Planning the Kitchen Garden Expansion, Again

I spent several hours this morning doing this.

I'm not an organized planner by any means. In fact, I wish I could say that this one piece of paper contains all the grand plans for the new kitchen garden area, but alas there are 2 spreadsheets and several other pieces of grid paper that contain lists and prices and lots and lots of scribbling.

Anyway, this plan is pretty firm at this point. Since there's no way you can figure all this out from the picture, I'll tell you what I decided on.

• All beds will be 8 inches high. I would really prefer 12 but it's just not in the budget.
• There will be a compost area on the south-facing fence with a 2 x 8 bed on either side where I'll plant tomatoes so that I can use the fence to help support them.
• There will be four 4 x 8 foot beds and a narrow 1 x 10 foot bed on either side of the garden that I'm planning to fill with strawberries.

I finally outlined the pie shaped area where the plants will be moved to make room for the new kitchen garden. I'm waiting for an estimate on how much it would cost to have the grass removed and the soil amended there but I think I've already changed my mind about paying somebody to do that. I'm a pro at grass removal!

So, in the next two weeks I need to dig a new flower bed, move a crap-load of plants and build 8 new raised beds. Otherwise, I'm liable to miss the entire planting season. I'm real real far behind on gardening activities this year and it's freaking me out.

Plotting My Next Big Garden Move: Kitchen Garden Expansion

Now that  few months have passed since finishing all my outdoor projects (pergola, patio), I'm really itching to do something amazing in my garden, again. 

In my effort to be more like the Dervaes or at least get a little closer to Urban Homesteading, I've decided to significantly expand my kitchen gardens.  Here's my kitchen garden history

• 2007 chose a big awkward spot just beyond the patio (AKA big pile of rubble) and threw down weed cloth over the area (around 8 x 10).  Things grew great, the weed control was awesome and despite the ugly factor, the location was prime for sunlight and maintenance.
• 2008 built 2 4 x 4 raised beds which I used as temporary leaf compost holders over the winter.  I like that they are contained and raised but the weed control was non-existent and plants are not thriving like they should due to the over-crowding.

For 2009 I'd like to build more raised beds using cedar this time (GB, you were right!) and a more of them!  I'd also like to be able to place a short cute fence around the kitchen garden area to keep the bastard rabbits out. 

I'll be removing a big section of my backyard for this expansion.  I'm not exactly sure of the dimensions yet but I'd like it to accommodate a minimum of (4) 4 x 4 raised beds a maximum of (6) 4 x 8 beds.  I'd also like to have narrow raised beds around the interior perimeter that I could fill with strawberries and a place in the back for my rain barrel and a 2-3 bin compost system.

I have an official plan drawn by Pie Guy (remember he did the official pergola plan, too) which I'd love to share with you but my stupid scanner is broken. 

I'd love to get this done in time to plant garlic.  Anybody know when's the latest I can plant garlic in zone 5?

More to come on the urban homestead project.  GB, call me! 

Technorati Tags: urban homesteading,garden planning,vegetable gardening,little homestead in the city,DIY,weekend warriors

Coveting Other People's Gardens

Do you find yourself going to other people's gardens and wanting to take pictures and put them on your blog pretending that it's your garden?  I do!

Last week I went to GB's for a barbecue in honor of Pie Guy going off to medical school next week.  GB grilled (the food rocked) in the rain and even though we had to eat inside I was still able to snap a few pictures. 

So, here's my pretend garden...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: landscaping,gardening,espalier apple tree,container gardening

It's Me Or The Yarrow!

Last year when I was buying every cheap plant I could get my hands on, I purchased a sickly looking yellow Yarrow plant for 75% off.  I think I had seen a photo of some Yarrow and I thought it looked cool.  I'm pretty sure I either did not look at the mature height of this plant or else I have no concept of height and need to repeat elementary school. 

Last year it never bloomed and really never grew at all.  So this year I was all geeked out when it showed back up in the same spot where I'd planted it last year.  So then it grew and grew until it just looks plain stupid next to the other stuff around it.  

Well, the Yarrow cannot live at my house.  It's not so much the height (I could move it to a more appropriate spot in the back of the bed) but the width is ridiculous.  And according to you experts, it's just gonna get worse. 

Anybody got a big vast prairie they are trying to fill up?  I've got just the plant for you!

Technorati Tags: yarrow,gardening,perennials,yellow flowers,tall plants,landscaping

A Letter To A Landscaper

Dear Bruce,

You're fired!

