Garden Update - Spring Garden FINALLY (nearly) planted!

No harvest this week - some ripping up (as you saw last post), a bunch of furious transplanting, and the final re-plant for spring. After this 'it is what it is' as it will be getting to hot to directly rely on seedlings making it directly sown, and we'll have to germinate at the 'station' or indoors then transplant.

So I guess we'll walk around and see what we see.

The field of beans! Last I left it I realized what I thought was fortuitous - in that the large pack of seeds I bought was EXACTLY how many I needed, only to find out that I'd forgotten to plant out several squares.  I got another pack of seeds and as we can see it's looking pretty full. They are planted 9 to a square, which is pretty dead on for bush beans. The 'yellowy look' of some of the plants is just due to them being a different variety.  I found last year that they'll grow to a decent height and produce a good number of beans packed in this close, and if you keep up with your fertilizing they'll keep on producing.  The thing to remember is to keep picking them as the beans get ripe. Once they harden on the vine, it's goodnight for the plant.  They'll slow down and eventually die.  Keep picking and keep em fed and you can get a fairly good productive run over a the spring.  These are what I refer to as a 'fast plant'.  Plant in Spring, pick in Spring, and out of the way by Summer.
Beans, being a legume, will actually add nitrogen to this new garden bed - so hopefully when Summer hits it will be chock full of goodness for whatever I decide to plant here.  As it turns out, this is also the bed that gets the most sun in a day - so when it comes time to replant I should be looking at things that bear a fruit of some kind over a leafy plant (which does better in partial shade - less drying of the leaves and wilting means better quality greens).

As doge would say 'Such space, much plantings, wow!' - you get an idea of how big those Sprouts were.  No time was wasted here.  You can make out the baby Kale in the corner sprouting up to replace what has gone.  The far plant is flowering and you can make out yellow tips at the top of the picture. I could have harvested these today, and I probably will very soon. But for now those yellow flowers will start attracting bees, and I want those bees established by the time the beans start to flower.  I REALLY need to start up a front flower garden - the yard as a whole and all that jazz - attract those pollinators!
The Sprouts are gone, the soil refilled and amended with coir and worm castings. From my germination station on the steps I transplanted lettuce from largest downwards.  These 12 should grow out well, the last space on the end I'm saving for a special experiment. I hope to be prepped for it by the weekend, but nature doesn't hold it's schedule for mine, and I'm racing against my own schedule and time.
Next up - beans, just because. No reason. I like Beans.  Where the sprouts were shading out I had planted Beets - Beets this year are like my lettuce last year - just no luck it seems. So I've replanted what was needed to fill out that row. At 9 per square that's 27 - but this late and having them all come up is optimistic - I get what I get.  Last in the bed - nearly too tiny to be seen, are Cabbage. I grew them last year 4 to a square in a different part of the garden just to see if they'd grow well here.  I got small cabbages due to crowding, and they could have done with more sun if you ask me, so 4 planted up at 1 to a square.  We like cabbage here, but we don't eat a lot - I'm hoping for coleslaw in the Summer.

Peas are up and reaching for my trellis. Some are too far forward - but that's ok, I have a garden project coming up where I'm going to prototype something that I hope will be a much easier and useful way to deal with climbing plants.  I'm currently in the design and acquisition phase - I like using reclaimed lumber when I can get it.
Up front are Carrots. I thought I had more, but hadn't done as good a job thinning them as I could have.  Replants have been done to bring this to 9 per square.  Last year I did 16, and had fairly good luck,  so this is more or less to just 'dial in the number' and compare quality.  They can be fiddly to grow,  but I've managed them in the ground, in containers, with very few problems.  Some things to remember is that they are root plants - so transplanting them doesn't work so well... they are fairly fragile when they sprout, so don't thin them out too soon. When they do get bigger (about this size) thin them RUTHLESSLY. you want just one carrot in each spot.  Everyone you have past that will drastically reduce your chances of getting a good sized carrot.  When they get to this size they seem to be fairly robust and aren't hard to take care of.   Fertilizing and water; I've found that when they are really small a good mist down with my worm tea helped them out a lot - but once they get bigger stop.  Carrots are roots, not leaves.  The same with water - the less you water them, the longer that root will grow to find water, and that means (thank you Captain Obvious) a bigger carrot.  Finally - and one that I really need to follow my own advice on here, soil.  You want a nice fluffy soil with good drainage - obviously so that water goes DOWN, but also so the carrot itself can grow easier.  This soil is about as fluffy as a brick.  I amended it and turned it, but those heavy rains from earlier always harden out the soil here. I'll carefully break it up around the plants when they are sprouted and healthy.
One final thing I did was plant carrots around the peas. This Year I'm looking more into companion planting. I've dabbled in the past, but this year I've been trying to put it more into practice.

