Friday, June 24, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
Reconditioning Old Tools
I spent a good portion of yesterday reconditioning an old miter saw, with my husband's help.
Wait! What does that have to do with gardening?
Well I don't want to leave all the cutting for the potting bench to my husband, so I thought I could try doing some of the smaller cuts. A couple years ago I bought a Millers Falls Langdon 1124 miter box and saw at a yard sale for Tim. Well, I've appropriated the box. Iit's probably the safest way for me to cut wood, since there are guides and no electricity involved.
The saw was covered in rust, and Tim was kind enough to buff it out. He showed me how to do it, and I tried, but my angle was not ideal, so he did it for me, and it only took him a few minutes. Then he buffed in a penetrating wax to help prevent future rust.
The saw handle was also in pretty bad shape. I spent some time sanding off the first layer of gunk last night. More sanding will be done today and tomorrow. I should have taken before pictures, but I'm not that clever.
The miter box itself also needed a good bit of TLC. I scraped the glue off the surface, and sanded everything lightly. I also disassembled the guides and cleaned them out. It's amazing how much gunk there is when sawdust and grease get together. Then, I waxed all the surfaces I cleaned. The box really needs to be fully disassembled cleaned and rebuilt, but it's good enough for now. I found a .pdf of the manual for the box earlier today, so when the potting bench is done, it may get the full treatment, since I have instructions now on how to reassemble it correctly.
Wait! What does that have to do with gardening?
Well I don't want to leave all the cutting for the potting bench to my husband, so I thought I could try doing some of the smaller cuts. A couple years ago I bought a Millers Falls Langdon 1124 miter box and saw at a yard sale for Tim. Well, I've appropriated the box. Iit's probably the safest way for me to cut wood, since there are guides and no electricity involved.
The saw was covered in rust, and Tim was kind enough to buff it out. He showed me how to do it, and I tried, but my angle was not ideal, so he did it for me, and it only took him a few minutes. Then he buffed in a penetrating wax to help prevent future rust.
The saw handle was also in pretty bad shape. I spent some time sanding off the first layer of gunk last night. More sanding will be done today and tomorrow. I should have taken before pictures, but I'm not that clever.
The miter box itself also needed a good bit of TLC. I scraped the glue off the surface, and sanded everything lightly. I also disassembled the guides and cleaned them out. It's amazing how much gunk there is when sawdust and grease get together. Then, I waxed all the surfaces I cleaned. The box really needs to be fully disassembled cleaned and rebuilt, but it's good enough for now. I found a .pdf of the manual for the box earlier today, so when the potting bench is done, it may get the full treatment, since I have instructions now on how to reassemble it correctly.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Spring Suprise!
First, no, steel bolts do not "spring out and plunge straight through both cheeks."
Now that we have that out of the way, the seedlings I replanted after the big storm are doing well. One major issue remains, however. I don't know what most of them are!!!!! While they're alive, they're still mostly at that stage where everything looks alike. Once they have actual leaves I'll start posting pics and we can play "Guess that plant!" Whee! I should have some suhyo and some yellow squash that just came up. They were mystery seeds/seedlings too, but easy to tell apart from other things. I just replanted my zucchini. I lost the seeds I bought for a while.
On the bench front, I sanded almost all of the wood last night. I have some large pieces that still need to be sanded, but they also need to be cut quite a bit, so I'm waiting to sand until then. We also got the table saw set up, but we need to raise it about 3 inches. Hopefully we'll be able to do some cutting on Sunday, but I'm not sure that will happen with other more pressing issues.
Now that we have that out of the way, the seedlings I replanted after the big storm are doing well. One major issue remains, however. I don't know what most of them are!!!!! While they're alive, they're still mostly at that stage where everything looks alike. Once they have actual leaves I'll start posting pics and we can play "Guess that plant!" Whee! I should have some suhyo and some yellow squash that just came up. They were mystery seeds/seedlings too, but easy to tell apart from other things. I just replanted my zucchini. I lost the seeds I bought for a while.
On the bench front, I sanded almost all of the wood last night. I have some large pieces that still need to be sanded, but they also need to be cut quite a bit, so I'm waiting to sand until then. We also got the table saw set up, but we need to raise it about 3 inches. Hopefully we'll be able to do some cutting on Sunday, but I'm not sure that will happen with other more pressing issues.
