Saturday, August 28, 2010

Veggie Garden Round 2

I bought the seeds for the fall garden today. I'm going to try my luck with rainbow chard, "little finger" carrots which I hear are very sweet, scallions, giant snow peas, kale, snap bush beans, soybeans and broccoli. I also have some cabbage seeds left over from last year so I'll give them a chance to see if anything grows. I'm getting some veggies out of the ground this year!

I had wanted to start building the new raised boxes today but it wasn't in the cards. My drill isn't holding a charge and the girls were going nuts.

I'm working on big plans for the rest of the yard. I've got enough projects lined up for the next 5 years at least. The first up are creating walking paths from the driveway to the front door and the back gate.

Depending on the cost I'm going to fence the front yard with a small 3' or 4' high wood framed wire mesh fence to keep the girls from running out into the road. There will be a gate with Asian style arbor at the top of the stairs to prevent the kiddos from falling down the stairs that lead to the mailbox and the street.

For the spring I'm going to build some raised beds for a cut flower garden. I'll also be working on the planter beds in the front and the back, adding river rock to create a dry creek bed under the eaves of the roof.

The chinaberry trees have got to go. Not only are they invasive, but are the berries poisonous, and the fallen leaves and berries toxify (is that a word?) the ground so other plants can't grow. So at some point, to the unhappiness of Skip and Zoe, the chinaberry trees are coming down along with the holly bushes in the front.

I've also got plans for adding some bird- and butterfly-loving plants in the backyard, a seating area with fire pit, and more, more, more.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Austin: Home of Intellectual Livestock

I didn't realize that cattle were that philosophical, generous, and well organized too.

Monday, August 09, 2010

OK. I officially choose the WRONG spot for the garden. Duly noted. The veggies that haven't died aren't getting any bigger or producing.

Moving on... I'll be building some boxes in the side yard for the fall garden. Live and learn.