A good friend bought me this book for Xmas, and it's a pretty good source of info. It's more a 'look up what you want' kind of reference than a 'read this entire thing and try and remember it all' book.. If you're interested in planting things together to increase your yields or to cut down on pests, there are worse places to start. It also has good info on how to rotate crops and other tidbits.

Around from the Peas we have that 'tucked away' corner bed that doesn't see that much action. It's fiddly and is the first to see the afternoon shade, as well as getting it's share of rainfall off the roof. If it wasn't set out when I moved here I wouldn't have used it at all... This year though it's doing ok, so maybe just the right combo of plants to make it useful. With the water and shade issues I've put in all leafy greens and things I just want to tinker with.
Collards that self planted are up the back, and Swiss Chard in front of it. Cucumbers I'm playing with to see how they go have sprouted at the far end, and I'll be watching them to see how they need to be thinned - I don't expect much from them, so we'll see. Up front is Cauliflower. I had goodish luck with broccoli there last year - but couldn't get the knack of the harvest. So this year I'm doing something a little different.

What a barren wasteland!  Well not really - if you look close at the foreground there are Eggplant sprouted and starting to do well.  Last year I tried growing Eggplant in a container and it sort of stopped, so I transplanted 2 here and they did really well. This year I planted 6 directly, but they seem to be starting out slowly. I also sprouted 2 in containers at the germination station on the steps, and low and behold they sprouted and grew faster. They're staying there in case i need backups - but from this I've learned that for Eggplant, start in a small pot and then transplant.  The other 6 squares are planted with Sweet Peppers. They'll take a while to germinate - and that always makes me anxious, so I've hedged my bets. I have 6 in the ground, 6 in a self watering pot, and 6 inside with me in one of those 'jiffy greenhouses'. Normally I prefer to sprout outside because you don't have to deal with hardening plants off when you move them, but in this case I'm trying to find the best way to deal with peppers.  So far nothing has come up in any of them.

The station.  This is where I sprout things that need transplanting in, and when I thin plants I transplant them out to here.  I don't like waste, and especially don't like wasting time.  When I thin plants down I try and be gentle and do 'transplant thinning' - I'll take the extra plants to these self watering window planters and put them in here. You water these from the bottom and capillary action draws the water up through the soil - so it's always nice and moist (provided you keep watering them....) It makes for a great transplant environment for most plants. Then later if one of the plants die out, I usually have a spare or two that can be transplanted back into the garden.
I also use these for sprouting lettuce.  The last 2 contained the 12 plants I just put in, so they've been replanted with Grand Rapids and Salad Bowl varieties.  I'm still trying to track down 'that perfect lettuce' for Summer burgers and sandwiches.  Other pots in the background (the square ones) are planted out with Eggplant, and another with Oregano. Oregano and Rosemary are the 2 herbs I really enjoy using but can't seem to get growing, so I'm trying extra hard this year.. usually once I do it once I have very little problem repeating it - but these two elude me still.
My teacup rose, still growing well. What do I use it for? It smells pretty and makes my wife happy. It's also the last surviving rose from our old rental house.
Circular pots along the back are Tomatoes.

... and they carry on down the steps. Last year we had Queen of Hearts tomatoes, and although they were a vine plant, by keeping them in smaller planters they only grew as high as a bush variety.  By keeping them pruned and rootbound we had a very nice solution for growing toms here.  This year I'm trying a Beefsteak variety my mother suggested.  So I have to keep her informed of how well it does. She lives in Sydney Australia, so as I'm done here with mine, she can put that info to immediate use (our seasons are reversed).  Last year I did 4 and did well - this year I'm upping it to 8. All of them are sprouted and several are on their way to good growth.  In the foreground is the salvaged blueberry from the farm.  With the shock of being saved and replanted here it's skipped it's budding - but that's ok as they usually need 2 plants to cross pollinate anyways. By the end of the spring I should have found another to go with it, and start my 'edible hedge' to separate the garden from the rest of the yard.

