Lesson learned.

Let it be known plants do, in fact, die under my care. All those seeds I lovingly started under lights this winter? DEAD. Of course, the beauty of starting from seed is that you have a million extra seeds for disasters such as this, and cry not, for replacements have all be directly sown and are growing beautifully, but OH how I lament the extra $10 I spent in electricity trying to give those babes an early start. Did I coddle them? Were they too weak for the world? Did they miss life in the basement? I’ll never know. If you need me, I’ll be the one in mourning black for the rest of the month.

Berry Blessed.

Third week of berry produce:

One third of those sweeties in the sink:

A friend recently asked me what my secret was, and I told her that I assumed it was timing. The patch was a disappointment its first two years, and yet here we are at year 3, swimming in strawberries. So if you have strawberries and are feeling despondent, stop that nonsense. (Stop it!) Let them settle in a year or two, and then if they still disappoint you, rest assured that picking them is an utter pain.  You see, I did not plant these plants with picking in mind, so this harvest has been putting my yoga skills to (extensive) use. Also, strawberry patches are full of spiders. So, don’t feel bad.

After clearing the strawberry bed of all red and laying mulch in the flower beds, I’m taking the rest of the weekend off from gardening. Have a lovely weekend, Dear Internet.

Another small change.

The hallway leading down into our basement was in desperate need for a fresh coat of white paint, but ladders+stairs meant the project was out of my league. I took to Craig’s List to find a local painter, who promptly lost the job once she failed to show up because “it was raining” and “looking for my number was too much work”. Luckily, Painter #2 was gracious, on time, and incredibly clean. He even vacuumed the stairs before he left! Sometimes, things just work out for the best.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

White paint for the win!

 And since this was a boring post about a hallway, here’s a picture of P-dog day napping from the other day.

DONE.

Let us rejoice, for the dark time of laying edging and removing sod is behind us. The rain (and tornado watches) held off until Sunday, giving me enough sunshine to finish up the big landscaping project. Hurray!

Friday evening, I picked close to 20 cups of berries (clearly, the bird netting worked!). We prompt ate half, froze some, and shared the wealth with our neighbors.

On Saturday, I finished this project:

Last year, the bed wasn’t a consistent width and I planted without a plan (don’t plant without a plan!). While it was an improvement from the weeds that were present when we moved in, the end result was disappointing. Now, the bed is a consistent 40″ wide, and I shuffled the plants for symmetry’s sake. I also widened the back bed, giving the blackberry bush, Asiatic lilies, and irises a bit more breathing room. Order restored.

I also evened the edging in this new bed, and sowed seeds in the empty spaces (basil, chamomile, oriental poppies and lavender … we’ll see what grows!):

I relocated the potted plants from the raised bed, and sowed seeds there (zinnias, carpet of snow and morning glories). It’ll be interested to see what thrives in this spot – it gets some awkward sun. Nothing much to look at yet, though.

The lettuce, spinach and leeks are all doing well. I planted some marigold seeds (to attract bees), and then put the rest of the babes (from under our lights) into the soil. So far, we’ve lost 2 zucchini plants, but everything else keeps keepin’ on. (Don’t mourn, squash seeds sprout quickly, so replacements will happen this week).

We re-arranged the patio furniture, and I took some time to enjoy this show:

And oh! We put the window boxes up (hurray!) and I filled in the front planters (hurray x2!), but that will have to be another post.

Weekend Review.

Rain meant I spent most of the weekend drinking G&Ts and doing laundry (not at the same time, however) instead of finishing the garden chores, but what can you do? Luckily, we had half of Saturday to make some progress:

I picked our first batch of strawberries:

We extended the herb garden by removing 15 wheelbarrows worth of sod:

(Once the ground dries, I’ll be able to level the edging).

Last weekend, I dug out and laid the red pavers. This weekend, I built and installed a new flower bed:

(Yes, I know. I know! But a shallow raised bed was the only option, as the soil in that awkward space is mostly made of broken promises and gravel. I kept the bed shallow so that it won’t stick out as much, and this will limit my plant choices (short roots only please), but it’s ok. The potted plants and bricks are only temporary; I’m thinking of planting morning glories and zinnias).

We also started to clean out the garage, a chore that is not photogenic but still worthy of mention.

Next weekend, we’ll be completing the edging work, and hopefully getting some plants in the ground.

A weekend of progress.

