Friday, August 29, 2008
Deer... not always dear
I like deer, I really do. And I don't mind providing food for them... within reason. But I would like to discourage them from jumping my fence into the yard and eating my stuff. Any ideas how to discourage deer? naturally? I will not poison them.
My tomato plants had all had their tops bitten off. Some of the green tomatoes were missing. My plants had many more green tomatoes on them than they had today when I went out. The cherry tomato plant had TONS of tomatoes. Most of them were gone. Some had fallen on the ground when the deer that munched the plant knocked them off. This is an issue. I would really like to be able to harvest a few tomatoes this year! As it is, I've only got 3 cherry tomatoes that I picked up off the ground to show for my efforts. :(
Must look into deer discouragement.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Sprouthouse
It's not big enough really to be called a greenhouse. But it is a smaller version of a lean-to greenhouse. The website I found it on sells it for $800!!! I could buy a 6'x8' greenhouse for that much. But I'm not ready for a 6x8...
I want to build this. I think I can do it. it's a matter of finding the time. I hope my "skill" is up to it.
This model is 4' wide x 37.5" deep x 72" high
current layout
I worked on this diagram of the yard's current layout today. It is not to scale, nor is it proportionately correct. I made the lot too wide, so the space on the west side of the house is too wide, and so is the back yard. oh well! LOL...
Anyway, what I'd like to do this year is prepare beds all around the fence in back (light gray perimeter), and perhaps prepare the space behind the garage for planting (could I put a dwarf fruit tree back there?) This may be too ambitious. it's tough finding time for this stuff when we have a toddler and my hubby and I are on different work schedules. The ideal times to work on this, hubby sleeps and I have to keep an eye on the crazy kid.
As I was looking at this layout, I realized that it would have been nice to have the garage moved up to the back end of the house and attached there... then I'd have a lot more useable planting space.
Oh well... I have a friend who has 25+ trees in her yard, and it's no bigger than ours. I don't want that many trees. So I'm sure I can do what I want here.
I would like to know where's best to plant some stuff that I have to wait for production... like some berries, asparagus and rhubarb. I'd like to get those planted ASAP, since we'll have to wait on them. Oh, and any fruit-bearing trees I might want. Also want to think about what shrubs would be best to plant along the west side of the house, for insulation. The northerly wind really hits that side pretty fiercely.
Anyway, what I'd like to do this year is prepare beds all around the fence in back (light gray perimeter), and perhaps prepare the space behind the garage for planting (could I put a dwarf fruit tree back there?) This may be too ambitious. it's tough finding time for this stuff when we have a toddler and my hubby and I are on different work schedules. The ideal times to work on this, hubby sleeps and I have to keep an eye on the crazy kid.
As I was looking at this layout, I realized that it would have been nice to have the garage moved up to the back end of the house and attached there... then I'd have a lot more useable planting space.
Oh well... I have a friend who has 25+ trees in her yard, and it's no bigger than ours. I don't want that many trees. So I'm sure I can do what I want here.
I would like to know where's best to plant some stuff that I have to wait for production... like some berries, asparagus and rhubarb. I'd like to get those planted ASAP, since we'll have to wait on them. Oh, and any fruit-bearing trees I might want. Also want to think about what shrubs would be best to plant along the west side of the house, for insulation. The northerly wind really hits that side pretty fiercely.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
What's been done so far this year...
So, the previous post has my yard as it was a few months ago. Here are a few changes since then.
I re-straw mulched my herb garden. It had been taken over by weeds, so I pulled them and put straw down. But I didn't do it the way it should be done for permaculture. I'm hoping the garden forgives me. I'm still bummed that I lost some herbs. I plan to replant them next year.
Today I added these two 4'x8' beds to the back yard along the fence. I learned that I really only have the endurance to do one bed a day. But this was done in the permaculture style. I laid down cardboard first, then a thick layer of compost, straw, thinner layer of compost, and then more straw. Then watered it for as long as I could. I think I watered it enough. I still have the lumber for another bed next to these, I just need to get the energy/time... I wore out myself today.
I don't know how many of these beds I'll get done before winter. But I had 2 cubic yards of compost delivered so hopefully I can get most of it used up before snow hits! LOL
I re-straw mulched my herb garden. It had been taken over by weeds, so I pulled them and put straw down. But I didn't do it the way it should be done for permaculture. I'm hoping the garden forgives me. I'm still bummed that I lost some herbs. I plan to replant them next year.