Despite the best efforts of 'Littlefoot', I have my quota for squash.  I was shooting for 6 plants in this 12ish foot long area, and just the other day the last one peeked up through.  I wanted 2 yellow squash, 2 zucchini and 2 butternut squash, but in the washouts, stompings, replanting and transplanting I can only be sure that the last 2 are the butternut. I lost track of which were which at the top so I could get anything.  Also around here I planted radishes, as they should (if left to grow and bolt to seed) help repel squash bugs and other nasties... I'm interested to see how this goes - also a suggestion is to use cigarette ash around the seed when it's planted (??!!) - I haven't tried this - but I might and keep folks informed.

Ahh the wilds.. The herb garden. You can see where Basil is coming up of its own accord - more than enough to replace the plants of last year.  Up the back is still bare as I'm hoping to transplant oregano there when (if) it sprouts, also coriander (cilantro) should go there, but I've misplaced my seeds - and Dill. Dill is seriously wishful thinking on my part to use to make pickles should I actually get anything out of my cucumbers.
The chives and sage are in bloom, and it won't be long till they go to seed. Before that I'm going to take as much of the sage as I can to dry and cure, and after that the Thyme that is growing under it will be split in half and moved, hopefully doubling what I have eventually.  I like the wild look of this, and I'm thinking of letting this run it's course as an experiment in permaculture.  I will maintain the needs of the soil and weed out undesirables, but the actual herb plants can grow, seed, die, and regrow as they see fit.

I think that would be interesting. I can tell all the plants apart instantly, so really it isn't a problem with them not being organized - and lets face it, wouldn't it be really nice to have herbs on demand without having to do anything to keep them going?  Talk about lazy gardening!

I'm going to be very busy over the next couple of weeks, but I am working on a few upcoming projects. If I'm not too late I'll be revisiting potatoes (as I said I would last year) with a head to head fair comparison of 3 different methods, as well as 'home built' vs. 'store bought'.  And within the next week I'll be starting a semi-regular article here with it's own tag '5 dollar garden'. Where I return to my 'ghetto fabulous' roots and show people how to start, maintain, grown and improve a garden spending no more than 5 dollars per article, to show how little you need if you want to get started growing your own veg.

Cheers!

Sprouts - Success or Fail?

For many months now I've been watching these plants grow. Checking on them, tending them, and looking them over for sprout action.

They've been crowding out each other as well as squares in front and behind. I'll look them over and say 'just one more week - just one more week and I'll see if I'll keep them'.   Well I've watched them sprout in Autumn ,grow slowly over the Winter, and sort of nearly bud in Spring - and the 'just one more weeks' have run out.

In the end I really couldn't wait any longer, and I had to look at the bigger picture. They took up 4 feet of space, and 2 of them were stunted due to crowding. They shaded out another 4 feet in front - and another 4 feet behind - making it pretty much impossible to replace the kale behind it.  Too much space in a very important part of the year... and me running out of time to plant.

In the end 2 of the plants looked like they were doing well - although the picture kinda makes the developing sprouts look bigger than they were. I pulled a bunch and tasted them - really not big enough to put in the pot, so we sat and watched the kids in the pool and crunched on as many as we felt like before retiring them to the compost.

Was this a success or a fail?  You could draw the obvious 'well you didn't get a pot of sprouts - so fail'.  But I think that's a rather simplistic view to take. Did I get anything from this plant? Sure - I got a lot of knowledge.  This isn't a 'glass is always half full' view - as by nature people say I'm rather pessimistic.. I prefer 'realistic' myself, but to each their own.  Had I put these in a planter and had them fail, or fail as seedlings I would have said 'I didn't learn anything other than don't put them in a small planter' - so fail. As it is, I think I got much more:

The obvious:  Brussels Sprouts require space.  If not at least 2 feet apart they'll crowd each other out and the smaller ones won't produce.

 They have a rather large root ball - bigger than I was expecting.  Even given the space - having them in your square foot system probably isn't that great an idea - you'll have to be prepared to replace about 1/2 your soil when you pull each one.  HOWEVER the root ball looks like it could be contained in a 5 gallon pot rather well.  Seeing how you can plant them in Spring and Autumn, I already have several planted in what large pots I have available, and the replacements are already sprouted.

They winter VERY well here in the South, and as we had rather low temps (for here) in the high 20's to low 30's - and they were unphased - I expect this would carry on being true possibly up to South Carolina.  Not only that, but hey also handle the hot pretty well too.  Temps here in the upper 80's and not a worry.  Very hardy.