I have tried to be patient but after you did the following, I have no choice but to banish you from My Skinny Garden forever.

1. You ripped out my second year strawberries thinking they were weeds. Compared to all the creeping charlie that is taking over my entire estate, I don't know how you thought those beautiful strawberries were weeds and the creeping charlie wasn't. But, whatever.
2. When I left you a voicemail saying you ripped out my strawberries, you didn't even call to apologize. In fact, you never mentioned it again until we found your bill on our door with a note below the total (you overcharged us .50 by the way. Get a calculator!) saying "minus a few dollars for the strawberries." Frankly, Bruce, that pissed me off.
3. You never mowed behind the garage or beside the house where the big ass weeds are growing. I guess you thought those were there on purpose.
4. When we called to ask that you please mow the big weeds behind the garage ("if you are facing the garage door, it's on the right" we explained) the next time you came over, you hurried over the next day and mowed down my mammoth sunflower seedlings that my friend gave me, and left the big weeds behind the garage (on the right, not the left, Bruce!)

I nurse the plants along and then you come and mow them down and that breaks my heart which pisses Mr. Wonderful off and neither of us can take it anymore.

You've got a lot to learn, Bruce. Call me in about 10 years.

Angrily,

Gina

PS We're going to buy a new mower and mow ourselves. I don't know what we were thinking, anyway.

Technorati Tags: lawn mowing,landscaping,gardening

Devine Intervention: Paths

How did I miss this? ? ?

Over at Gardening Gone Wild they are hosting the first of what I hope will be the first of many Garden Bloggers' Design Workshops. This month's workshop is Paths and Walkways and it just so happens that I've been obsessing over where to place a path in my front garden, or if one belongs there at all.

If you've been following my current conundrum, you know that I'm in the process of expanding the front yard flower beds to prepare for some beautiful things to happen there next planting season. Well, no sooner had I expanded the beds and "lasagna'd" them when I ran across this awesome book Front Yard Gardens. You see where I'm going with this - screw the expansion - I want to plant my entire front yard!

Well the problem is that the yard is a perfect rectangle and that's pretty darn boring. Plus, the yard is not that deep but I think if I plant the entire thing without breaking it up somehow, I'll really have a hard time planting and weeding. Now normally I'd do this the exact opposite of how it should be done and plant first and think of paths later while cussing myself for my bad design and lack of forthought, but since it's winter I have some time on my hands.

So, I'm taking Nancy up on the offer to explain to you that I'm having trouble deciding where the path should go. The picture below is my front yard. I should say that I'm planning to have all those shrubs removed before I start planning so dont let them disrupt your creative juices.

So - where do the paths go? Don't be afraid to say "there should be no paths cuz the yard is too small." That just means less work for me ;)

The yard is 41 feet across (that includes the walk to the porch) and 18 feet deep.

The only idea I've had is to place a narrow walkway along the current curved beds then plant on the other side, too but that seems like it might look like my yard has stripes.

I look forward to your suggestions! And I believe I made the November 30th deadline so that means I get entered into a drawing for a great book. YAY!

In My Hood

Inspired by all the bloggers who have posted pictures of gardens in their neighborhoods I decided to take a walk around my own neighborhood to get a closer look at a few that have caught my eye from the car.

The house below is one that I ran across a few weeks ago. When I first saw it I actually gasped "wow! they removed all the grass in the front yard!! go on with your bad self, neighbor!" When I actually walked by it I noticed there is still some grass left. Judging from the very tall plants at the street, I'm thinking they must be looking for privacy. Either way, I admire their nerve and I'll be sure to check this garden out again in the spring when everything is in it's full beauty.
The house below is where my favorite neighborhood garden lives. I wish I knew these people and I wish they'd let me look in their backyard - I bet it's awesome! For some reason I always imagine that everybody is like me when it comes to their front yard. I figure all their best work is in the back and they only move to the front when they run out of space or find themselves pressured into improving their curb appeal by some fancy landscapers *glaring at Carolyn and MBT*

Here's the view from both ways on the street. The house is on a pretty busy street so I tried to snap the pictures quickly so nobody would think I'm with the FBI or anything. What, you don't think light blue crocs and Vols sweatshirt scream FBI?What I noticed about my neighborhood is that the gardens are mostly straight and narrow. There are very few curvy lines therefore the few that do have them, like the one in the picture above, really command attention. Walking in my neighborhood also reaffirmed that I prefer the messy look in the garden. You call it "cottage style" I call it charming disarray.

I'm still in search of that gardener in my hood who actually took the plunge to remove all their grass. Or, maybe I'll be the first?

