Friday, May 02, 2014

Nearly Finished



 The Green Beans have leaves! And the squash and cucumber plants are getting bigger leaves daily. The surrounding basil plants have their second set of leaves which are already showing the crinkly texture that they'll have as big girl plants.
We got the last of the eleven trees planted yesterday and now comes the final moving and potting of what remains of the compost and mulch piles. I am determined to finish this task today...all day, I am sure. Dave is filling in the low spots of our yard with the mulch and covering up that awful Bermuda grass. It is awful because it is brittle when dormant and the dogs track it into the house making a mess. Believe me when I say that the mulch doesn't do that. It stays put, mostly because it gets rolled flat.



There were comments concerning the lifespan of my plastic storage containers, and while I understand they are not long-lived, they will serve the purpose to hold that compost and consequent plants for this season, until such time as I can find replacements. Just yesterday we happened upon a farm store that had these heavy white plastic buckets, $5 each, and of course they will also hold more of the compost.


If I still have compost leftover, I do have a kiddie wading pool which I can fill. At that same farm store, we found a round water trough, about 6 feet in diameter, which we think we can get home, and bury...well, Dave will have the digging task, so that we won't have an above ground pool. We definitely want a water garden, with koi, and so we are considering stretching the rules a bit for this.
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I am loving getting this garden started and aware that I also need to be in the studio. However, I am a single-minded kind of person and it's no good trying to make quilts when my mind is elsewhere. At our country house I had a moratorium on everything but the garden until June 1st. But here, it is so much smaller a garden, and so much easier (yes, easier) to get things planted, that I do believe it will only be a week or two more of dinkin' around before it's all done. And I vow to take advantage of sales for the rest of the container plants. The white buckets will get flowers, thrillers and spillers, and maybe some perennials if they are inexpensive. I am doing mostly veggies in the big tubs, so no need to use the buckets for those. As of the last count, we have 35 containers in just the back yard, and twelve in the front.
That may be enough.

5 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:54 AM

    Fish need shade? You have no shade?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We'll have water lilies and other plants that will provide shade...FIRST. and then we'll get koi.

      Delete
  2. Have you ever tried to raise Koi in anything other than a "real" pond? I wish you luck.!!!! Here in Fl. algae (too much) is a real problem without a sophisticated (expensive) pump/filtration system. I just cant imagine having any luck in a 6' "tub". Please keep us posted, I hope it works out for you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We have allotted funds for an expensive pump, and we know of several ponds with koi nearby where it works for them. But everything is an experiment, so stay tuned.

      Delete
  3. Looking forward to the Koi Chronicles! I love Koi ponds but know too many people who just gave up. Our neighbors also had problems with Racoons going "fishing", which made for a very unappetizing early morning discovery. Sorry, I don't mean to be such a buzz kill...my apologies.

    ReplyDelete

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