Ahem.
Mired as we have been in the onslaught of family medical drama (thankfully mostly resolved), the craziness of work (not at all resolved), and a sudden spring cold that's put us out for almost two weeks (working on resolution, dammit), I have been a bad blogger. I have not been as bad a home improver, but it's been close.
We had a few sunny days in March and April that kicked my spring fever (not the congestive kind) into high gear. By the time we'd gotten the floors mostly done and actually moved in last year, we'd missed the planting window, and I didn't get the garden I've coveted. This year, I'm NOT missing out on fresh tomatoes.
Oh yes, by August we will be swimming in three different varieties of heirloom tomato sauce.
Sunflowers gingerly peeking out of the dirt.
I was having issues with germination until I bought a heating pad (yes, I am that person) and within 24 hours, the sprouts fairly leaped out of the dirt. Best ridiculous purchase ever.
Carefully exposing my baby tomatoes to the harsh elements.
Oh yes. Amid concerns that the tomato seeds I planted wouldn't properly germinate, I overplanted, and every. single. seed appears to have germinated. And grown. We are overrun with tomato babies.
We acquired several loads of free bricks and concrete chunks from Craigslist, and proceeded to dig up the front half of the yard. Some people struggle to have a lush, verdant lawn. We want no lawn at all, and we have the thickest, most densely-rooted carpet of grass in the entire world. Digging up the sod has been a workout. But it's for a good cause, right? Tomatoes!
Garden beds all staked out.
It turns out that a yard of good potting soil is just about the big truck's weight limit. Our neighbor recommended this planting mix, and so far, we haven't been disappointed.
Herb starts! And geraniums, because why not.
Filled with dirt, the garden beds look less like graves, but Jesse is still referring to them as "the cairns". Come Halloween, I may put skeletons in them.
It's just now getting warm enough that I've planted some of my starts, but so far, I love how the gardens are turning out.
Also, if anyone wants a tomato start, let me know. I have way too many. (So many tomatoes!)
In a related project, I am subject to occasional lapses into obsessiveness, so all the coverage about California running out of water has really launched me into freakout mode. I was already planning on building some sort of rainwater harvesting facilities because I'd like to get the water bill as low as possible, and I'd love to augment it with something that falls out of the sky for free 80% of the year.
So. Rain barrels. I scored six 55-gallon barrels off Craigslist (where else) for $5 a piece, which is a steal in Portland, since rainwater harvesting is very much en vogue, and food-grade barrels can often fetch a premium, even in the classifieds. Mine previously held coconut and canola oil. (Like, a lot of coconut and canola oil. I hefted one of them up and promptly got the dregs all over my shirt. There's really nothing more unsettling than being drenched in lukewarm oil.)
Since a full barrel of water weighs almost 500 lbs, I had to do make sure my barrel tower would be robust enough to handle the weight.
I'm still wrestling with the connection between the gutters themselves and the barrels, since our gutters are a non-standard size (go figure) and I'm having to get very creative about piping. Home Depot doesn't stock 2.5" diameter pipes (such as our downspout), nor do they stock connectors. The internet would like $12 for a single PVC connector, and I would need at least two. My current approach is to investigate, shall we say, alternate hosing:
This is a 2.5" diameter 10 ft long Shop Vac hose. It's on its way.
If the hose doesn't work out, I've at least gained a spare Shop Vac hose which might work well in the garage dust-collection system I haven't yet built. It's not quite in the budget to replace the gutters at this point, but it might become necessary.
Although realistically, we're going to have to deal with this issue this summer:
That's a starling nest in the woodpecker hole in our siding. On the one hand, I love baby birds, and I'm so excited that these babies have finally hatched, and that their insistent shrilling is driving the cats insane. On the other hand...there are birds. In our siding. So as soon as the babies fledge, we'd probably better replace the siding. (And the windows. And the back deck. And the garage roof. And the plumbing. It never ends.)
In the meantime, it's spring and my garden is growing. What could be better?
