Friday, May 27, 2011
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Northwest Gardening
I have not yet become accustomed to the consistent cloudy sky with occasional drizzles and mostly downpours. Back in January, we had a week of balmy 50˚ weather with blazing sunshine. In a t-shirt, I started digging dirt to bury day lilies, gladiolas, dahlias. Then it was back to the rain. And it rained all through February, March and most of April.
Towards the end of April we started getting dry patches. The sky is still cloudy, but we'll go a few hours to a day without much rain. The last couple of weeks I've gotten lucky with quite a few sunny days, days where you can actually see patches of blue sky. So I started the long arduous task of building a raised vegetable garden. My original plan was to build the boxes against the shop. On Easter weekend, I purchased all my block and spent all day unloading it, making trips back and forth. Each stone is heavy, and I could not lift more than 2 at a time. After about 10 trips of that, my arms were too tired, and I had to resort to 1 at a time. One-hundred and sixty-eight blocks later I was finally finished stacking them in a nice pile next to the shop. Then I changed my mind. I decided I wanted my garden on the southeast corner of our backyard. This would allow for a simple gate/fence to be built and keep the food thieves known as Jax and Nivia out. The new location meant digging up grass, which wasn't too difficult. With the yard being brand new, the roots haven't really taken...root yet. I stripped up a 4' x 10' section and dug up the dirt some and started laying the block. After 28 trips back and forth one piece at a time, Bryan came home and decided I needed a wagon. However, I was finished for the day; too exhausted for even a wagon. Plus the rain was starting to drip-drop again. Later that week Bryan dug up the rest of the grass for me, a 10' x 10' section and finished laying the block for my first garden box, and got started on my next two. Alas, the rain came again, and he only got about halfway. The next evening, I took the time to re-lay all the sod. But it wasn't laying nice and flat. After staring at it in disgust for a week, last night I loaded up all the dug up sod in the truck, and drove down to the local yard waste dump and unloaded it for $7.
Today's forecast was once again rain in the afternoon, but I was determined to finish my garden. Just past 7 am, I started digging. I dug up the rest of the dirt, as well as a boulder the size of Lithuania. Next I laid the block, making sure I leveled all of it, as well as dug around the sprinkler that will be adjusted for watering the garden. Once I laid all the wall, I threw in grass clippings from mowing the lawn, and planted my raspberry and blackberry bushes. I also planted some lavender. Then it was back to the store to purchase the dirt. I found 2 cubic feet bags were cheapest and also heaviest. I had to get help to load it in the truck, because I physically could not lift it high enough to clear the tailgate, and had 15 bags to load. Once home, I got out my wagon (which had been a huge help in carrying the block) and took 3 bags at a time back to my new garden. Two planters are full, and the third is awaiting a sprinkler surgery, and then will be filled as well. As soon as I finished raking the last bit of dirt, I started to feel raindrops. I had literally finished in the nick of time. I cleaned up my gargantuan mess and came inside just as the rain started to pour.
Towards the end of April we started getting dry patches. The sky is still cloudy, but we'll go a few hours to a day without much rain. The last couple of weeks I've gotten lucky with quite a few sunny days, days where you can actually see patches of blue sky. So I started the long arduous task of building a raised vegetable garden. My original plan was to build the boxes against the shop. On Easter weekend, I purchased all my block and spent all day unloading it, making trips back and forth. Each stone is heavy, and I could not lift more than 2 at a time. After about 10 trips of that, my arms were too tired, and I had to resort to 1 at a time. One-hundred and sixty-eight blocks later I was finally finished stacking them in a nice pile next to the shop. Then I changed my mind. I decided I wanted my garden on the southeast corner of our backyard. This would allow for a simple gate/fence to be built and keep the food thieves known as Jax and Nivia out. The new location meant digging up grass, which wasn't too difficult. With the yard being brand new, the roots haven't really taken...root yet. I stripped up a 4' x 10' section and dug up the dirt some and started laying the block. After 28 trips back and forth one piece at a time, Bryan came home and decided I needed a wagon. However, I was finished for the day; too exhausted for even a wagon. Plus the rain was starting to drip-drop again. Later that week Bryan dug up the rest of the grass for me, a 10' x 10' section and finished laying the block for my first garden box, and got started on my next two. Alas, the rain came again, and he only got about halfway. The next evening, I took the time to re-lay all the sod. But it wasn't laying nice and flat. After staring at it in disgust for a week, last night I loaded up all the dug up sod in the truck, and drove down to the local yard waste dump and unloaded it for $7.
Today's forecast was once again rain in the afternoon, but I was determined to finish my garden. Just past 7 am, I started digging. I dug up the rest of the dirt, as well as a boulder the size of Lithuania. Next I laid the block, making sure I leveled all of it, as well as dug around the sprinkler that will be adjusted for watering the garden. Once I laid all the wall, I threw in grass clippings from mowing the lawn, and planted my raspberry and blackberry bushes. I also planted some lavender. Then it was back to the store to purchase the dirt. I found 2 cubic feet bags were cheapest and also heaviest. I had to get help to load it in the truck, because I physically could not lift it high enough to clear the tailgate, and had 15 bags to load. Once home, I got out my wagon (which had been a huge help in carrying the block) and took 3 bags at a time back to my new garden. Two planters are full, and the third is awaiting a sprinkler surgery, and then will be filled as well. As soon as I finished raking the last bit of dirt, I started to feel raindrops. I had literally finished in the nick of time. I cleaned up my gargantuan mess and came inside just as the rain started to pour.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Another Random Day
Another day off with nothing to do... Bam google reveals that "THE" Spruce Goose is interned at an air museum just an hour or so away. Load up the car and we're off on another random drive. More pictures to follow.
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