Oh, And By The Way...

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Wind

Well, last you heard, I'd accomplished quite a bit. All my veggie beds were nicely mulched, among other things. Then came the wind, which was insane for about 24 hours. 30mph winds, 60mph gusts, for over 24 hours. I mulch my veggies with straw, so although some of it stayed pretty well, at least one bed was stripped bare, and my entire backyard now has a yellow glaze.

Worse, I left a 10 gal bucket that I use as a trashcan sitting out in the yard, full of pots, broken glass, old bits of soaker hose and weed barrier, construction scraps from the greenhouse, and other assorted debris. Someone was kind enough to gather up most of it and put it under my propane tank. The rest of it I gathered from the next 4 neighbors' yards into a large contractor bag. Sigh. How embarrassing. I saw my bucket tucked in behind a neighbor's utility trailer at the back of his yard, looking as if it'd been put there purposely. A small price to pay if he was the one who gathered up the rest of the trash for me, so I left it there. Times like this, I almost wish I knew my neighbors a little, but I don't. We've lived here for almost 8 years and I don't even know their names. I would've liked to apologize, but I don't know who to apologize to. So I've said nothing, for now (I haven't seen any of my neighbors since the wind came and went anyway) but next time I see him out mowing, I'll stop him if I get a chance, just in case.

And tomorrow, I guess I'll go mulch again. I really didn't get anything done out there this weekend, thanks to the weather, and it was snowing on my way to work tonight. Craaaaaazy weather.

Black Widow

Yep, we've got 'em.
sent from my Android phone

Test

sent from my Android phone

Test

sent from my Android phone

Inspiration

I've been reading a lot of the links and comments over at the Take Back Urban Home-steading(s) page. That whole situation with the trademark is just ridiculous, but at least one good thing has come of it - so far 3,119 people have come together to express their love of the urban homesteading lifestyle and what it means to them. As a result, I've found a bunch of new blogs to read and I decided I'd try my hand at documenting my own garden in some other way than a bunch of scribbles in a tattered old notebook. I do hope I can stick with it, at least semi regularly. I haven't decided whether to tell anyone I know about it. I feel like I talk about my garden too much already, especially at this time of year. Maybe I'll just tell the few other fellow gardeners of my acquaintance.

So if you read this, feel free to let me know about any awesome gardening/slow food/homesteading type blogs I should check out.

Spring!

OK, it's not really spring, it's mid February, but it was 73 degrees today, which feels an awful lot like spring to me. And to my plants, unfortunately - this is shaping up to be the 3rd year in a row that we lose our plum tree's productivity for the year to a frost after unseasonable warmth. The strawberries are peeking out, or were, but they've since been mulched with about 6" of straw, which should keep them.

I've used the unseasonable warmth to get a lot done. The raised garden beds are almost completely ready - weeded, soaker hoses checked and repaired, and mulched. The perennial beds have been started, and I'm looking into just buying bulk mulch this year instead of bags. Some of the raised veggie/herb/fruit beds need some shoring up, and I'll probably replace a few more sides over the next few months with concrete, rather than oak.

My greenhouse is nearly finished, at least the structural part - it's got a roof and windows, it just needs the vent/doors put in around the perimeter and the man doors in at two corners. And a chandelier. I've decided to put a chandelier in, just because it's my greenhouse and I can. The tap needs to be installed - right now I just have a dead end plumbing line, capped off inside the greenhouse, and an old fashioned spigot still in the box. And I'll need to build racks/shelves around the perimeter for my lovely little seedlings. I'm thinking two levels and more in the middle, but I'm going to worry about the perimeter first and then decide what I want in the middle. I may just put in a little bistro set with a table and two chairs, at least in the winter. I have this romantic notion of getting some sunlight without freezing, possibly reading a book and sipping tea amongst the lettuces.

I know it's coming, but I dread the resumption of winter in a few days.