pick up more garden soil and possibly some more bricks or pavers. We'll see.

Sunday was mostly rained out (and I was exhausted from 8 hours of gardening on Saturday), but I managed to fill the raspberry pot holes, level-ish the old berry patch, lay newspaper, and set three of the four beds I built on Saturday. Tomorrow looks to be another all day garden-a-thon and I haven't given up hope for later today. In the meantime? Catching up on housework and paying bills.

Ah, I take glamorous vacations. :)

Climbing the pea fence. YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG!

2008-05-11T09:55:45Z

Climbing the pea fence. YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG!
Originally uploaded by sfpro_studio.

Saturday's accomplishments:

Photos of yard & garden taken & uploaded
2 kinds of beets planted
2 kinds of radishes planted
5 kinds of lettuces planted
spinach planted
carrots planted
turnips planted
4 raised beds assembled

I'm a little bit sore, but that's probably from the drilling, screwing, and sawing on the beds. I've used up all of the dock wood save for three planks.

In the beginning

2008-05-10T10:20:17Z

In the beginning
Originally uploaded by sfpro_studio.

First full day of vacation. I intend to spend it gardening.

10 hours in the garden this weekend.

2008-04-28T10:28:42Z

Done:

I pruned the raspberries and topped off their pots with fresh composte.
I topped off two chives pots with fresh compost.
I moved the Jacob's ladder and another chives clump from the dismantled 3 x 6' bed to pots.
I moved an iris and a hyssop and replanted the pansies in a stone ring.
I finished digging out the last 3 x 6' black raised bed, newspapered the bottom and refilled it.
I dug up the red onions, shallots and garlic and planted them again in the 3 x 3' raised bed I'd just made.
I dug out the 3 x 3' double-decker raised bed, set the top layer next to the allium bed, newspapered the bottom and refilled it.
I found the salamander again and replanted him in the allium bed. (This time he looked more vexed than surprised...)
I fixed my leaky hose with a new sprayer.
I made four, 2 x 6' raised beds out of a section of dock Dad took apart for me.
I assembled the beds into two, back-friendly new raised beds.
I set the new raised beds in the yard and got the first one newspapered.
I screwed together left-over dock slats into two 2 x 2 raised beds.
I weeded the peas.
I pruned and weeded the blueberries.
I sprayed all the plants the deer tend to munch on with repellent.

I'm still behind, I'm a little more caught up than I was last Friday. ;)

Things leafing out:

Raspberries
Blackberries
Blueberries
Agastache
Flax
Gloriosa daisies
Yarrow
Oregano
Coral bells
Penstemon
Campanula
Euphorbia
Sedum
Monk's hood
Geraniums
Ornamental acer
Magnolia
Spirea
Tulips
Monarda
Phlox

Blooming:

Pansies
Violets
Hyacinth
Hosta
Magnolia

Two tomatoes are in the ground!

2008-04-25T10:01:44Z

Just in time for next week's cold snap! ha ha. They're well protected with walls of water. I put a Jerry's German Giant and a Green Zebra in the first raised bed. I still have a few perennials to clear out of it. I think I'll put my spring greens in the rest of the bed. I have all my spring planting to do yet, save for the peas.

With Sean's help, the bed by the fence is now clear. We also did some general yard clean up Wednesday evening. Hopefully I can get caught up over the weekend.

This time last year I was still taking physical therapy.

2008-04-24T00:49:50Z

Today, the doctor at the Spine Program told me I didn't need to come back unless I have problems. He said my leg strength had improved since the last exam, even. Everything works except moving my foot to the outside and moving my toes up.

As long as I can walk and garden, I'm good.

Dug up the chives last night...

2008-04-23T10:44:12Z

... and put them into pots before the flies drove me mad. I'm stopping for bug spray on the way home today. I don't remember these flies last year, but every year Manchester seems to have a different plague. Last year was crickets. Perhaps this year is annoying flies.

I'm too far behind to stop to take and upload pictures. Once I've caught up I'll post more than words.

Garden update

2008-04-22T10:12:15Z

Between Sunday and Monday, the first wood raised bed has been half cleared of perennials and the double high plastic bed has been completed and planted with garlic, red onions and shallots. The latter two were looking a little iffy, so we'll see what they do.

I had to pull more mint out of the second bed, but noticed the first pea sprout while I was doing it!

The first 50' of the new hose is on, with no leaks. The old hoses will be recycled into padding for bucket handles and increasing the circumference on garden tools to offset osteoarthritis.

The blueberries are beginning to leaf out, and the raspberries that I thought were dead last Wednesday were completely leafed out on Sunday.

Still so much to do. I'm looking forward to my vacation the second week of May.

Instead of hauling dirt, tonight I played in it.

2008-04-17T00:54:20Z

Just about an hour in the garden and four dozen peas went into the ground, Alaska, Wando, Little Marvel, and Super Sugar Snap. It took me that long because I had to make the pea fence. It's not quite done yet, but what's left to do isn't required until the peas are a couple of inches tall. And unless you think I'm crazy(ier), not all of the peas I plant tend to sprout. We'll see if soaking them in water all day helps this batch.

I've ruined another hose by leaving it out all winter. This year, I'm taking a week off in the fall to put the garden to bed properly. My punishment was hauling water in a can to dowse the peas and blueberries.

I tried to take pictures, but the new batteries I put into the camera were poop and then the light was gone.