See the picture above of the stalk in my hand. That's a LOT of sprouts... and more probably would have been on the way had I either been a little more mindful over the Winter with fertilizer, or left them to grow.  With the larger ones munched on, I wouldn't be surprised to have found over a hundred on this stalk.  So, a very 'efficient' plant to look into growing.  4 - 5 well grown plants, over both of it's growing seasons, could well be this families entire years supply of Sprouts taken care of.. scratch that one off the grocery list for all time.

So I know how many, where, when. I have  good feel for how much fertilizer they'll need, water, how long they should last.  How much they produce.   Good, solid first-hand info.  I have things I've grown by our initial 'success' definition for several years that I haven't worked that out for.

So I guess in summary:

Not every Success is successful, and not every fail is a failure.

Cheers!

Garden Update - April 21st

I haven't updated this week,mainly because it's been an entire week of rain. Heavy rain. Time will tell if seeds have been washed out or drowned, and if the deluge put me further behind this spring.  Just before the rain started I pulled up the turnips that had sprung up over the winter. These were truly 'free plants' I didn't even plant them - seeds that had hung around from the last turnips sprouted and I let them grow.

The two plants gave up enough turnip greens to feed everyone till they were full. With ham hocks and some southern cooking, they were a meal unto themselves.

So space is available, but it's already accounted for. Though you probably can't see, some eggplant have already sprouted in the top 4 squares, and fresh compost courtesy of my 'secret stash' is already being mixed in.
I'll be finishing this out with 6 Pepper plants as soon as they sprout.
This year I'm trying to up the numbers of things that grew well to reach a level that will  satisfy all my needs.  6 Peppers and 6 Eggplants should keep me flush with both - but I'll have to wait till Summer to enjoy them.

The lower part of this bed is also sorted out as well, with Swiss Chard popping up well enough to take some leaves off for a side dish.  My experimental crops of cauliflower and cucumbers are coming along quite nicely too.
This bed sees a bit of shade, and so is pretty good for leafy greens. This Autumn I have to keep this in mind when I try once again to get Spinach up and running.  It was one of the very first things I grew well in Georgia, and yet I can't seem to reproduce that success no matter how hard I've tried.

As expected this bed took a pounding with the rain. It's not only where water collects, but also where it falls from the high roof.  I was concerned about the carrots up front - but most pulled through ok - I'll have to replant to fill out the squares, but that should give me a bit of a stagger when it comes to pull them.  The peas are coming up fairly well too - not quite ready to hit the old trellis - but should be in a few weeks. The nice mulching of compost should give them an extra kick - and when they hit the trellis we'll be planting carrots in around them to compare how they do against carrots alone.

Just the other week I was saying how happy I was with the longevity of Kale, and how I was looking forward to having all I needed through the spring to the summer.
Well, just when you think you know something - it turns out you don't. The rain drowned out one plant, and another (shown) is going to seed.  This will have to be pulled as soon as possible before the plant turns bitter. On the upside I have already planted some to bring my count up to 4 plants, and with some careful 'transplant thinning', I should already have replacements well on the way.

The problem I always have is with pulling plants that I've had for a while - I feel invested, even if they aren't doing so great, or just plain in the wrong place.  The Brussels Sprouts are forming on the base of these, and I keep on saying 'just a week more and we'll see' - even though the outer plants are crowded and they completely shade the squares in front of them. This is simply the wrong place for them.  I'm happy for the experience of seeing them grow, and seeing for myself how much space is needed, but in a square foot system they are just too big and take too long - that is space more productively used on other things. Not to worry though - that is why we have containers, and right now is a good time to plant them for an end of Summer pick. I'm setting aside as many 5 gallon pots as I have for this, like I did for Squash last year.

As for Squash, just as I thought the soil set up rather firm after the rain - it needs to be made lighter for the garden.  I had added coir, but also got rid of the last of the manure mix I bought last year.   I added some of the 'secret stash' compost and hopefully this will start breaking it up and making it lighter. With some careful transplant thinning (carefully pulling excess plants from one planting and spreading them out) I have 5 of my 6 planned squash taken care of as some of the original plants failed to sprout.
Careful investigation showed some of the original mounds had fallen victim to a mythical beast that roams this backyard, known as 'LittleFoot'. The vaguely humanoid beast, weighing in at 60-70lbs and standing at nearly 3.5 feet high is considered legend around these parts, though some skeptics doubt his existence....

NEWS FLASH - LITTLEFOOT CAPTURED!