Suggest A Plant: Curb Appeal

I had such great luck back in the summer when I asked people to suggest their favorite plant that I thought I'd try it again with front gardens I'm trying to design.

In case you need a reminder, here's where my new front gardens will be. I'm not finished removing the sod but you can see the outline of where the edge of the bed will be. These part shade beds are about 6 feet from the 5-6 feet tall shrubs. Disclaimer: I am aware the shrubs look like freshly groomed poodles. I hate them, too. But they are staying at least until next year, and I vow to never let the landscape guy do that again.

So, here's what I need oh wise gardeners with your beautiful gardens and your exquisite garden designs. Give me your 3 favorite plants that work together height wise and try to work them into the design. I'll either grow them from seed or grab them on clearance over the next couple of weeks.

Suggest a...
Tall plant - for the back of the bed near the poodle shrubs
Medium plant - to place in front of the tall plant you just suggested
Short plant - to place in front of the medium one you suggested

Thank you in advance for your suggestions! I appreciate you!

Planning MSG 2008: Lasagna Gardening

After reading Colleen's review of Lasagna Gardening, I started thinking this could be exactly what I need to get ready for next year's garden. I picked up a copy last night after work.

Book Review
What I like most about this book is the no-nonsenseness of it. After a short description of how she thought up the idea of Lasagna Gardening, Patricia Lanza gets right to explaining how to build a Lasagna Garden and describes a few of the ones she's built herself. I don't like garralous how-to books so this is right up my alley. Unfortunately, this makes the actual information of this book more suitable for a pamphlet - the rest seems to be general plant information but that didnt make me regret the purchase. I hate reading how-to books and thinking chapter after chapter "GET TO THE POINT, ALREADY!!"

So, about MSG 2008, I've already thought of 5 different places I could try this lasagna gardening!! I'm so excited!

Front Garden:
This is the new garden I started working on last weekend. After reading the book, I realize I could have just put wet newspaper down over the grass and started dumping stuff on top of it, but I'm not that regretful. I was able to use some of that sod in my expired veggie garden, anyway. I'm planning to finish removing the sod from the front garden, then try the layering over top of the dirt in hopes I'll have rich soil to plant in next spring.

Raised Bed Veggie Garden:
I had planned to wait until next spring to build my raised veggie beds but after reading this book I'm thinking I should do that like TODAY! My thinking had been, what's the point of putting the wood frame out in the yard now since I couldn't plant anything until next year. All I'd be doing is reducing the life of the wood by one year having it sit in the winter weather. BUT, there is the problem of filling the beds next spring once I build them. With Lasagna Gardening, I could simply build the beds, put down wet newspaper, then start layering stuff on top of it. I mean the leaves are about to start falling, plus I do still have the rest of the veggie garden to use for greens once I pull it out. If I start now and cover the beds with black plastic, I should have a very good start on filling those beds so that I don't need to bring in nearly as much dirt next spring. Plus, the soil will be so much richer than simply dumping top soil in the raised beds, right? What do you think?

Basketball Garden:
Immediately beside the basketball court is a 25 x 2.5 foot area that currently contains lava rock, and weeds. I bought the rocks 2 summers ago before I knew better. I didn't buy enough to look good, plus the rocks poke holes in the weed barrier so the weeds grow like crazy. It looks like crap! I had decided that I'd remove the rocks next spring and plant some sort of ground cover that could withstand basketball abuse, maybe creeping thyme or something that would smell good? Anyway, now that I've read about Lasagna Gardening, I'm thinking maybe I should go ahead and start on that now? Same principle as the others, I'd have great soil for planting by next spring.

Alley Garden x 2:
There are 2 small spaces by our fence and garage off the alley and even though I wouldn't really plant anything fancy back there, I do hate that it's so weedy and ugly. Maybe I could lay down the wet newspaper to kill the weeds and layer it so that I could plant some no-maintenance wildflowers or something back there next spring.

Another thing about this whole Lasagna Gardening thing is that it gives me more stuff to do in the garden now that everything is almost finished. What I love most about this is that it seems to be a way I can use things I already have around here to build great soil for next year. This satisfies the green side of me, the cheap side of me, and the lazy side of me!

Wow - I've got lots of work to do!