Monday, April 11, 2011
ReStore Score:
The rest of the wood for the potting bench!!!!! Huzzah! Including two planks of bullnose ceder for the benchtop! Now to get sanding, cutting, staining, drilling, and building! Trying to re-pot without a bench has shown that this is really more of a need than a want if I want to be serious about my garden. Pictures will be forthcoming as we go.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Sunny Days
My friend Eve offered to share some of her plants with me! But she lives in Huntington and we rarely go out that way, cause she's really my only friend in Huntington. But just the offer has helped put me in a better frame of mind.
I've still got a dozen or so plants in the AeroGarden, both mine and Paul's. I'm hoping to transplant them this week sometime.
Paul's garden is looking ok, but it was always looking good. I'm a little worried about his peppermint though. Between the crash and the cold it's looking a little shocky. Paul's Genovese Basil should make it, but I think mine is shot. We have a lot of dried Genovese, so I'm not too anxious there. My initial guess of about five of my plants, not including the peppers, surviving the storm doesn't seem to be that far off.
I've still got a dozen or so plants in the AeroGarden, both mine and Paul's. I'm hoping to transplant them this week sometime.
Paul's garden is looking ok, but it was always looking good. I'm a little worried about his peppermint though. Between the crash and the cold it's looking a little shocky. Paul's Genovese Basil should make it, but I think mine is shot. We have a lot of dried Genovese, so I'm not too anxious there. My initial guess of about five of my plants, not including the peppers, surviving the storm doesn't seem to be that far off.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Weary
As one may have noticed from the previous post, I lost most of my plants last night when the wind tipped over my greenhouse. The peppers, and less than half a dozen other plants were still in pots out of the 30 or so that were growing. Of the half dozen that I salvaged I'm not sure if they're going to survive, or if there was too much damage done to the plants. The peppers are the only thing I'm sure of. I don't know if I'm going to replant or not. This will be the third replanting for many of the plants. I haven't been blogging my death tolls well.
It's still well before last frost date, so I can still replant and have plenty of growing time, but I'm not sure I have the energy for it. Watching all your hard word destroyed over and over is very off-putting when the garden is a hobby and not a necessity. I'm open for opinions. What would you do? Replant, buy plants from a nursery, or give it up as a bad job for this year? Vote using the poll on the right.
It's still well before last frost date, so I can still replant and have plenty of growing time, but I'm not sure I have the energy for it. Watching all your hard word destroyed over and over is very off-putting when the garden is a hobby and not a necessity. I'm open for opinions. What would you do? Replant, buy plants from a nursery, or give it up as a bad job for this year? Vote using the poll on the right.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Miscellany
I've decided that I want to post about not just the plants, but about the various garden related projects I've got in the works. So today I'm posting summaries of all the things I've been doing while it's been too cold for my plants.
POTTING BENCH:
I've got most of the wood I currently have sanded, and now that the temp is above freezing at night, I can start staining again. I'm using Olympic Semi-Transparent Blue Sapphire stain. I'd link you the color, but the Olympic website doesn't have a good url to show just the color I'm using. Before I can sand and stain some of the boards, I need Tim to cut them to size. We've got a few scraps of pressure treated lumber that was in the garage when we moved in. I'm using that for some of the small support pieces and for the grate, since the grate will see the most moisture. The rest of the lumber I'm hoping to get from the Habitat for Humanity ReStore.
CURRENT ReSTORE SCORE:
3/4 x 6 x 74 in Cedar Board (w00t)
3/4 x 2 1/2 x 48 in Heartwood Cedar Board
Those are my windfall pieces. I've also got, in pine, the wood for the front and back legs, two of the shelves, the bottom shelf supports, some of the bench top frame, and most of the bench top. I still need the bottom shelf, the long pieces of the bench top frame, the backsplash, and the back supports for the shelves.
I thought I had one of the long pieces for the bench top frame. It was a pretty banged up and dirty piece of wood, so I was going to use it where it would not be seen. In fact it was in bad enough shape that I asked Tim to take the belt sander to it. I don't have enough confidence in my skills to use the belt sander when it's not clamped into place yet. When he got done sanding it, it turned into a lovely piece of poplar. It is now in our random lumber pile. C'est la vie.
