This Girl’s House

This weekend, I spent the time pulling Arrowhead weed around the dock and front of the lawn, at least 20 feet into the lake. 

 

It was back breaking work, and to tell the truth I would not have been doing it except my neighbor expressed concern about it, and I try to be a good neighbor.  Steve was laughing about it, thought I was crazy because it’s just going to come back, but you do what think you have to do.  Arrowhead weed grows about 5 to 6 feet tall and it has these tall sharp blades with little flowers at the end. 

 

The real issue is the root system.  It has these bulbous tubers that grow in a root system that resembles more of a carpet than anything I’ve ever seen. 

 

We tried pulling them out with a potato rake for about half hour.  I found that to be a little frustration.  Luckily, I had bought my large pick axe with me in the wheel barrel so I told Darlene to hand me that and began methodically chopping away at the undergrowth.  You basically had to whack whack away at the weed, and then reach down under the water with your hand and feel around until you got underneath the root system and then start slowly pulling until you got a good grip under it, and then start rocking back and forth using your weight as leverage until you’ve yanked a hunk out. 

 

Imagine I’m out in the lake 20 foot out, bending down with my face just above the surface of the water, standing there in a dripping t-shirt and shorts wearing my rubber boots that have half a foot of water in the soles.  Once you got the hunk torn out, I had to drag it to the bank and heave it up as far as I could.  Laden with water, the root hunks weigh between 30 and 50 pounds.  Once on the bank, the roots will dry out and hopefully I can add them to the compost pile.  I read last night that the Indians used to eat the roots and that they contain a lot of carbohydrates, which is just great.  Another food source.  Anyway, I’m pooped.

You know it’s one thing to say, I’m going to do a garden to feed my family, and it’s another issue to get real live results from that commitment.  We have 6 garden beds, one large half wine barrel, several long green planters, and 16 tires that I’m using to grow stuff in.  You’d be amazed at how much space plants take, and at this time, I’m not getting enough out of the garden to feed me and Stevie let alone a family. 

No doubt, it’a learning experience and I’ll get better at the task the more years I put into it.  For example, let me tell you all about my broccoli. 

I planted the brocolli in March and it’s the end of May and I had nothing more than a couple of week sticks of broccoli.  Certainly not the volume that I was looking for.  First off, I only planted two rows.  That’s nothing enough to feed two people the amount of broccoli we like to eat.  I did read that we could use the leaves, but I’m looking for real broccoli heads.  Second, I waited too long to harvest what little broccoli I grew.  When the floret begin to sprout little yellow flowers, it was a bad sign.  I was like, well, what do I do now.  Do I just off the leaves and hope that it will regrow again, or do I start all over.  Well, I found my answer in this book called Rodale’s Vegetable Garden Problem Solver that I checked out of the library.  First, brocolli is harvested in one shot.  Whatever you’re going to get, you’ll get within 60 days of planting unless you expect a cool summer (less than 80 degrees).  Some people suggest that you pull the plant out when you’re ready to harvest, but I found a great video on YouTube that tells you how to extend your harvest to get the side shoots.  When you eventually pull the plant, it is ready for the compost pile.  And I’m definitely going to need more than 2 rows of brocolli.  I’m going to have to stagger the plantings.

I found some good recipes for homemade cleaners at TipNut.com. There are dozens of recipes here. My favorite seems to be the Lemon Air Freshener.

It was a very wet wet winter and spring this past year. This next week we are almost guaranteed a full week of sun, and accompanied with the three day weekend, Teresa has decided to use this time to get out the camping gear and work on the 5th wheel. Now, did I tell you about the very very wet winter we had. Well in one particularly wet week, we had a solid downpour for maybe 3 or 4 days. The gutters could not keep up, and water just dumped off the roof and went down into the crawlspace. After the deluge, there was 2 or 3 feet of water in the crawlspace. With the help of the pump and some good luck, that water disisipated in a day or two, but it left it’s mark. We keep all of our camping gear, all of our outdoor furniture in the crawlspace and it was time to take a look at the damage. With some work, we hauled everything out. The camp gear was stored in these 2 feet tall by 5 feet long rubber bins, and when we picked them up it was clear that they also contained water. Our sleeping bags were wet and smelled of mildew. I laid them out on the ground to dry out for a day, and then one by one, ran through the washing machine, a couple of times using a solution of tide, baking soda and vinegar. Followed by a rinse of something sweet smelling. It did the trick. The 5 wheel is getting a vinegar and bleach spray and wash and Stevie is replacing the roof. Not sure it will be ready for our first week of camping, but we will using it this summer.

