garden the avenues

A few nights ago I had "crazy brain."  It's when I lay awake at night with my brain going a million miles per hour.  This was born during those hours:

garden the avenues

Of course, any of you who would like to join are welcome to, even if you don't live in the Avenues.  I'll be making a sign to put out in our front yard, and I'll print some flyers to put out by the sign.  I'm even considering going door to door, if necessary.

notice anything missing?

I tore down the shed yesterday evening, in preparation for tomorrow's activities.

It is now stacked not-so-neatly in our front lawn, waiting until I have the dump trailer tomorrow.

Here is a never-before-seen view of the house and backyard.  The shed would have been in the way before.
On the agenda for tomorrow: tear up and haul away asphalt driveway, rototill the entire backyard (grass areas included, if possible), spread 8 yards of horse manure compost in the backyard.  This is not the compost that I am brewing right now.  It's some stuff I'm purchasing from a horse boarding business in Sandy for $65 delivered!  It cost me that much for gas and car washing to get the 2 or 3 yards of goat manure last week.  Horse manure is a bit of a gamble because it is known to have more grass seed in it (horses don't have 5 stomachs like cows and can't digest as many seeds).  This compost, however, has been brewing for about 6 months, and I'm hoping that it got hot enough to kill any of the seeds, or at least most of them.

final backyard harvest

The weekend could be another major step in getting the backyard done.  With the help of neighbor Fred, a man is coming with a tractor to tear up our useless driveway and till the backyard.  Depends on the weather.  Hopefully it won't snow until later in the day on Saturday, or at least just be a light snow so we can still work.  In preparation, I harvested the last of the veggies from the garden planted a week after we moved in.

In case you didn't notice this tiny little eggplant, I took another photo of it:
Another shot showing off the different colors of the harvest:

fall garden update, October 7

The fall garden will have its first test this weekend, when the temperatures are supposed to dip and snow is in the forecast. Everything is still going strong at this point.  The new seeds I planted a few weeks ago germinated quite nicely and are doing well.  We've been hitting the kale and swiss chard fairly frequently, and even cooked up some of the broccoli greens when I thinned them out.  Here's a shot of the entire bed:

The major question mark in my mind as I planted this bed was how these peas would do.  It has been interesting to watch them grow.  They didn't climb very high, which I assume is due to the decreased light and temperature as the fall progresses.  I have a feeling they are pretty much done at this point.  We'll see what happens this weekend.  But I am glad to see that there are a few peas:
This is the only one I have harvested so far.  It was delicious!
I'm a bit skeptical that the peas in the fall are worth the extra effort because there are so many other veggies that are hitting their peak at that time.  I may try again next year.  We'll see.

greenhouse plans

I don't really have a choice.  If I want to do what I'm saying - growing most or all of our produce - I've got to extend the growing season, and I need a place to stage it all.  So a greenhouse is a must.  I found plans for this one online, and it looks pretty good.  I like the design with the clerestory windows up top.  And it seems simple enough to build in one day (I know...famous last words.)

At about 80 s.f., this one's pretty small, but should be enough room for what I need.  I'll build shelves on the south side to hold trays of seedlings, and will have a bench on the north side as a work area.

compost pile: still cookin'

I know the three or four of you who read this blog might be getting sick of compost pile posts, but too bad, here's another one.  We've had a lot of rain over the past couple days - it basically started right after I turned the pile over on Friday and hasn't stopped since.  So I was anxious to see how the pile faired.  

It did quite well.  The temperature read 125 degrees, but I only measured one spot and it was pretty superficial - so I'm sure it's hotter on the inside.  You have to either look really close or imagine it, but there is steam coming out of the disturbed compost:

I also took a few shots of the peppers - it's nice to see something green on the blog again.  First up is the habanero.  No, I haven't eaten any of these.  I did give my neighbor one, and I'll take his word for it that they are very hot.  These started turning orange a couple weeks ago:

Next up is the cayenne:

compost pile: day four

Yesterday I decided it was time to turn the pile.  The temperature was dropping just a bit - average of about 130 degrees over several places in the pile.  Plus, I was just anxious to turn it over and see what I would get.  Here is a before picture:

A close up after I knocked down one side:
After I finished turning the entire pile:
And one shot after just beginning the process:
Overall I feel pretty encouraged by the process.  I think I'll have some pretty nice compost in a couple weeks.

The planning process is ongoing.  I'm thinking about building a greenhouse (I don't know how I can avoid it, actually) and I checked out soil block makers online tonight.  Lots to think (and write) about.

p.s. - note to self: get the garlic planted!