POTTING BENCH:
I've got most of the wood I currently have sanded, and now that the temp is above freezing at night, I can start staining again. I'm using Olympic Semi-Transparent Blue Sapphire stain. I'd link you the color, but the Olympic website doesn't have a good url to show just the color I'm using. Before I can sand and stain some of the boards, I need Tim to cut them to size. We've got a few scraps of pressure treated lumber that was in the garage when we moved in. I'm using that for some of the small support pieces and for the grate, since the grate will see the most moisture. The rest of the lumber I'm hoping to get from the Habitat for Humanity ReStore.
CURRENT ReSTORE SCORE:
3/4 x 6 x 74 in Cedar Board (w00t)
3/4 x 2 1/2 x 48 in Heartwood Cedar Board
Those are my windfall pieces. I've also got, in pine, the wood for the front and back legs, two of the shelves, the bottom shelf supports, some of the bench top frame, and most of the bench top. I still need the bottom shelf, the long pieces of the bench top frame, the backsplash, and the back supports for the shelves.
I thought I had one of the long pieces for the bench top frame. It was a pretty banged up and dirty piece of wood, so I was going to use it where it would not be seen. In fact it was in bad enough shape that I asked Tim to take the belt sander to it. I don't have enough confidence in my skills to use the belt sander when it's not clamped into place yet. When he got done sanding it, it turned into a lovely piece of poplar. It is now in our random lumber pile. C'est la vie.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
The Brown Thumb Strikes Again!
I've been waiting a little to post this, but it's official. As of Sunday my first batch of plants have died.
I transplanted my tomatoes, some of my lettuce, cilantro, and some of my flowers a couple of weeks ago, and they have all gone to the great garden in the sky.
I had more lettuce still in the garden and it's doing fine so far. I transplanted it on Sunday. It's early enough that I'm gonna replant everything that died this weekend, in dirt this time instead of the Aerogarden.
I transplanted my tomatoes, some of my lettuce, cilantro, and some of my flowers a couple of weeks ago, and they have all gone to the great garden in the sky.
I had more lettuce still in the garden and it's doing fine so far. I transplanted it on Sunday. It's early enough that I'm gonna replant everything that died this weekend, in dirt this time instead of the Aerogarden.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Pot Questions
I figured I should just make this another post, instead of responding to the comment, as this will go long.
Travis asked what kind of pots I use for my garden and how I fertilize.
Last year I chose pots using a couple different criteria.
In retrospect I realized that almost all the plants I had were in pots that were a bit too small for them. I had three suhyo, japanese cucumber, in a 12 in. foam pot, two bell peppers in a 13 in. fiberglass pot, 6 slicer tomatoes in my deepest 18 in. plastic pot, and a roma tomato plant in a 10 in. ceramic pot. The peppers were ok, and maybe could have gone into a slightly smaller pot, but everything else was too cramped by the end of the year. I should have only had two suhyo in the 12 in. pot, and at most 4 of the tomatoes in the big pot. The roma should have been in a larger pot as well. All my plants did fine, and I had more produce than we could eat, but it would have been better with more space.
With regards to fertilizer, most potting soil comes with fertilizer and nutrients mixed in. That being said, when transplanting I always added extra pellets, and about every 3 months I tossed in some more. The pellets were supposed to be good for six months, but were for flowers and not plants that would produce large fruiting bodies, so I used extra. I figured extra plant food wouldn't hurt. This year I'm going to be using Pennington Tomato and Vegetable plant food. I don't know how well it works. I picked it up on sale at the end of the season last year for planting this year. It needs to be applied every 3-4 weeks according to the box.
Something else to keep in mind: You will need to water your plants much more frequently, because the soil just cannot hold moisture the same way. My suhyo were constantly needing water, during the hottest part of the summer it was not unusual to have to water in the morning and the afternoon for the veggies. I'm going to try some companion planting this year that may help keep the soil from drying out as quickly in the heat. You can also spread gravel or pebbles on top to help cut down on evaporation. Aesthetically, I don't like that, and so I don't do that, but it's a good idea nonetheless.
Travis asked what kind of pots I use for my garden and how I fertilize.
Last year I chose pots using a couple different criteria.
