Taking Stock

Some days are good ones.  Some days? Not so much.  I have been finding, lately, that the good ones are on my weekends. This is generally due to the fact that I am completing things at home - something that leaves me feeling contented.  The last few weeks and weekends, things have been coming along very nicely: The Mushroom Fence is done. The Kitchen Floor is done (though the trim still needs to be put on.) The Great Window Project is mostly done. The Two Trees Removal Project has been completed. 

My focus this weekend has been the back yard. The trees I spoke of above were the pear tree and the small juniper that looked like a bonsai tree. I first cut down and sectioned the pear – some small rounds were added to my wood-stove stock of firewood – to be burnt next winter. I then cut down the juniper.  The root systems were then dug out and all of that debris is now sitting in a small pile to one side of my yard awaiting my “removal” plan – whatever that may be. I do have to make shift to get an accumulated pile of debris to the dump, but the back yard is waking up and spring waits for no-one.

All gone - now, to back fill that hole and
move the raised bed!

Two Trees Debris!

Once the Juniper was out of the way, I moved the small raised bed I’d placed near the oil tank in that spot and back-filled it with dirt from the pile accumulated when the Mock Orange was dug out for the fence. I’ll miss the mock orange, but only for its scent when in bloom. They really are lovely shrubs but need to be managed – and I need shrubs and plants (and trees) that don’t need constant management.

In any case, that bed is pet-access-proofed, and waiting to be amended with sea soil and bone meal in readiness for tomato planting.  It will be a lovely hot spot for tomatoes and peppers to be grown!

When I was out getting seeds, I also bought some small trellis-y things made of cedar and have stuffed them into the flowers-only bed (near the green cone composter) and planted Sweet Pea seeds. I have a whole bag of bulbs that need to go in there – which will be one of today’s things to do. I’m going to try and make it colourful in the spring and aromatic in the hot of summer.  I have a high-scented Peony, and some high-scented Lilies that I will be putting in.  As long as I ensure the soil is well fed, there shouldn’t be any problems.

Trellises in place

I also moved my Bean Trellis to its new “2-year” spot.  It now sits along the Mushroom Fence (where it will receive loads of sunshine) and I also finally found a use for the 8”x8” decorative Angelus blocks I pulled out of the house when I dismantled the faux mantle in the living room.  I have lined them up, three on each side, on the outside edges of the bean trellis and will plant my beans in them.  That should serve a couple of purposes – one, it looks like a miniature raised bed (almost like I actually planned it out!) and two, it will raise the plants up off the ground and hopefully make it a little harder for the wood bugs to get to the tender bean leaves at ground level.

The new spot

I just need to give some thought to what I want to do with the ground-space between the sides... Hm.

When the Mushroom Fence was going in, one of the Blueberry Bushes got smushed.  I mean flattened.  I’m pretty certain I wasn’t going to get it to live – so I removed and replaced it this weekend.  I also bought a nice healthy looking Rosemary plant and put it into one of the great pots I had tomatoes planted in last year. I *think* that has herbs in all of the planters on the patio now – Rosemary, Thyme, Sage, Oregano, and Chives.

I still have loads of clean-up to do – that giant pile of dirt DOES have a use ahead of it – I need to purchase a little bit more lumber and hardware and then will be putting in the LAST of the raised beds – where I had the Health Kick tomato last summer. That will more than likely be NEXT weekend’s major project.  I need to measure the space properly and then look through the lumber I have ferreted away here and there before I decide what to put in.  This bed may end up being 2”x8” instead of 1”x8” construction – the thinner boards will need to be replaced sooner and I am kind of wishing I had just bought 2”x8”s for all of the other beds in the first place.  Ah well – it is all about learning, right?

Well, I should really get dressed and get out there – the rain isn’t going to hold off forever!

With love across the waters…