 ... However this rare photograph shows him temporarily caught in a cunning trap laid for him and baited with fruit snacks and a juice box.  Enraged by his capture, he quickly broke free and was last seen running through the sandbox before vanishing behind the swimming pool...trackers have not been able to follow his trail past this watery obstacle.

 Blazing a trail back to steps - some work was done on the herb garden.  The Sage is starting to flower and over the next week will be trimmed back, dried and stored. Basil was to be replanted, but it has replanted itself.  Seed from the last planting had spread and taken root, a couple more than the 8 or so I was planning on planting. I'll let them grow where they will, as Chives, Sage, and Basil seem to get along well with Parsley and a growing blanket of Thyme.  Very little needed to be done here as leaves from the Magnolia in the backyard tend to blow here and carpet the garden bed, keeping weeds to a minimum and also mulching the bed. It practically takes care of itself. Self seeding, weeding, mulching, and composting.  Sweeping aside the leaves to see where I can plant additions also revealed a nice population of earthworms, and the soil getting less dense and darker in color than what I started with. I hope to add Cilantro, Oregano, and if it sprouts, Rosemary.  As I can easily tell the difference in the plants - I'm tempted to let it grow 'wild' within the confines and see how well it self perpetuates.

Tomatoes and Blueberries.  my 4 pots from last year is expanding to 9.  and the Blueberry salvaged from the field is doing well. The soil put down last year was mainly pine bark and castings, mixed with what potting soil I had left for the year.  My last Blueberry plant failed to root, but a Butternut Squash did very well. Checking the soil, again a nice population of earthworms and the bark has been breaking down. I added some compost to the mix and will be getting ready to transplant it soon.  This year it missed it's bloom as it was busy taking root and had no leaves when that was supposed to happen - I hope if it does well enough after the transplant it will have all Summer to regain it's stamina and hopefully spring to flower next year.

Finally beans continuing to sprout, and the new plants are starting to push at the soil.  I'll be looking at planting more beans when I can this year - more cooking beans like Pinto Beans.  I'll be doing this to fill gaps between different plants this year, as legumes are good for the soil. They add nitrogen.  I'm hoping that by doing this I can prepare the ground for future crops that require more...  Other things that will be tried this spring is more companion planting - introducing radishes around the squash to deter insects, introducing potatoes around plants from the cabbage families, and more.  I'm almost caught up, but there are still many projects that need to be done in the spring. Easter is the time for potatoes, and as I promised last year I would be doing some head-to-head comparisons, as well as different ways to grow them. I'm hoping to find the best way to suit my needs, and hopefully in there will be one that suits yours.

Onwards and Upwards.

Cheers!

Fixin' and Plantin'

A lot of the material in this is spread over from the last several weeks. I've been kept on my toes with landscaping, farm work, house projects and the kids.. they should be going into pre-K later this year, so we have a lot of ground to cover with them.

Also, posting pics of bare dirt patches is pretty boring - so I was waiting till things sprouted.

This area of the garden has been a problem since Day 1.  It wasn't a 'planned' area, but a collection of broken glass, bits of wood, nails, and other debris with a couple of fence boards put there and dirt dumped over the top.. Also a Holly tree in the middle that must have been rather large, but cut off at the stump and a new bush sprouting up out of it.  I cleaned it up, dug it up, sorted out the trash and used it as the start of the garden - mainly because it was cheap to do, and also to keep is safe for the kids.

Rain falls down some 30 feet off the roof, and water runs downhill to this point. Last year I framed it out with some old wood I had, but this small hole (brick from the chimney extends down below the ground) was left - I figured it was ok, but water would run through and carry soil away - making it hard to grow anything there.

I put a new block of wood in there, and landscaping cloth along the top row or so of holes in the brickwork - hopefully water would go through and soil would remain..  When plants are in there the roots help stop this erosion, but the best times to plant are also the times we get the most rainfall... so your seeds wash out or rot before you get a chance for them to grow.

