Elizabeth & Brendan

And now we are trying to figure out how to keep Eli from running through it when he is barking. Tonight we have put a fence up on the back end but not sure that is enough. We will see.

Here is the garden all nice and planted.  We have planted:

• Cilantro
• Bell peppers (green and orange)
• Hot peppers
• Beefsteak tomatoes
• Cherry tomatoes
• Cucumbers
• Zucchini

Here is Jerry the Gnome under the tree.

Here is Gil the Gnome by the willow tree.

Eli with Gil the Gnome.

Here is the new hydrangea that is doing well except on the really really hot days.  It gets too much sun so I have to water it a bit more but other than that it is thriving.  Our neighbors gave us a great article on taking care of the hydrangeas in “This Old House” magazine.  It is a really good magazine and I may soon replace People with TOH.

You will notice a bump to the left of the hydrangea.  This is my attempt to grow raspberries like Grandpa Thienel.  If my garden is half as good as his, I will be mighty satisfied.

These are some dahlia sprouts.

Eli has taken to hiding in the evergreens.  Here is coming out of the hole.

This is a wider shot of Eli in the hole.

On Saturday we did a big Home Depot trip to get fill for the garden.  Our car had a nice earthy smell with the peat moss, soil, and manure we had.  Once we got home, Eli wanted to play.  So we let him on the deck with the gate closed while we hauled the bags (many bags) into the yard.  Eli was whining.  He wanted to come out with us.  He then was trying to get to us through the fence.  Below is a picture after he let out a long whine and laid down.

Day 2 at the job and so far so good.  I am in a lot of trainings and have been exhausted at the end of the day.  I am so looking forward to this weekend so I can continue with the gardening.  I have seen some growths that do not look like weeds.  And I am pretty excited!!!

I think the gnmes will get a home this weekend as well.

All of this rain seems to make the weeds grow in the yard.  While I love our yard, the amount of weeds can get overwhelming.  And of course I won’t spray chemicals on the yard because of the dog, the vegetables we plan to grow and don’t want the chemicals to enter the water supply.  My only hope is to try some corn gluten.  A co-worker told me about it – apparently it stops germination.  But it stops germination for everything so you cannot use it in areas you want grass or flowers to grow.  And actually, we have a fair amount of space where we don’t have grass and don’t plan to plant flowers.  So hopefully this will work and I can cut down on my weeding time.  Or Brendan can help me one day.  Either one.

I am also paranoid that the lilac bush isn’t going to transplant well.  I can’t tell if it is drooping from the rain or the lack of root growth.  I guess if this is my biggest problem today then I am doing okay.

Things I am learning:
1) Gardening is physical labor.
2) Gardening takes a long time
3) Gardening is tricky.

It is tricky because you don’t know what is going to come up and what isn’t. I am planting these things hoping they bloom. I think some of them will but probably not all.

We planted moss phlox where holly once stood. It will grow and spread and fill in nicely by the walk way and evergreens.

I planted another hydrangea bush on the one side. I will try to get them to be similarly sized in a few years.

I also planted a lilac tree and several flowers: dahlia, hyacinth, and ranunculus. You can see the lilac but will have to wait on the others.

We also found a flower box in the shed so we added some color to the front of the house.

I planted peonies as well but didn’t take a picture. Yet

The gnomes do not have a permanent home but I hope to put them out next week. Stay tuned.

Here is the garden box Brendan built for me. I am waiting for the soy clean sealer to come so we can waterproof the wood in a non-toxic manner that will be safe for consuming the food grown within. The sealer arrives Monday, I will seal during the week and then next weekend we will begin filling it. FUN!

Also the previous owners planted tulips and they came up beautifully.

More garden photos to come…

Brendan mowed the lawn.

Eli slept.

Once I get my camera battery recharged I will be showing you pictures of my raised bed garden built by Brendan. Also, major planting is about to begin the next few weeks. Stay tuned.

I have been spending the past few weekends in the yard. This weekend had me bagging all the shrubs as well as getting all the vines off the pergola. The wisteria branches were tougher to cut than I thought and I almost lost them over the fence into the neighbors. Most of the branches were cut and saved for next winter (to be used as kindling).

While the cleaning and the set up is going well, Brendan and I discussed that this year will most likely be a transition for the yard. We are seeing what works in the yard, what we like, what Eli doesn’t destroy.

Our plans for the yard include:

• Raised bed vegetable garden
• Hydrangea bush (adding another)
• Raspberry plants
• Lilac bush
• Peonies
• Dahlia
• Ranunculus
• Black eyed susans
• Chrysanthemums (Bill from work gave it me this.  I planted it last year.  Brendan mowed over it thinking it was a weed.  Therefore all these flowers must survive Brenda’s mowing)
• Morning glory or ivy or maybe honeysuckle for the pergola

Then I may put window boxes out in the front of the house with some marigolds or something.

We will see what grows and what we like and then I think next year we will winterize the yard better.

And Eli helps us out by laying in the sun and barking at people.  Gardening is really tiring for the dog and he passes out at night.  And who am I kidding, so did I.

While B is away, the plan was for me to try to get rid of a shrub.  Don’t worry we are replacing the shrub with a veggie garden. I told B to not be surprised if he comes back and nothing is done or I have made a mess of the shrub.  Well, neither happened.  In fact a lot of good things happened.

Here is the shrub before:

Here it is one hour later…

With the hole filled in…

Then I was inspired to go after the holly bushes…

Out they came!

The only casualty was my sneaker…got a little to close to the hedger.  Oh well. It adds character.

You will notice the compost bin is out and in use.  Only 6 months till we can use the compost.  tick tock.

I thought this day would never come…we can see grass.  After two days of 50 degree weather, we have seen a significant decrease in the snow in our yard.  We now can see about a quarter of the yard.  Amazing.  To give some perspective, on December 28th we bought a compost bin.  It was after the big Christmas storm – we said once this melts we will put the bin outside.  We haven’t put the bin out.  We haven’t seen our grass since Christmas. 

Now, while we can see some grass, the area we planned to put the bin is still snow covered but we are getting closer.  I think there is a strong possibility next weekend we whill have a working compost bin.

Fingers crossed!