Sunday Digging

I was outside by 7:30 this morning. It was kinda chilly, but for me, perfect weather for digging. This is a fairly low traffic time on my street so I didn't have too many gawkers. The first thing Mr. W said is "WOW YOU REALLY DUG FAR AWAY FROM THE HOUSE!" What do you think? Is the bed too wide?I probably should have waited until later today to take these pictures but I was just so proud of myself I had to snap a few to post. The one below is the side of the house that leads to my backyard. I was surprised how much sun this area gets. I have no idea how many hours of sun per day equals "Sun" versus "Part Shade" but when I went back out to observe the sun at noon, it was still fully shining on this side garden. I'll keep checking that throughout the day and do some research on what constitutes Part Shade. I had always considered this entire front garden Part Shade but maybe sun loving plants would survive here on the corner.

I'm planning to move all the hosta over to the new Good Neighbor garden. They look really crappy this year but I think it's because I let these beds get so weedy all summer. Is it okay to transplant these hosta now, or should I wait until next spring?

Speaking of the Good Neighbor garden, one of the morning glory ladies scared the crap outta me while I was digging today. She was out gardening early too and I guess she heard me and came over to say hello. Did I mention I'm not social AT ALL? I mean I can do it, and I'm pretty darn friendly thanks to being raised in the south, but I'm a total Introvert. Anyway, she was pretty darn impressed with my newest gardening project, especially when I told her I was planning to plant some things on the side of the house for them to enjoy from their windows. She had noticed the Hibiscus that volunteered right under their morning glory vine and since she seemed to like it so much, I told her to dig it up and take it. I just don't care for them. The fact that it couldn't determine whether it was a weed or not is a total turnoff.
Goals for this week:

1. Finish removing sod from new beds (get out there before I'm fully awake and have a chance to talk myself out of it.)
2. Remove everything in kitchen garden except tomatoes. Try to find a place to compost it.
3. Transplant sod from front yard to the spot where the kitchen garden is currently.

Still Scared To Dig

This is as far as I went today. Day after day I've been following Carol over at May Dreams Garden while she's been working her ass off renovating beds. I went out again today and stared at the front yard. Today I did drag the garden hose out to the front, then turned around and went right back in the house. Again, no actual work was done.

I think I've figured out why I don't want to do this. It's because I'm all exposed in the front yard. I'll be out there digging in front of the entire world. I don't know about you guys but I look like complete shit when I'm gardening. Thanks to a bad ass sweat gene from my mother and my father, I can hardly dry my hair without perspiring. This, coupled with the extreme red face I get when I'm hot and sweaty, does NOT make for a pretty picture. I mean there have been times this summer that Mr. W actually looked extremely concerned about me when I came in from gardening. "ARE YOU OK?" "YOU DON'T LOOK SO GOOD!" "GET SOME WATER AND SIT DOWN!" So, that's all I need is for all the neighbors to be walking by or looking out there windows placing bets on how soon I'll drop red face first into the lawn. There is an old lady in my neighborhood who walks her even older lady mother (I'm assuming she's her mother) and every day when they walk by our house, they just gawk. I usually see them doing this from some window in my house but lord knows if I was out there digging. What if they stopped to talk to me? Or worse, what if they just stare at me until I get so pissed that I start screaming at them? "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU LOOKING AT!!!!!!" I have a bit of a temper from time to time.

I'm making a vow, here on this blog, that I will dig tomorrow! Before I do a single thing, I'll drag my butt out there, get the hose down to map the garden, and at least dig the outline of the front garden. I mean this is the time to get this done! The weather is really nice and it'll be so much better next year when it's ready to plant and I can get right to it rather than digging for a month. Okay, enough bitching - I'm moving on...

So the garden blogging world is really pissed off about that 70 year old lady in Utah that got arrested for her dead lawn. I have to admit, I really didn't care too much when I read the first few rants about it. But, after MBT, one of my garden blogging neighbors wrote about it today on his blog, I finally decided that I needed to see that woman's yard. I did find it on the internet and I'm sorry but her house and yard is in a shambles, people! I mean it was kind of beyond just a brown lawn and I think I'd be pissed if that house was on my block, too. Does that make me shallow? Now, before you all cuss me out, I do NOT think she should have been arrested or that anybody really has a right to tell anybody else how their house or yard should look, but I did notice it seemed to be rather junky besides the yard. I just wondered if maybe that had something to do with the initial complaint?

Lastly, I GOT A PROMOTION! YAY, ME! As of Sunday, September 19th, I'm officially a manager and responsible for 27 people. I'm excited and very very nervous. I'm hoping the bump in pay will help finance my new garden addiction which seems to have turned to a garden/hardscape/house renovation addiction. Wish me luck! Or maybe you should those poor 27 people luck.