 Several rainfalls later and it seems that although it hasn't been perfect, it has helped.  Peas have sprouted down there (as I put there the first year) and I'm looking forward to them building up the soil. My handy '2 poles and chicken wire' trellis' will be put up behind there, but I'm not 100% happy with them. They get the job done - but I have an idea for something less fiddly and a bit more robust... A garden / woodworking project that I hope to look into over the next couple of months as I'll need a new sturdy trellis for my squash (hopefully).  In front carrots have sprouted up, but the combination of wet then hot have made a few wither up already - I'll keep planting till I have a full square. In the past I've done 16 per square, and had moderate success - but I'm trying 9 this year in hopes of larger carrots all round. Seems the only way to really see what you have is to pull it, and by then it's too late.
Carrots can be planted with Peas, as the carrot roots themselves put out nutrients that the Peas find beneficial - my first year in this location I planted Carrots, Peas, Beans, and Beets... all together before I split the bed for the rainwater channel.  What I didn't know at the time was this was a very good combination - beans and beets, carrots and peas.   When the peas start to climb I'm thinking of planting carrots in between then.
In the space where the most washout occured, cucumbers have sprouted. 4 per square, and I'm not even seriously expecting to get anything off them. It's a shits n giggles plant to watch how they grow - so if I'm serious about growing them at a later date I've already played.... (hmm come to think of it I did grow a lot of Dill last year that I didn't end up using.... mmm pickles!).

Kale and Sprouts continue to grow.  I have 3 Kale there, and have planted a fresh 4th. They've been growing all year round - so I see no need to pull them at the moment, rather have enough to harvest when I want it. With 4 plants I'll be able to pull old ones and replant should they get bitter or woody in their maturity - but so far I haven't noticed a difference in taste.
I'm starting to notice Brussels Sprouts budding on the plants - so I'll keep my eye on them for when I should harvest. I think they may be small due to spacing - but it was a lesson learned.  Later in the year I'll certainly plant them again, but will look into plants they can be companioned with so I don't have blank spaces doing nothing but providing room.


My first year on this garden I planted 4 squares of beans - they did very well. My second year I planted 6 in the bed I added that spring, and did even better... I had fresh beans every week.
This year we kick it up again. 14 squares of the brand new bed. I'm doing beets in the last 2 as an experiment.
One good thing about gardening this way is that you can see when things sprout what seeds have failed, been dug up, washed out, and need to be replanted very quickly. Each square should have a nice even pattern of 9.  Another thing you can see is when you were in a hurry and forgot to plant 3 squares with anything ;)  This is more a step towards 'mass production' - beans do very very well in the Spring, and Peas seem to do very well in Autumn (though both can be planted at either time).  I'm hoping to exceed my need for fresh this year and see how much I can produce to freeze and save. In Autumn I hope to do the same with Peas.


Last year Queen of Hearts Tomatoes were done in these pots. They went up as small bushes and did fairly well. They weren't attacked by the insects or the rot that tends to go on around here either.
Later I planted them in the garden proper, and they vined out all over and didn't put much out.  So this year I'm doing the same, in pots, only with more.  I'll be culling them back to 1 plant per pot next week by transplanting what I pull as needed.

Last year I also had a 'saved' blueberry bush - I was going to start putting together an 'edible hedge' to mark off the garden from the rest of the yard.  Well that didn't turn out so well with the bush dying. I wasn't too upset as it was fairly far gone when I found it uprooted at the farm.  This year another one was found, knocked down and uprooted by wear and tear, wind and rain.  This one I've nursed back to good health and will be keeping it in this pot for a little while longer before planting it in the paver ring from last year.

Other 'free' plants included parsley, which seeded in the pots I grew it in last year.  It's been transplanted to the herb garden, where Basil has been sprouting from fallen seeds.  As those seedlings get more robust they'll be arranged in an orderly pattern.  I also found a Pecan that sprouted, but when I set it aside in a bigger pot - squirrels dug it up and chewed it down to a nub.

Maybe next year I'll find another.


Lettuce is sprouting in the germination pots, and Eggplant is up in 4 squares - too small to show a blurry photo of, but it's there.  Some beets were planted in various places to find a good location, but most seem to be withering in the heat. I'll try again in August.  Beets are something I love, and had good success with the first time, and not much since.  I'm thinking that first year I hit a 'perfect storm' of the right time, the right place, and planted with the right buddies.

Older plants are still in and growing, but will be pulled soon to make way for Peppers - a good grower from last year, that I hope to plant more of this year and keep a closer eye on. I grew more on 5 plants last year than I could eat during the summer, and that's not counting the half of them that I had to throw away because I was too busy to harvest them.  5 Will be planted this year and we'll see how much I can put aside for the rest of the year.

On the horizon, it's already mid April, and Potatoes should be planted around Easter - so I have to pull my finger out and get ready for those.  Still behind on a lot of things, but slowly catching up.

Cheers.