- Attractiveness: I'd like to be able to spend time on my porch in the garden, reading, or working or just being outside, so I wanted my pots to be visually appealing
- Price: I didn't have a whole lot of cash to spend on pots, and so I wanted to be smart about what I was getting. Pretty ceramic pots are nice, and they'll last, but they're pricey if you don't catch them on sale.
- Weight: I realize now that isn't as much of an issue as I thought, but because it is a rooftop garden, and I didn't know how much weight the rooftop could support safely, and how much all these pots filled with dirt would weigh, I worried.
In retrospect I realized that almost all the plants I had were in pots that were a bit too small for them. I had three suhyo, japanese cucumber, in a 12 in. foam pot, two bell peppers in a 13 in. fiberglass pot, 6 slicer tomatoes in my deepest 18 in. plastic pot, and a roma tomato plant in a 10 in. ceramic pot. The peppers were ok, and maybe could have gone into a slightly smaller pot, but everything else was too cramped by the end of the year. I should have only had two suhyo in the 12 in. pot, and at most 4 of the tomatoes in the big pot. The roma should have been in a larger pot as well. All my plants did fine, and I had more produce than we could eat, but it would have been better with more space.
With regards to fertilizer, most potting soil comes with fertilizer and nutrients mixed in. That being said, when transplanting I always added extra pellets, and about every 3 months I tossed in some more. The pellets were supposed to be good for six months, but were for flowers and not plants that would produce large fruiting bodies, so I used extra. I figured extra plant food wouldn't hurt. This year I'm going to be using Pennington Tomato and Vegetable plant food. I don't know how well it works. I picked it up on sale at the end of the season last year for planting this year. It needs to be applied every 3-4 weeks according to the box.
Something else to keep in mind: You will need to water your plants much more frequently, because the soil just cannot hold moisture the same way. My suhyo were constantly needing water, during the hottest part of the summer it was not unusual to have to water in the morning and the afternoon for the veggies. I'm going to try some companion planting this year that may help keep the soil from drying out as quickly in the heat. You can also spread gravel or pebbles on top to help cut down on evaporation. Aesthetically, I don't like that, and so I don't do that, but it's a good idea nonetheless.
Pots
The weather's been nice for the past couple of days, so, on Tim's advice, I started clearing out the pots from last year. I got a couple pots cleaned out and the dirt dumped into my new dirt bin.
I was pretty sure my Spearmint was dead. I brought in a bunch of plants over the winter and one of them had an infestation of gnat like bugs that spread to 3 or 4 others, and I had to put them back out in the snow to try to keep my remaining plants from being attacked. The spearmint was one that went outside. When I pulled out the plant, I found a pretty healthy root system and new growth, leaves and all on the underside of the plant. I'm guessing it was growing out the drainage holes, but I didn't notice it when I pulled the plant. I'm still worried about bugs and the top half of the root system is shot. I may separate the bad out and try to coax the plant back to health. I also discovered it needs a bigger pot.
All this potting work would be a lot easier and more comfortable if I had a potting bench. Right now, we're looking at building this one: http://www.familyhandyman.com/DIY-Projects/Indoor-Projects/Hallway/Benches/how-to-build-a-cedar-potting-bench/Step-By-Step. If we do it, it will be pine instead of cedar, for two reasons. One: Cedar is really expensive. And two: Cedar dimensional lumber is really hard to find. And for those of you out there who will be helpful and link me to cedar dimensional lumber, please see reason one.
I left a pot of woolly thyme in my greenhouse and forgot about over the winter. Surprisingly it's doing very well. Unfortunately I didn't realize that woolly thyme is not an edible thyme when I purchased it, so I'm really not sure what I should do with it. It's a full sun ground cover plant, and I don't really have any place for it.
I also need to make repairs to my greenhouse cover. The seam ripped free this winter along the zipper. The zipper is intact, but the side wall is no longer attached to the zipper. If anyone has any clever ideas beyond tape and hope, I'd love to hear them.
I was pretty sure my Spearmint was dead. I brought in a bunch of plants over the winter and one of them had an infestation of gnat like bugs that spread to 3 or 4 others, and I had to put them back out in the snow to try to keep my remaining plants from being attacked. The spearmint was one that went outside. When I pulled out the plant, I found a pretty healthy root system and new growth, leaves and all on the underside of the plant. I'm guessing it was growing out the drainage holes, but I didn't notice it when I pulled the plant. I'm still worried about bugs and the top half of the root system is shot. I may separate the bad out and try to coax the plant back to health. I also discovered it needs a bigger pot.