I read the most interesting blog post tonight about this subject at Casaubon’s Book blog. The gal makes some interesting points. I too have come to the conclusion that I have more land than I need, and for many of the reasons she mentions, I note. I bought the land for the same reasons she and her family bought theirs. My garden is 20 feet from my front door and I have the well pump right by the garden fence. The only thing I really lack is actual gardening experience, which I am in the process of gaining. I too have a lot of potatoes, but I think I need more.

I’ve been thinking about creating new slip covers for an old beige couch we have in the living room. Here is a really good article about doing reupholstery, but I’m still thinking slip covers because I want something I can slip off and throw into the wash.

We’ve started to put the siding up, two panels at a time. With 54 panels to put up, it will take us 27 evenings.

There are some handy tools that we’re using though to get the job done. The first is the Boardmate. We use 3 of them.

Sitting the panels on these, takes the strain off of our arms and backs while we’re making adjustments and nailing them up.

The second tool was a 2 by 4 length that we used to keep the panels level.

My garden is getting bigger every day. I’m thinking I might have to transplant some of budding produce, like my potatoes and my greens.

I’m still trying to figure out what I’m going to do with the cabinet situation.  I finally discovered what brand of cheap builder’s cabinets were installed.  The manufacture name is Aristokraft.  I’d like to take the line of cabinets all the way up to the ceiling, but that will only work if I can find the same brand or close to it.  We will see.

I’m sitting on the new deck keeping an eye on the chicken and vegetables on the grill and I decided to write about the new propane grill, the long day of working in the yard, and my test of the new color for the cabinets.  By the way, it’s really cool sitting on the deck, looking out over the lake, relaxing while sipping a glass of wine.  It’s the payoff for all the hard work we’ve done and money spent, and it’s the reason that we need to keep working hard to finish the job.

Today, I got started early.  I had piles of cardboard that I took out to the area by the well.  It’s in a spot where a lot of weeds come up and I want to put a stop to that.  I plan to cut everything down, put down plastic and cardboard, and then put some top soil down and throw some grass see up.  I don’t mind putting down wild plants but I have to wait until after the weeds go away.  It took me 2 and a half hours to mow the lawn.  It was the first mow of the year.  Thank god, I have a riding lawn mower.  I’d like to replace the grass with plants, but it will take me years and years of work and thoughtful selection to make that happen.  Now I have a few hours of weedeating ahead of me.  Plus, I’m going to try and pick up 2 loads of soil every week from the gravel pit.  I know it’s a lot of soil to move, but we have a lot of clay that we have to deal with and most plants do best with a nice clean start.

 

So some of my seeds are coming up and some are not.  It probably won’t surprise you to know that I didn’t buy seeds this year.  I’ve had seeds from several years of wishful thinking, and I just didn’t want them to go to waste.   My onions are coming up and so are so my lettuce.   Good thing I bought some small nursery vegetable as well.  I’m trying to use those to space my garden bed.    Currently, the only produce I’m getting out of the garden are my garlic chives.  They are good though, particularly on grilled chicken.

I painted the side of a cabinet today, a dark bittersweet chocolate.  Stevie suggested that we paint a whole cabinet so we could really get a feel for the look.  I like it.  With stainless steel knobs (or brushed nickel) to match our appliances, I think that the look will really pop.

Stevie thinks things would be perfect if we just added a zip line down to the dock.  I told him I didn’t think so.  Still we had lots of family here this weekend.   Opening day for fishing on the lake.

My neighbor has a greenhouse that her husband bought for her on her birthday.  I’ve been jealous of that greenhouse from day 1, and have one day dreamed of me having a greenhouse of my own.  I’ve been putting some thought into where I would put the dreamhouse, and what type of dreamhouse I would buy.  Here is an excellent article about greenhouses, including the challenges of putting one together, from Alexandra Marks, Christian Science Monitor.  This website from the University of Georgia contains information about greenhouses including greenhouse detailed architecture plans for those who might want to build their own.  Here’s another great document about Greenhouse Vegetable Production.  While the greenhouse it’s referring to is on a large scale, most of the growing methods discussed can be assumed by an individual with a small greenhouse.  The University of West Virginia also has a great document on greenhouses.

This week, we’re going to get started on the siding.  One board at a time.  We figure we will do a few boards a night until we’re finished.  I wonder how long that job will take.  We have 2 boardmates now though, so the job should go must faster.

