Category: DIY

Berry Picking Patch 2011

Boysenberries

D and I went to the local u-pick berry picking patch this weekend, Impossible Acres (I love that name if I had a farm I’d name it that too). Turns out it was a great time to go too! Both the raspberry and boysenberry bushes were heavy with delicious berries and they hadn’t been picked over dozens of times (we normally go later in the year and have to really work through the bushes and thorns to get a decent amount).  Berries aren’t  the only thing available at the picking patch. They also have multiple varieties of cherries, peaches, apricots, tomatoes, apples and pumpkins (those last two are not currently in season. You knew that, right?)

Rows of berry bushes, to the left are stone fruit trees

Most of what we got has already been used up in the making of smoothies, cakes, and for snacks. D and I are definitely heading back to Impossible Acres before the end of the season, I don’t know how many times. It’s just enjoyable to spend an early afternoon walking through a garden with D picking fruit as we go along. The amazing things we do with them once we get home aren’t bad either. Below are some more pictures from the excursion.

We made smoothies with all the boysenberries. Oh! and cake too

 

D picking some boysenberries (stop staring at my wife's ass!)

 

Bing cherries? What do I know? I'm no fruitologist

 

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Who's that dashing, good-looking fellow picking cherries?

 

This cherry tree was literally being pulled down by the amount of fruit on its branches

 

Fresh peaches

 

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All of this for less than $11?!

How My Garden Grows: Spring 2011

Bumping? Can gardens be bumping? 'Cause mine is

Now that all the weird weather seems to have come to an end (really, hail in June? That’s uncalled for!) The garden has really started to spring into action. The tomatoes and zucchinis are blooming, the beans and cucumbers are sending out creepers. I imagine in two or so weeks we can start harvesting veggies from it.  I can’t wait to make bread salad using only vegetables I’ve grown and bread I’ve baked. D and I are hoping that we’ll get enough tomatoes this year to do some canning as well.

Zucchini blossoms

 

Green beans. By the time their done those creeping vines will be all over the place...
Tomato blossoms

So far, there hasn’t been much of a problem with pests. I don’t know if it’s because of the beer traps or the heavy doses of Sluggo I used early on.  Not pictured are the cucumbers, eggplants, basil, and spinach (that last one was inadvertent, it was in the winter garden and must have seeded at some point.) The cucumbers are at the very back of the box next to the fence and we’ve hung some netting between the garden box and the fence so they have something to climb. If the beans get out of control we’ll also direct them towards the netting…

Here’s a tip for those of you gardening from home as well, don’t get your blossoms wet. This has a tendency to insure they never fertilize or bear fruit. We lost out on have a season of tomatoes because of this last year. Also, don’t let your tomatoes bloom too much. All that flowering will take energy away from making nice big fruits. So once you’ve got some tomatoes on the vine cut back some of your blossoms…

If you’re lucky enough to be growing some of your own produce I’d love to see some of your pictures or hear any tips you’ve come across! Share them with me in the comments.

Spring Garden 2011: Quick Update

No silverbells or cockleshells
One Month In...

A month ago D and tore out the winter garden and put in the one for spring/summer. The weather has been really odd this last month with some days it getting into the 9os (summer weather) and then the next day being overcast and rainy (winter weather).  Tomatoes and Zucchini are really enjoying the heat but the colder nights seem to be holding them back. Despite, the odd weather everything seems to be coming in quite nicely, and with generous doses of Sluggo, the plants seem to be mostly safe from the predations of slugs and snails.

Before we get to the spring garden there was one last holdover from winter:

It all went into the composter
About 3 feet of celery

Sadly, none of the celery was usable. We grew too much this year and just weren’t able to use it, or give it away fast enough. This last plant was blocking sunlight for one of our tomato plants… I was hoping to salvage it but I think when it gets this big it is just too bitter.

Zucchinis
Tomatoes
Eggplants
Green Beans
Cucumbers
Basil

I’m hoping in another month I’ll have enough cucumbers and tomatoes to start my next project for the year: canning and pickling. I’m really excited about canning our own produce and then using it in the fall and winter. We had so many tomatoes last year that we gave bags away, or ate tomatoes with every meal. This year I want to save some of those for later.

I have two more tomato plants in the front of the house as well as a pepper plant, they seem to be doing fine as well.

A Quick Weekend Project

It's a Clothesline

With spring being here now and the sky being less overcast and more sunny. I figured it was the perfect time to put in a clothesline. I’ve been talking about putting in a clothesline since we moved into this place but had never gotten around to it… Until today.

I picked up some two eye screws at .38 cents each ($0.76), 20 feet of nylon for at .23 cents a foot ($4.60), and 36 clothes pins for $3.99.

The line hangs between the two outer posts of the trellis that is over the back patio. All I had two to was drill two holes, screw the eye-screws in, and then tie the rope between them. (Two-half hitches, if you were wondering… Thanks, Boy Scouts!) It took about five minutes to put up.

Total cost: $9.35. The cheapest clotheslines I saw for sale at the hardware store was $19.99, and that still required you to mount it.

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