Project Sandbox

As I was saying a few posts ago, I was going to start putting more yard related projects up here.  Sometimes work on the yard directly impacts the garden in some way - be it that precious commodity I call 'time', space issues, or a number of things.

Every project seems to start with 'mow the yard'

 This time around, it's 'scheduling'. In the mad rush to keep up with the rising heat as we move through into the Spring, I worked hard to get the kids pool ready for swimming - balancing the PH, getting the chlorine 'just right' and getting all the winter debris vacuumed up.  However this is also the time when the kiddies venture out into the yard and start causing mayhem.
While waiting for the water to warm to an acceptable swimming temp, they managed to throw leaves, sticks, pine bark, and of course sand from the little turtle sand box.

The Culprit

Little Girl didn't even need to carry it, from it's proximity to the pool she can easily hurl handful after handful into the pool, a cause for much laughter.... for her.

For me, not so much. I set about cleaning the pool, yet again - only the sheer volume of sand took it's toll. Even with careful cleaning of the filter and great care in cleaning out the skimmer every 10 minutes, enough sand slipped through and burnt out the dinky pool pump that comes with this 12ft diameter above grounder.

This wasn't a major deal to me - although I like the pool, and think it's great value for money - the pump it comes with is a teeny little 600 model that pushes around 500 gallons with a tailwind... considering it's big enough to warrant an actual pool vac, and not a ventruri system (hose powered), the pressure you get is abysmal.  I had plans to Austro-Engineer a bigger third party pump to their system anyways, increasing it to 1000 gallons and a much bigger filter cart.  However, with swimming temps just around the corner I don't have the time to set that in motion.. so... ordering a new dinky pump - for now.

None of this changes the original problem - sand in the pool.  No point fixing the pool if the same thing is going to happen as soon as I do.  So move the sandbox - so if I have to move it, I have to empty it, if I have to empty it I may as well get a bigger one, and if I have to shell out money for something that might nearly get the job done - I may as well build it myself and get what I want... Then I can finally have the pool cleaned, once and for all, and with the kids swimming in it - I can get back to doing my garden projects!.... It's all scheduling man... all scheduling.

Anyways I'm putting it up in case someone else out there wants to make one for their kids - I was in a race against time for this, we had friends coming over, and of course the kids needing to be seen to, so I was in and out of the house for a weekend.  If you don't have twins - you could probably knock this out in a day, at very little cost (to build .. filling with sand... that might be another story).

Design

There are things about the lil turtle I like - has a raised lip and a lid so the neighbourhood cats can't come a-calling, because nothing stops play faster than excavating a cat-turd.
However it's way too small for one kid let alone 2, and Madeline is learning about sand-castles, and the plastic is light - come a good storm the lid blows up and it fills with water. No drainage means that water stays in there, and the freebie sand I got from the farm becomes a solid slab.

So, with those things in mind I formulated a quick plan - no need for drawings - just an idea on dimensions. I decided to let what was available dictate that, though I knew I wanted it no smaller than 4ft square.

Supplies

Pretty basic really.

2x8x10 exterior treated lumber (2)
3x1 1/2 boards (5)
8x4x 3/8ths (bit above 1/4 inch) exterior grade plywood (1 sheet)
4x4 treated post (1)

1 can of exterior deck sealer/stain (semi clear).

Again, you could use reclaimed lumber - and given the time I would have rounded some up from out at the properly I groundskeep, but I had this weekend to do this project and a 1 1/2 hour round trip for lumber was going to eat into work time.  If you have the materials use them and save your money for the fill.

The Build

 Pretty straight forward - a box with a lid. No bottom (we'll use landscaping cloth) - so pretty much the same as a garden bed (which we covered not that long ago).  I let the materials dictate the dimensions - plywood comes in 4x8 sheets - so the top should be 4ft wide. I needed it cut to 6ft so it would fit in the car, so under 6ft.  To keep costs under control, I bought two 2x8x10s - so knowing that I'm not guaranteed 10ft, and saw cuts, the width and length should combine to be under 9 1/2.

So if the width is 4ft (plywood width),  I can have up to 5 1/2 length. I decide to go with 5. Keep nice round numbers.  Given this has a top, and the plywood dictates it's width (and the bottom has to fit inside it) - I decide the easy way is to build the top first to those dimensions (round abouts).

