Dad and I are finishing up the last of the fence panels that we are using for the garden. Some of them are in better condition than others, but two coats of primer and two more coats of paint cover most of the problems.
lipstick on a pig
ready for wire
Today we put the bottom rail around the remaining fence. Now we are ready for the wire. Then the metal around the bottom. Then the wire at the top (to dissuade deer). Plus, Bill and I made two trips to the landscape waste facility for wood chips. Oh, we mowed and trimmed both Piper Street properties, as well.
looking south
hardware cloth
northeast corner
humisery
Humisery is a condition where one feels miserable because of the humidity. (Actually, this coined word came into being 10 seconds ago with a typo.) When I left for the garden this morning, there was a light drizzle. I decided that I may as well lay out the remaining beds and get a good workout while it was a little bit cooler. It took me a couple of hours to measure, stake out, and dig the edges. Now they are ready for Dwight, sod-skimmer extraordinaire.
feeling optimistic
broccoli wannabe
I wonder what’s for dinner tonight?!
little bit of greens and peas
black-seeded Simpson and purple-podded peas
progress report #1
Blue Lake bush bean
red onion
San Marzano transplanted yesterday
10-day San Marzano transplant
broccoli
trying to beat the rain
Okay, the ground was not dried out from the previous rain, but if I didn’t plant the last of the tomatoes today, they would probably have dried up in their tiny, little containers (is that redundant? –rhetorical question. yes.) So I planted nine San Marzanos and three Mexican Midgets, plus the last three of the broccoli. I also weeded the onions and rigged up a deer/rabbit barricade for the newly planted tomatoes. I arrived at the garden about 9 A.M. and left about 1:30 P.M.
the glamour of farming
Not just anyone can be a farmer. Nope. We found two more tubs, for a total of five, to haul wood chips. It took about an hour to go to the city landscape waste, load five buckets up, drive back to Piper, position newspapers, and spread the chips. Although it’s only about 80 degrees, the humidity seems to be right about 100%. We were going to make another trip (we meaning my farm hand who works only for food), but it was starting not to be fun. The landscape waste facility is only open Thurs through Sunday, so we will have to wait four more days to continue the grand scheme.
thank you, city of macomb
Residents of Macomb can pick up free wood chips at the city’s landscape waste location. So we loaded up the laundry tubs and headed out just ahead of a storm. Came back home to have some dinner. Just as I was getting ready to sear the ribeyes, the electricity went out. Lit the gas burners with a match and heated up some mashed potatoes the old-fashioned way: on the stove. After a nice candlelight dinner, decided to head to the garden since there was nothing to do at the house. Three laundry tubs covered almost 20′ of garden walkway.
“but now we can’t see what you’re doing back there”
That’s what the neighbors are thinking. Dwight installed the north fence–or at least all the panels we had painted and transported to the property. Â The goal is to hide the various clutter necessary to raise food.
fence progress
Dad and I have now finished painting enough panels to complete one end of the fence.