Today I added these two 4'x8' beds to the back yard along the fence. I learned that I really only have the endurance to do one bed a day. But this was done in the permaculture style. I laid down cardboard first, then a thick layer of compost, straw, thinner layer of compost, and then more straw. Then watered it for as long as I could. I think I watered it enough. I still have the lumber for another bed next to these, I just need to get the energy/time... I wore out myself today.
I don't know how many of these beds I'll get done before winter. But I had 2 cubic yards of compost delivered so hopefully I can get most of it used up before snow hits! LOL
First Look (before pics)
So, here's a look at my yard before I began... Well, more accurately, before I started this year. hee hee... I had fumbled around a couple years ago with my herb garden. More on that when I get to that picture.
These are my front yard. There's some ornamental landscaping with shredded bark mulch. Hostas and a few annuals. My front yard is mostly shade all day (north side), with just a bit of dappled sun in the morning and evening.
There's a raised bed in the front. I currently have a corkscrew willow planted too close to the foundation, so it's going away, and 1 each astilbe, lungwort, & black cohosh plants. Oh... and some creeper, forgot it's name. The bed needs cleaning up bigtime.
This little bed is under a cedar tree that is planted in front, next to the driveway. It's got some sedum, a struggling hen & chick, and a few annual marigolds that are now huge bushes.
This picture is our west side yard. It's about 4 ft higher than our driveway, faced on the west with a retaining wall. There's a crabapple tree at the edge of the retaining wall. This area is rather large. One thing I need to do on this side is plant some insulating shrubs along the west side of the house, to cut the wind. There is a rain barrel on this side. It is not utilized as well as it should be, but I do use it to water the plantings in front.
This is the east side of the house. The space is very narrow and rocky. Apparently someone had mulched with pebbles, as well as dumping their fish tank pebbles out next to the front porch on this side. The rain barrel is functional... I use it to water the front when I need to. This space is maybe... 4 ft wide. Or 5 ft at most.
And to the back yard... this is on the east side, by the back porch. A very narrow bit of ground that the hubby sprayed with Roundup in the spring. Fortunately roundup breaks down quickly. I need to get some advice, but I will probably plant something there that I won't be able to harvest for a couple years, which will allow the chems to disappear before we eat whatever is planted there.
On the south side of the house there are two patches of ground. Not really sure what to do with them. One of them is really sloped. I would like to build a "sprouthouse" (my name) on one of these spots.
It would be a smaller version of a lean-to greenhouse, and mostly to sprout my garden stuff for transplanting. If I can build it well enough, I may try to use it as a cold frame and grow winter greens in it. That's a pretty ambitious plan, so we'll see if it happens. We are supposed to have a rain barrel back here as well, but I never got the ground where it should be leveled off, so it's not been installed.
This is my "herb garden". This spot had been leveled off for a pool, so it's mostly circular shaped. My plan was to outline the circle in stones for a border, and outline a 5 pointed star inside. A few years ago I put down newspaper and straw, but I didn't know what I was doing so it wasn't quite right. In this picture, it is somewhat taken over by weeds. Then later, our lawn mower person mowed over the herbs along the edge and I lost my thyme, basil, oregano and rosemary. They didn't mow over the stuff in the center... they realized it was a garden then. sigh... I also planted some late tomato plants there, as the space I had planned to use was water-logged from heavy spring rains and the veggies I had planted in that space rotted. So, the tomatoes went in with the herbs. Currently there are 3 tomato plants, sage bushes, a new lavender, chives.
As you see in the above picture, there is a "playground" for my son. That will remain. We're having problems this year with excessive mosquitoes though, and wasps. Hubby and I are both allergic to bees so we are being careful with the kid and not letting him play much around the wasps. They are nesting in our garage (along with birds grrr).
This is the other side of the back yard. Our yard gently slopes down. There's an acre of land behind our lot that slopes even more, toward a creek. There's a retaining wall that seperates this upper portion (including the herb garden) from the lower level that has the playground and garage.
This is the space behind the garage. it's as long as our 2 car garage, and about half as wide. Before I knew about permaculture, this space was going to be my traditional garden. It has been a garden before. It is weedy. At the very back I have a long-term "compost" pile. Or I should say, a pile of branches and crap I don't feel like shoving into a paper lawn bag for the city to pick up. I figure in a few years it will compost itself!
We hope to paint or side our garage soon. After that happens, I hope to hang a bat house on the back of it to help mitigate the mosquito population.