I’ve only had cats for about 6 months now.  The idea of Teresa having to empty a litter box on a regular basis is well frankly, a stunning development to me, I must say.  But I’ve been doing it semi regularly.  It’s not been that much of a problem except for the smell.  I’ll be honest and say it’s a lot for me to empty more than once a day.  It started off in the office and when I couldn’t stand it there, moved to the laundry room.  It’s a bit of a tight squeeze, but I have to pass it quite a few times of day and I was starting to notice that the smell would linger even well after I emptied the litter box.  Now, what I was doing was scooping the litter box maybe in the evening.  I’d have to double bag in those plastic bags you get from the grocery stopping and I don’t shopping all that much anymore, plus, I’ve started bringing mo own bags, so the number of possible “kitty litter” bags was starting to decrease and I always felt guilty using those anyway. 

One day a friend of mine turned me onto this product called LitterLocker Plus.  She says it great, plus spending an extra few dollars on kitty litter makes all the difference in the world.  It’s been 3 days with LitterLocker Plus contraption which I bought for 30 bucks, and let me tell you that this baby is well worth the money.  I haven’t smell anything coming out of the laundry room and I will empty the litter box more frequently now that I don’t have to run out to the garbage area with double bagged litter poop.  I spend a little bit more on Kitty Litter, we’re using Tidy Cats now, and I sprinkle the sweet smelling powder into it after I scoop. You have to empty the Litter Locker every 3 weeks.  Whoever came up with Litter Locker though was a genius.  There is a long roll of bags in there, and you dump the kitty poop into it, and then turn the wheel and it rolls bag down into a contraption and basicly seals the poop up, leaving you with clean bag in the upper area. 

Well I do.  I’ve been composting regularly for about a year now, and it’s gotten to be such a habbit that I cringe inside when something goes into the trash that should go into the compost pile.  Shoot, it’s such a regular habit that even Stevie is composting too.  It wasn’t always like this. 

I’ve been composting regularly now for almost a year, and my first efforts where pretty weird.  For one thing, I was just throwing the compost in a pile, and not doing really nothing with it.  I didn’t put the right articles in my compost.  I started composting in a shady area.  I wasn’t using the right mix, I mean brocolli stalks take a really long time to break down if you don’t chop them up and don’t mix them with the right ingredients. 

Then I started to compost in my raised beds, and the stars aligned themselves in the heavens.  For one thing, I begin to mix the compost with some soil and other types of brown material.  Second, my raised beds are in an area that gets regular sun and near enough to hose to keep it from drying out.  Finally, I mix my compose with a pitch fork.  No, I’m not lifting the stuff, but I am in there moving that pitchfork back and forth. 

OK, so I don’t really know what I’m doing.  But 2 months ago, my friend asked me if I had some worms in my compost and I said no.  So she brings over a jar of nice red worms and we go out there to put them in my compost pile, and don’t you know it, I lift my compost and there were hundreds of worms everywhere.  My compost was wiggling all over the place.  I added her worms into the pile, and now I rotate the compost into the beds, moving my worms around.  I’ve basically run out of space in my raised beds, and now I’m going to try a different approach. 

One day, we were driving down the road and I saw these 2 feet by 2 feet square structures, four green fence posts surrounded by wire about 3 to 4 feet tall just sticking out in the middle of someone’s lawn.  It took me a moment to realize what I was looking at.  Homemade compost bins.  Just think about it.  You compost in those bins and as you keep adding in stuff, it starts settling down.  When it’s full, you just start a new one.  When it’s done, you just unhook the wire fence and start shoveling out.

What’s going in my compost pile?  Egg shells, coffee grinds (although not so much anymore), tea bags, all sorts of green materials (we live so far away from the store that sometimes when tend to overbuy produce and let’s face it, most of that cauliflower is not something we would eat), stale bread, plant clippings, dog hair, dust bunnies.  I keep a 3 pound empty coffee can on the counter and dump my items to compost in there.  When that gets full, I move it out the door to the back porch where I put it in an empty 28 pound cat litter bucket.  When that gets full, I pour the contents into my latest compost pile and mix it up with some clay or old dirt that I usually have lying next to it.  We’re filling that cat litter bucket up about every 10 days or so, and to busy honest, there is a lot more room in the garbage can which just goes to show you how much compostable materials are ending up in landfills.  What a waste.

Good Links on Composting

• Compost Happens
• How Compost Happens
• How To Compost

Well,  apparently we were hooked up yesterday and didn’t know it because we were looking for an electric meter.  And guess what?  They don’t use electric meters anymore.  They use gps tags monitors that look just like just a lid.  We also had to switch on the breaker and since it’s a garage, we had to switch on the gfi switches.  We turned on the light …….