All this potting work would be a lot easier and more comfortable if I had a potting bench. Right now, we're looking at building this one: http://www.familyhandyman.com/DIY-Projects/Indoor-Projects/Hallway/Benches/how-to-build-a-cedar-potting-bench/Step-By-Step. If we do it, it will be pine instead of cedar, for two reasons. One: Cedar is really expensive. And two: Cedar dimensional lumber is really hard to find. And for those of you out there who will be helpful and link me to cedar dimensional lumber, please see reason one.
I left a pot of woolly thyme in my greenhouse and forgot about over the winter. Surprisingly it's doing very well. Unfortunately I didn't realize that woolly thyme is not an edible thyme when I purchased it, so I'm really not sure what I should do with it. It's a full sun ground cover plant, and I don't really have any place for it.
I also need to make repairs to my greenhouse cover. The seam ripped free this winter along the zipper. The zipper is intact, but the side wall is no longer attached to the zipper. If anyone has any clever ideas beyond tape and hope, I'd love to hear them.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Pictures
I've had a couple of requests for pictures so here you go:
The aerogarden seedlings:
I couldn't really get a good angle for the photo. My step stool wasn't quite tall enough.
And here's my dormer growing area. It'll empty out once we're frost free.
The aerogarden seedlings:
And here's my dormer growing area. It'll empty out once we're frost free.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Garden Layout ver 1.0
I just finished my rough draft for my garden layout this year. I haven't decided what's going in each pot, but the pots all have their own places, as does the green house and the bistro set. The squiggly line was my reference point so that I made sure I could walk to the spots I need.
The brown line is a fence edge, and I'm hoping to get something like an old trough to go on the outside of the fence as a planter. But currently it's just dead space. The sun hits the area from the upper right section, so I try to plan my pot sizes accordingly. I think I will need to get or make stands this year to help keep my full sun plants happy.
The brown line is a fence edge, and I'm hoping to get something like an old trough to go on the outside of the fence as a planter. But currently it's just dead space. The sun hits the area from the upper right section, so I try to plan my pot sizes accordingly. I think I will need to get or make stands this year to help keep my full sun plants happy.
Friday, February 11, 2011
The Adventure Begins
So, I decided to try a full fledged blog about my garden this year, instead of random Facebook posts.
This year’s garden began on Sunday, and already I have lots of things sprouting. Mostly it’s lettuce, but I think I saw some basil, and a couple of my flowers and my tisane herbs. I co-opted Tim’s Aerogarden to start most of them in one of those foam garden starter trays.
Today I planted zucchini in a little terracotta pot.
I have rosemary, thyme, bergamont, chamomile, and catnip that wintered over inside. I turned one of the dormer windows in our bedroom into a growing area this winter.
For those of you unfamiliar with my garden layout, I have two flowerbeds by the front door, but all my herbs and vegetables are on a rooftop patio in containers. I also have a Yoshino Sakura in my container garden. It’s only about 5 ft tall now and doesn’t have many branches but I’m hopeful that Yo-chan will grow well in her pot. Tim has a Japanese Maple, I forget what variety, in a pot up there too, but he’s supposed to live in our front yard at some point.
If I can figure this whole thing out well enough pictures will likely be forthcoming.
This year’s garden began on Sunday, and already I have lots of things sprouting. Mostly it’s lettuce, but I think I saw some basil, and a couple of my flowers and my tisane herbs. I co-opted Tim’s Aerogarden to start most of them in one of those foam garden starter trays.
Today I planted zucchini in a little terracotta pot.
I have rosemary, thyme, bergamont, chamomile, and catnip that wintered over inside. I turned one of the dormer windows in our bedroom into a growing area this winter.
For those of you unfamiliar with my garden layout, I have two flowerbeds by the front door, but all my herbs and vegetables are on a rooftop patio in containers. I also have a Yoshino Sakura in my container garden. It’s only about 5 ft tall now and doesn’t have many branches but I’m hopeful that Yo-chan will grow well in her pot. Tim has a Japanese Maple, I forget what variety, in a pot up there too, but he’s supposed to live in our front yard at some point.
If I can figure this whole thing out well enough pictures will likely be forthcoming.
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