Plumbing

I spent quite a bit of time at home last week with a sick little one. As a result I decided to tackle a few nagging projects. Often I put things off because I think I don't know what I am doing. Its a lot easier to just drown yourself in research and thought then actually tackle the project. My week of action resulted in the replacement of the outer door trim where it had rotted away. It took all of about 30 minutes to remove, replace and caulk. I probably spent more time painting it to look nice which then resulted in painting of the door to make it look nice too. Now the side entry is back to looking like something besides a ramshackle shack! I also replaced the faucet in the kitchen sink. Another item that had taken to dripping. If you have paid a plumber to do this you would be embarrassed at how easy it was. Turn off water. Remove everything in pretty much logical order and then replace. The new faucet comes with instructions in case you need them. I only had a little bit of mystery surrounding the plumbers putty. In the end. I probably didn't even need it. I'll have some for next time! Now I have no excuses for not tackling the bathroom faucet! I also spent quite a bit of time painting the trim from the window replacements that were done over two years ago. I don't think we realize how all these unfinished things cause stress in our lives. My door is beautiful. My faucet is awesome. My windows are worthy of opening the drapes. Life is good and I am empowered! What's the longest you have left something unfinished?

Compost Demystified

Composting seems to be somewhat of a confusing topic/task for a lot of people.
I am hear to tell you that it is nothing to burn internet hours over! Basically if you throw a banana peel on the ground, it will become compost. The amount of time it will take will depend greatly on the environmental conditions where you leave it but none the less, it will eventually compost or decompose. Same thing. My set up is of course, cheap. I used seven pallets and some old 2x6's to create a three bay set up.

Why three bays? That is the amount of space I was willing to lend to the project and seemed like it might make a decent contribution to the garden. I'll give you that it is not pretty but, it draws little attention, is easy to work with, cheap and can look prettier if vines are grown over it. I prefer morning glories. There are many recipes out there for layering, turning, temperatures and timing etc. I am hear to tell you that it really doesn't matter. The more effort you put in, the faster things will go and the more compost you will get. On the other hand, if you just pile it all in the bin and do absolutely nothing, you will still get compost. I will give you just a few basic rules to remember: 1)Stay away from meat and dinner scraps. The only thing this will do is add smell and stray animals. 2) The pile does need moisture to decompose. You can wait on mother nature or add some. Its up to you. 3)Turn the pile. Air will help speed the process. You decide if you want to go with biweekly, monthly, yearly etc. 4)Composting can be done with a shovel. You don't need to contain it if you don't want to, just make a pile. 5)All plant material is fair game. If you have copious amounts of seeded weeds you may want to send those to the trash. No branches larger than your ipod cord. That is about it. It can be as easy or as intensive as you choose to let it get. But don't let the excuse of hard work get in your way.

Progress

When we first purchased this home it needed a lot of landscaping. We spent the first year removing trash, debris, half dead, dead and
unwanted plant material. Every summer about this time I whine a bit about how it seems like things have not come very far. My husband always reminds me of the physical tasks we have done for the season. When the computer went down we had to reload all of our photos and came across the one above. Compared to today. We really have come a long way! I am reminded that real progress takes time and that a tree is not grown in a day.

There is certainly still a lot of work to be done and it is easy to get discouraged when the progress must be measured in years instead of weeks. I suppose what I really want to say is, stick with it!

Garden Fashion

I do believe I have found a must have in garden fashion! What I wouldn't do to have a pair of these to wear in and around my garden. I might just go wander around outside for an opportunity to put on these beauties! These boots could make any garden misadventure delightful. I don't actually own a pair but am hopeful I will soon. Hint Hint Hint if you love me! Sloggers.com

A little lazy

Beyond admitting that I am cheap I should probably admit that I am a bit lazy. For example my garden hose. The end of it has been bent for....well, as long as I can remember. It is very annoying. Every time I hook it up to something, it leaks. And every time it leaks it makes me cringe as I also am a staunch advocate of conservation. So why didn't I fix it eons ago? Because I am lazy. I truly should not have been lazy about this. The fix is disgustingly simple and cheap. I purchased a new hose end for $3.50 and some new hose washers to fix some other leaks for about $1.50. It took all of five minutes of my daughters nap to render 5 hose connections leak free. I am truly ashamed of myself. So, I encourage you, just take care of some little things this week.

Must Have Tools

Figuring out what you need to tend your garden can seem futile. I myself have purchasesd some of those "promising" tools only to realize that they don't actually remove weeds on their own! I now feel like there are an essential three to making life easier. The first is a good trowel for planting, digging, weeding etc. The biggest problem with most trowels is that they are week at the neck. They cannot take the force of deep digging dandelions or compacted earth. I have found one that has yet to whimper at what I have put it through. It even comes in a super cool pink! Average cost is about $18.00. You can find them in select garden stores but they are also available at diggersusa.com. The second item is the nejiri gama hoe. I love this hoe for working on your knees and eradicating weeds close to your plants. It cuts the soil nicely and is great for precision work. It helps keep hand weeding to a minimum. You can expect to pay about 12-18 dollars. The third item is the scuffle hoe. Since I am a farm girl I was pretty convinced the old standard was the way to go. My husband read about this item and brought one home. I was resistant as first but alas I am now a big fan. The best part about this hoe is that you can cut the weeds just under the surface of the soil on the front stroke and the back stroke with much less effort than the standard model. This one is truly a shoulder saver! Expect to spend about $20.00. You can find them at most garden stores. All three take a little work and none of them will tackle a three foot weed. So weed early weed often! What are your favorite garden tools?

Peas if you please

Over the course of the past two weeks we have been trying to harvest and eat peas from the garden. It has been very disappointing and I am sure I am to blame. This year when I planted the garden, I vowed to be more diligent about marking what I planted where and when. Soooo I diligently placed plant labels at the beginning of each row marked with date and variety. You would think, had I been so fastidious I would have known that the peas I was trying to harvest were shelling peas and not sugar snap peas. I was trying to eat the whole pod and harvest early so they would be tender. It seemed no matter how early I got to them they were still fibrous. Alas I waited a week until they were nice and plump and what do you know, if you pop open those pods some beautiful and tasty little surprises wait inside!

So why was I so clueless? Well this is a lesson that I am ashamed to admit that I learned long ago actually sitting in class at UNC! I marked my plant tags with a sharpie. It takes less than two weeks for the sun to render the markings of the seemingly ever permanent sharpie invisible! Always use a pencil my friends. Is holds up to sun and water forever! I am sure I have weeded away some special rows of something this year because I didn't know what I was looking for to sprout. Sigh. Thank you all for your patience during my computer troubles! Things are well on their way to spectacular now!