We passed the electrical inspection last Thursday and today, the electric company connected us to the transformer.  We still don’t have power to the garage yet because I think they haven’t connected the meter box.  Hopefully, they’ll come back tomorrow and finish that job, but Stevie is this close to putting up his shop lights.  How he plans to get them up there to the ceiling joists 14 feet above his head I have no idea.  He says he bought himself a hoist.

I have to work this weekend, but I have managed to escape to the garden for a few hours. I love the garden.  I can get completely lost in time, working the soil, moving rocks, planting seeds and little budding vegetable plants.  I’m really not any good making starter plants in the house, although I might try to do this next year. 

I took a short break and ran down to the local garden center.  I bought Bumper fertilizer at 3 bags for $25, 3 bags of potato seeds, and a host of greens and 1 large bundle of strawberry plants. 

 

I also spent a couple of hours whacking at blackberry bushes.  I have a whole lot of blackberry bushes on the property and it’s hard to keep them back.  I could work all day, just doing that.

Stevie is the proud owner of lawn mower.  He bought it off Craig’s list for $150.   There was a problem with the ignition switch which was an easy fix for him.

Steve also spent some time digging the ditch for the electricity to the garage.  All 207 feet.  That man really knows how to dig a trench.  It was the straightest thing I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen and dug many trenches.  Steve has really gotten his money worth out of that excavator.  I think he’s spent about $3K on it.  I guess you can tell why I love a man with his own excavator. 

I have my wire fence up around my raised garden beds, and now I’m cultivating the soil.  I put a lot of compost, and other nutrients into the beds over the winter, but the constant rain has a tendency to compact the soil and leach out many nutrients.  So I decided to test the soil and I purchased a kit called Rapitest.  I read the reviews and was really careful and the test went well.  My soil is a little acidic, so I have some lyme that I’m using sparingly.  I have 6 beds total, but only 2 beds ready to go.  Since it snowed again this week, I’m in no real hurry.  Perhaps I can get some greens and lettuces going.

Desperate to get out of the house after 2 weeks of being snow bound, I headed off to the mall for some after Christmas shopping sales.  It wasn’t quite the madhouse that was advertised, but it was crowded.  I headed to JC Penney’s, an ad placed in my mailbox indicated a linen sale.  We needed new towels for the both bathrooms.  Stevie was tired of using the rags that I had collected over the years (I think I last purchased a set of towels 2 decades before), and I was ready for a fresh statement that not even new paint can convey in a bathroom.  Paint a bathroom, great.  Plush towels are even better.  I figured that with the 50% off sale, plus $15 dollar off coupon, we could afford to get some pretty neat towels. 

 

I paid $12 a piece for the Chris Madden towel collection (regular $24.99), a gorgeous Artic Blue (a combination of dark blue/dark gray), the 58″ length.  I bought 6 towels and 6 washcloths for the master bedroom. 

I also purchased another Chris Madden towel collection in a sage color for the guest bedroom.  Not the hotel special but still a nice weight and feel to it. 

All totaled, I purchased 2 towel collections for $175.  I had never spent that much for towels, but they make a nice addition to the bathrooms.  After I finished my shopping at the mall, I stopped by Target and picked up for 4 towels in a dark navy blue for $2.99 a piece. 

Now you might ask why I didn’t buy all of my towels at Target.  First, even though these towels were still a great find, they were not the quality and weight of the Chris Madden towel collection.  In this case, you get what you paid for.  For one thing, they were thinner.  Also, in the washing machine, these towels had a tendency to bleed and pill.  They won’t last long, and after a single washing, they’re not the dark dark blue that they once were.  I was only using these towels to lay on the floor when we get out of the tub or the shower.  I was no longer interested in having rugs for the bathroom floor.  I had found that keeping bathroom rugs was not sanitary, and the cats and dogs just used them as play toys.

 Now if I only I could decide on the perfect towel rack.  Towel racks didn’t come with the home that I had built.  Neither did toilet roll holders.  I’m not sure what to get for both bathrooms.  I’m thinking that I would like the hotel type of towel rack that usually juts over the toilet filled with plush towels and other supplies but I’m still thinking about the possiblities.

I started staining the kitchen island cabinets.  Well, I’m starting on a door.  I picked up a can of Old Masters Penetrating Stain in a Rich Mahogony color.  So far, the color has gone on very deep and smooth.