On a non-garden related note, my hair is finally long enough for pixie pigtails. (I shaved my head two years ago next month.) I'm probably to old to wear pigtails, but I don't care.

2 hours in the garden tonight

2008-04-16T00:18:04Z

I cleaned out the second wooden bed of last year's tomatoes, basil, mint and catnip. I cleaned out the last 3 x 6 bed of sunflowers, broom corn and a carpet of catnip. The two blackberries survived the winter and I got them into pots to await their new home. The Jacob's ladder also survived, but didn't get transplanted.

I tumbled my first addition to the ComposTumbler.

The last two days I've been able to walk a lot faster to work and back to the parking lot. it feels pretty damn good.

The Garden Report

2008-04-15T00:23:21Z

What does a Michigan girl on a snowy Sunday in April? Why saw the ends off of 17 pieces of wood sized somewhere in between 2x4s and 4x4s, by hand of course-partly because I'm fat and need the exercise but mostly because I'm too chicken shit to use my circular saw.

I was amazed I could move my arms this morning.

Tonight I built up a new bed by making one and a half of the 3x6 beds into 3x3 beds and stacked two of them up. Cardboard and newspaper went at the bottom, then a bag of oak leaves. I got one cart load of dirt in it before I pooped out.

It was an animal-rific session tonight. When I first walked out there was a rabbit in the lilac. I looked up while wrestling the pegs out of the black raised beds and found myself eye to eye with a nice sized doe about 15 yards away in the neighbors yard. I froze so she could wander off at her own pace.

But the best part? Unearthing a five inch black salamander in the remains of the 3x6 bed. I looked him over quickly to make sure the shovel hadn't harmed him and then nestled him into the loose earth of the new bed with a protective cover of dried grass.

You can't get much better proof of organic gardening than a salamander over wintering in your garden bed!

Garden update

2008-04-09T10:15:50Z

I got one of the black raised beds cleared and mostly dug out last night, but then lost focus and weeded the blueberry trough and cleared out some of the refuse in the first wooden raised bed.

One of my garden robins from last year is back. It hung out in the lilac and factory pines, barking at me occasionally. The moment I came inside it flew down and closely inspected all of my earthworks. I'd only found one grub, but it happily gobbled up the offering.

They're so funny. They yell at me while I'm out there, as if saying: "Hurry up! Hurry up!"

Vanquishing the unlevel (Gardening)

2008-04-08T10:13:26Z

I thought it was a pretty sad attempt at leveling, but once we moved the ComposTumbler to its new patio it stood solid without rocking.

Go me.

I had ibuprofen for dessert again. I need to work on using my knees more without destroying them. I'm hoping that continued weight loss will help with that.

Next up: clearing and rebuilding black raised beds for brassicas, onions and garlic. But not tonight. Tonight I have to get the paperwork ready for the tax appointment tomorrow. :p

First gardening weekend!

2008-04-07T10:42:07Z

And I was lame and took no pictures. (Maybe tonight?) I DID, however, get my new compost tumbler put together. I'm so excited! The directions were understandable and I did everything myself save lifting the drum onto the stand. I need to level a spot and move the cardboard and patio pavers again (3rd time's the charm, right?) and then I can start making my own compost!

I'm also giving thought to using part of sfpro.com for a gardening site. I'm having to modify the way I garden because of my horrible back and I'm feeling the urge to share my findings.

My back survived, but barely. Also, the tomato children vastly outnumber me...

Sick as hell

2008-03-29T10:37:39Z

Since Tuesday. Hopefully more later.

Holy Crap!

2008-03-21T09:48:47Z

JCPenney finally shipped my new kitchen island. That puppy has been on backorder since January... That's a good way to kick off 'Clean and Re-Organize the Kitchen' weekend.

In other news, I have a lot of transplanting to do, including the tomatoes...

Brassica and basil jungle

2008-03-16T11:59:39Z

Brassica and basil jungle
Originally uploaded by sfpro_studio.

First seedling pictures of the year are up on my flickr site, as well as pictures of the adventure Pixel and I had with a mouse Saturday morning.

Garden

2008-03-08T13:53:38Z

The tomatoes will be started this weekend. The basil and onions need to be transplanted and I need to get an order ready for Garden Supply Company. Fun, fun, fun.

Garden

2008-02-27T11:19:16Z

New seedlings up: huckleberries (YAY), purple kiwi vine (YAY!), two kinds of onions, rosemary, dwarf, sweet, and lettuce leaf basil. I need to get my peppers started next.

And I need to take pictures!

Garden

2008-02-19T10:03:49Z

The cauliflower, broccoli, rapini, onion, and parsley seeds all got started this past weekend. Plus, I got some fun garden stuff at IKEA yesterday.

Lent and little green shoots means spring is on the way. :)

WTF?

2008-02-18T11:15:58Z

Since when did mormons start going door to door? Had I not been exhausted I would have invited them in and pointed out all of the flaws in the founding of their 'religion'. grr.

Clearly I need to put up a no soliciting sign on my front door. That would be a little more polite than a no religious freaks sign on my front door...

At least I have IKEA to look forward to today! I'm looking for kitchen, kitty, and garden goodies.

Today...

2008-02-16T10:07:22Z

I cat proof the seed starting station with hardware cloth because Pixel just doesn't understand no, bless his wee kitty heart.

Revenge will be mine. All three go to the vet at 11 AM this morning. BWAH HA HA.