Mike and Tony

New Patio

We’re so proud of our new patio!

Now we just need to figure out a good time to have a patio party at our house. It’s been a long time since we’ve hosted a party here, and it’s about time!

Building a Raised Vegetable Garden

I felt the need to have a project that got me away from the computer screen. The side of our house was feeling a little barren, so I thought a raised vegetable garden was the perfect project. First, an image of the finished project:

The side of our house is a little slanted towards the retaining wall you can see along the left-hand side of the picture. It also slopes down to the bottom of the image, so I decided I wanted a two level garden to match the slope a little more closely.

First stop – Home Depot. I bought some hemlock wood because it was cheaper than cedar, very sturdy and is mildly termite resistant (as opposed to other, cheaper wood). The best part of this was the Home Depot even made all of the cuts I needed for free. I bought 3 16′ pieces of hemlock, and had them cut it into 2 8′ pieces and 8 4′ pieces. The hemlock was 1″ thick and 12″ high. I bought a couple of 2×4s as well, for the posts that will anchor the garden.

Thankfully, 8′ is the maximum height that you can comfortably fit into the Prius over the front arm rest.

Then, remove all of the staples in the wood. You don’t want any rusty sharp pieces! Then, use a hand sander to remove the sharp edges to the wood. Sanding also adds a nice finished look to the garden. I stayed away from using any sealer or urethane, as I was unsure if that would leak into the ground even after drying. No one at Home Depot seemed to know, either, so rather than take the chance of dangerous chemicals leaking into my vegetable garden, I decided to go natural. What really scared me away were the warnings of mental disease if the urethane or stain was breathed in. No thanks!

Then, I started digging for the posts. Unfortunately, I didn’t expect the gutter drainage pipe straight through my path! You can see the bright blue pipe and the gray epoxy over the hole I created with my pickaxe!

I constructed the first level (without posts in the corners) on the concrete, where it’s much easier to make it level and even. I then attached the posts to the frame once the box was positioned correctly.

We laid down a weed barrier after filling in the hole around the posts. Hopefully this will prevent the perenially weed-infested yard from invading the new vegetable garden! Here’s Mike adding 3 cubic feet of peat moss to the manure, humus and dirt mixture we’re using to fill the garden.

Just because it’s everywhere doesn’t mean it’s easy to move – dirt is very heavy. Since this area is only accessible by stairs, there were plenty of up-and-down runs bringing up the 40lb. bags of dirt.

It’s all worth it, though, when you see the final result!

The whole thing took about 1 week to do, with an hour or two here and there. It’s a very rewarding project, and it really made the side of our house look so nice. I can’t wait for the first harvest in the Fall!

Some of the things we’re growing:

• Sweet corn
• Green squash
• Tomatoes
• eggplant
• cauliflower
• marigolds (to control pests)
• hardy mums (to add some more color)

Another beautiful sunset in Massachusetts

I love these summer days where it rains for hours and hours and clears up just in time for an impressive sunset:

Clover Lawn – Update

The clover lawn is coming in great! It’s looking to be a very green lawn. First, the pictures:

There’s quite a lot of crabcrass, which I’ve been slowly get rid of in the rest of property. That will be the next task! But, the clover didn’t burn (my only fear) and is coming in strong! I think next time I will give it even more seed, maybe 1/2 lb. for this 600 square foot area.

First Clover Sprouts!

After only 3 days, we have our first clover sprouts all over the lawn plot:

This stuff grows quickly. I just hope that I can keep it from burning under the hot July sun.