Our whole back yard is fenced. We have a driveway that is very long, and was gravel-covered, but is now overgrown with grass/weeds and requires mowing. Not sure what we'll do with the driveway... it may end up remaining "lawn" for a while, and will be the kid's greenspace to play in. it's not very plantable because of the gravel below the weeds, and we both want to use it for getting cars into/out of the garage someday. So someday we may gravel it again.
Next post will show some of the changes I've done since I took these pictures.
These are my front yard. There's some ornamental landscaping with shredded bark mulch. Hostas and a few annuals. My front yard is mostly shade all day (north side), with just a bit of dappled sun in the morning and evening.
There's a raised bed in the front. I currently have a corkscrew willow planted too close to the foundation, so it's going away, and 1 each astilbe, lungwort, & black cohosh plants. Oh... and some creeper, forgot it's name. The bed needs cleaning up bigtime.
This little bed is under a cedar tree that is planted in front, next to the driveway. It's got some sedum, a struggling hen & chick, and a few annual marigolds that are now huge bushes.
This picture is our west side yard. It's about 4 ft higher than our driveway, faced on the west with a retaining wall. There's a crabapple tree at the edge of the retaining wall. This area is rather large. One thing I need to do on this side is plant some insulating shrubs along the west side of the house, to cut the wind. There is a rain barrel on this side. It is not utilized as well as it should be, but I do use it to water the plantings in front.
This is the east side of the house. The space is very narrow and rocky. Apparently someone had mulched with pebbles, as well as dumping their fish tank pebbles out next to the front porch on this side. The rain barrel is functional... I use it to water the front when I need to. This space is maybe... 4 ft wide. Or 5 ft at most.
And to the back yard... this is on the east side, by the back porch. A very narrow bit of ground that the hubby sprayed with Roundup in the spring. Fortunately roundup breaks down quickly. I need to get some advice, but I will probably plant something there that I won't be able to harvest for a couple years, which will allow the chems to disappear before we eat whatever is planted there.
On the south side of the house there are two patches of ground. Not really sure what to do with them. One of them is really sloped. I would like to build a "sprouthouse" (my name) on one of these spots.
It would be a smaller version of a lean-to greenhouse, and mostly to sprout my garden stuff for transplanting. If I can build it well enough, I may try to use it as a cold frame and grow winter greens in it. That's a pretty ambitious plan, so we'll see if it happens. We are supposed to have a rain barrel back here as well, but I never got the ground where it should be leveled off, so it's not been installed.
This is my "herb garden". This spot had been leveled off for a pool, so it's mostly circular shaped. My plan was to outline the circle in stones for a border, and outline a 5 pointed star inside. A few years ago I put down newspaper and straw, but I didn't know what I was doing so it wasn't quite right. In this picture, it is somewhat taken over by weeds. Then later, our lawn mower person mowed over the herbs along the edge and I lost my thyme, basil, oregano and rosemary. They didn't mow over the stuff in the center... they realized it was a garden then. sigh... I also planted some late tomato plants there, as the space I had planned to use was water-logged from heavy spring rains and the veggies I had planted in that space rotted. So, the tomatoes went in with the herbs. Currently there are 3 tomato plants, sage bushes, a new lavender, chives.
As you see in the above picture, there is a "playground" for my son. That will remain. We're having problems this year with excessive mosquitoes though, and wasps. Hubby and I are both allergic to bees so we are being careful with the kid and not letting him play much around the wasps. They are nesting in our garage (along with birds grrr).
This is the other side of the back yard. Our yard gently slopes down. There's an acre of land behind our lot that slopes even more, toward a creek. There's a retaining wall that seperates this upper portion (including the herb garden) from the lower level that has the playground and garage.
This is the space behind the garage. it's as long as our 2 car garage, and about half as wide. Before I knew about permaculture, this space was going to be my traditional garden. It has been a garden before. It is weedy. At the very back I have a long-term "compost" pile. Or I should say, a pile of branches and crap I don't feel like shoving into a paper lawn bag for the city to pick up. I figure in a few years it will compost itself!
We hope to paint or side our garage soon. After that happens, I hope to hang a bat house on the back of it to help mitigate the mosquito population.
Our whole back yard is fenced. We have a driveway that is very long, and was gravel-covered, but is now overgrown with grass/weeds and requires mowing. Not sure what we'll do with the driveway... it may end up remaining "lawn" for a while, and will be the kid's greenspace to play in. it's not very plantable because of the gravel below the weeds, and we both want to use it for getting cars into/out of the garage someday. So someday we may gravel it again.
Next post will show some of the changes I've done since I took these pictures.
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