I declare the strawberries protected:

Using the wood from our demolished fence, I built a frame around the strawberries. After installing hooks on the frame’s interior, J and I attached bird netting (traditionally used to protect fruit trees) to cover the entire patch. Stakes were used to prevent the netting from resting too heavily on the plants, although the netting is lightweight enough that it’d probably do fine without them. The bees can get in, other critters cannot, and the entire solution isn’t too hideous. Let us rejoice with strawberry shortcake (once the berries are ripe, of course)!

In lui of building a fancy pea trellis (another garden to-do), I took a short cut and bought a tomato cage (the triangle kind). The internet warns me that it’s likely to be too short for the plants … oh well. The truth is, peas just don’t inspire me to put forth a lot of effort.

We also hooked up our beautiful new rain barrel, and I laid the pavers for the garage door walkway (a necessary addition to prevent our bikes from getting all muddy in the summer months). And to celebrate all of this productivity, we visited a local nursery, where I bought some leeks and lavender to plant.

This weekend (if you are interested in such things), I’m hoping to finish the last of the very-worst chores. With the mini fence gone, I have plans to expand some landscaping, meaning some sod has to be removed (ugh) and brick edging relaid (blah). After that, however, the yard will be set (well, enough) for company … which is important, as it’s still bonfire weather and I’m craving marshmallows.

Word.

You don’t have to get a job that makes others feel comfortable about what they perceive as your success. You don’t have to explain what you plan to do with your life. You don’t have to justify your education by demonstrating its financial rewards. You don’t have to maintain an impeccable credit score. Anyone who expects you to do any of those things has no sense of history or economics or science or the arts.

You have to pay your own electric bill. You have to be kind. You have to give it all you got. You have to find people who love you truly and love them back with the same truth.

But that’s all.

You read Dear Sugar, don’t you? This is from an article of hers, one of my very favorites, and it’s a sentiment that’s important to keep in mind in the world of Facebook and Blogging and So What Do You Do? (I’m speaking to myself, as well as to you, dear Internet).

Garden Update.

I’m putting on my construction hat and digging out my staple gun this weekend, as it’s clear that the strawberries are going to ripen early and some sort of protective measure must be built (and built soon) to prevent the squirrels and birds from eating them all. Also, I planted peas without thinking about the fact that peas must be trellised, so a trellis needs to be created. Neither of these projects are particularly exciting to me, but I’ve lost my husband to the craziness-of-the-end-of-his-semester, so Pasha and I shall forge ahead alone.

Unless, of course, you want to come visit, dear Internet?

If such things interest you, you might be surprised to learn that the directly-sown lettuce and spinach (meaning I plopped those seeds directly in the ground with little fan fare) are doing yards better than the babies languishing under grow lights (who, conversely, are in special potting mix and are misted daily and chatted to often). So much so that the grow-light-babies were told to suck it up and face Mother Nature on Sunday, when I planted them, and almost all of them perished. (Yes, I hardened them off prior). Lesson learned: direct sow your lettuce and spinach. That’s a lesson I probably could have learned online for free, but my learning style is what it is.

Conversely, my zucchini, cucumbers tomatoes and peppers are all killing it downstairs under the grow lights. Technically, today is our last frost date (happy last frost date!) but I don’t begin to trust prairie weather well until May, so in the basement they shall stay (for now).

Lastly, with the removal of the mini-fence, I’ve been in the middle of quite a landscape reshuffle, resulting in the need to lay (and relay) new (and old) brick edging. Instead of focusing on any of the areas that truly need it, I bricked in the back garden plot as an early birthday present to John (he claims it makes mowing easier). And look – it curves!

Doing my taxes makes me feel like a genius.

That’s all.

Things I irrationally have very negative feelings towards, humorously.

 

#1. Raised gardening beds.

Among homesteading trends (chickens! bees! canning!), raised gardening beds seem to be gaining in popularity. And they shouldn’t, because they are stupid.

Unless you soil is poisonous, you should be gardening in the ground. There’s no reason to spend moolah on extra dirt and cedar wood planks and a weekend of time and labor, when you can inexpensively till up a section of yard, add soil amendment, and be done with it. IN ADDITION, you should really turn your soil annually (prior to planting) and add amendments as necessary. When your soil is locked up in a wooden box, that job is much harder. (Isn’t it? I’ll admit to judging with limited raised-bed experience).

Plus, they look like little coffins.

I simply loathe them.

Related to homesteading trends: John’s been talking about us becoming bee keepers, and chances by chances, we happened to meet a bee keeper at our local co-op (classic Urbana!) who invited us to visit her hive. I’m more excited than I thought I’d bee.