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.Â
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.Â
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.