Gardening #4: Rototilling Time

This weekend Scott set to work on tuning up the rototiller I inherited from my grandfather so we could get the garden beds ready for planting.

This rototiller is probably 20 years old, but my "Fix it up Chappy" oiled and scrubbed and replaced fluids and belts. It runs like a champ now.

Fall leaves covered the garden all winter, and the manure added last year and compost added this year served to make some dark chocolaty-looking soil when tilled up:



Very gratifying.

Now, if I only had some goat manure to add to the mix...

Gardening #3: Low Budget Patio

Its official: Spring is in full swing and there must be something like "vernal spores" in my bloodstream that have been lying dormant all winter. I think they are waking up and activating the part of my brain that has an evolutionary link to my beagle: I just want to dig.

Our backyard is rather large, but there is really nowhere formal to sit and barbecue or listen to the birds. So, I'm building a patio. I have no money to spend on it, so I'm going to scrounge building materials. But first, the excavation.

I would have put Maisy to work on the job, but she wouldn't follow my guidelines and I was worried it might encourage future unsolicited digging in the garden. Her trench, however, was a work to be admired by anyone with Spring Fever-dig-o-mania:

With inspiration from the dogs, I got to work. After some huffing and puffing and back-strained shoveling, the result is below with a few of the pavers I got from my neighbor.

Since this is a low budget operation, I'm using whatever I can find around the yard as patio material. I have a collection of random flat rocks that I threw in around the pavers.


There is also sand from an old sandbox I made for the dogs last year (a.k.a. Kitty's litter box) that is being used for packing between stones. The dogs seem to like this use of the sand just fine too:


I'm still scrounging for flagstones and sand to finish this up. I'm using our local Free Cycle site to request materials. If that doesn't pan out, I might have to resort to roving the neighborhood under the cover of darknss to liberate abandoned piles of flat stone (neighbors beware).

Spring Shirt

Kitty Kitty Boom Boom is rearing its cute little head from the grave again: I used some fabric I got there for a spring shirt, probably the single best thing I have ever sewn.

I have been known to be a "gorilla seamstress" as my roommate likes to call it; sewing things to get them done as quickly as possible, without taking a lot of time and being impatient to see the end results. However, on this one, I took my time.

I ironed. I pinned. I clipped loose thread. But most of all, I experimented.

Amazingly enough, I didn't have a real pattern- kind of just winged it based on a shirt in a catalog (that I can't afford to buy), and a few hand-me-down shirts. I did create a rough pattern (at left) out of handy-dandy brown paper bag, and made it a bit bigger to allow for later tweaks.

Bias tape make the seems look nicer. Here is how to do it.

Zipper practice makes perfect- I'm finally getting better at this. Experimentation with a white band below the bust and spending time on the finishing touches was a big help- making sure the hem for both front and back lined up and ironing it before sewing it, and darting the bias tap into place on the arm and neck corners. I even put in a "tag" that is some strategically- colored ribbon that you can hang up the shirt on.


It is supposed to snow here tonight, but I'm well prepared for when the weather takes a turn for the warmer. I don't want to be caught out in the spring weather without the right gear (that would be super embarrassing in Durango).

In the meantime, I'm looking longingly forward to sunshine and warmer times, as seen here in the glamor shot at left.

Gardeing #2: Seedlings, Cover Crops, and Compost

Getting excited for spring as the days get longer and my attention span at work gets shorter (these are most certainly inversely related). My garlic came up already and was looking good as I was relocating my compost pile last night (at left).

I've been thinking about how to diminish weed growth in the garden without using weed barrier. Organic Gardening Magazine advocates the use of cover crops for many reasons, but they can also be used between flowers and vegetables if done right. Here are the benefits.

This article advises to plant cover crops after your veggies and flowers are at least 1/3 of the way through their growth cycle so that your green lovelies aren't out-competed by quick growing buckwheat or clover. The article also states the cover crop needs to eventually be mowed and then killed. Hmmm, I bet some goats could help with that (someday...).

Check out the progress of my seedlings:

Lettuce (weeks 1, 2, and 3)

Herbs (weeks 2, and 3)

Tomatoes (weeks 1 and 2)

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Traveling last weekend was a non-stop, action-filled trip. Here are some pics:

Planes:
Flight over the Wasatch with Rob Hunter
(Founder and Owner of Prepared Pilot)
Trains:
Boarding the train in Green River, UT
Tumble-weed Capitol of Nowhere

Automobiles:

The whole purpose of the trip was to
buy a new (used) automobile:

Just kidding, but I think folks in Green River
still use this for emergencies. Seriously.

The real deal: My new shiny ride!
Got 29 mpg on the drive home.

Non-stop Nephews:

Soccer, bikes, scooters, you name it, they are on it.