So Hip To Be Square

 First up - check the materials.  This isn't gonna be french furniture, but it has to be a little better than a garden bed.  Plywood comes pretty square usually - but I had them cut it down to 6ft - so to be sure I make sure their cut was good.
If you don't have a square in reach - you can use Pythagoras' theorem to check that the sides are 90 degrees by the distance of the hypotenuse.  ARGH MATHS! - hahaha well yes, and no.
If a right angle triangle has one side of 3 arbitrary units, and a height of 4 units - the hypotenuse will equal 5.  This is called the '3-4-5 Method' - measure up 3 inches and mark, 4 inches and mark - then measure - if it's 5 inches, that corner is square.. I find this much less messing around than the 'corner to corner' method (if both distances are equal - you're set). Also the 3-4-5 method can tell you how much you're out and in which direction by looking at how much over or under 5 you are.  Simple.

Do not adjust your TV!

Last build blog I went into how a 2x4 might not be 2x4 or even the length you wanted - well that straight bit of wood you bought might be straight either!  Check this one out. That isn't a tricky angle - it's also not the worst one I had.  I sight all my lumber when I buy it, and in this case I chose whichever ones had the most 'straight' length. When I got home I sighted them again and marked where the bows were and used that to work out which bit I'd cut for where. These were the 3 x 1 1/2's for the 'lip' of the lid.

Measure twice, cross fingers.

We're doing a simple box like the raised bed, only we need it to fit INSIDE the plywood area - so what we do is measure to the width of the ply and subtract 1/4 inch (I'll explain below) - now for the raised be we added the width of the lumber so the interior dimension would be where we wanted (remember?) - so if we want this to fit inside our plywood, we subtract it instead.  The exterior dimensions will be the size we want.
Now where does that other 1/4 inch come in?  Well we want to be absolutely sure that the top of the lid fits - it's much easier to trim down 1/16th of an inch than recut or round over the top so it's all flush and nice.  What if there's a ding in the side of the ply we didn't notice? what if I messed up my squaring and one side slants in?  Call it 'wiggle room'.

Didn't take long at all!

With the edges cut to length, we lay it out, put glue on the joints and shoot a couple of brad nails in to hold it.  If you don't have a nail gun you could use a finish nail and a hammer, clamps, or hold each corner for 1/2 hour.. doesn't matter. I also screwed each side with a 2 inch construction screw to draw the ends in together - I only used one per join because even with drilling a pilot hole the wood was threatening to split.. I only had #8's on me at the time - not really necessary, but I did it. At the moment the top ply is only there to check my measurements - not connected.

Center spar for support.

The plywood I'm using is rather thin, if I had to do it again I'd probably do a bit thicker, but I had weight considerations to deal with. If you put your foot on it, it would break in half and your foot would go through the top. So I added some support.  I cut a notch in the center, the width and depth of the lumber with the router. I have one, I had to wait 2 years to buy it, so I'm gonna use it.  If you don't have one you use a hand saw or circular saw to make cuts to the correct depth then chisel it out.  Again, glued and nailed - the glue is doing the work, shooting a brad in there just holds it together without me having to fetch clamps.

This is out of sequence a little, as it occurred to me that night (during dinner) that just one spar would create a pivot point - the lid wouldn't sit flush - so I got some spare timber I had inside (from another project) and cut 2 smaller spars.  This could have been avoided utterly by making 2 originally -but I had a brainfart.  While I was there I took some offcuts from the sides and made some mitered blocks on the table saw and added them to the corners.

 While that was set up and drying I turned to the base.  I measured the inside of the lid, and did the same thing - subtracted wiggle room, subtracted the width of the wall.. cut up the bits.

 I was going to buff out the corners with a bit of 4x4 post. But how do you cut it when your blade isn't wide enough? Well you could cut from both sides, but lining up the cut 'blind' is a pain.. so I just turn the post 90 degrees and follow the cut. I make 4 cuts, but it takes less time than constantly checking the other side to make sure it's correct - and gives you cleaner cut in my opinion.

4 corners, 2 blocks.... HUH?  Well I decided I didn't want a honking big block in the corner for them to bang up against - so I took it inside to the shop and cut them at 45 degrees on the table saw.
The cuts were a little out (because in this case I had to flip it and cut blind) - so I cleaned it up with a chisel and some sandpaper quickly - no pics of that because around abouts this time we were expecting company and I had to quickly sort the tools, clean up and fire up the grill.

THE GRILL!

It was my birthday last Sunday, then its my anniversary next week, then Wife's birthday a few days after that - so we decided to roll them all into one and buy ourselves a kick-ass grill.

 So, day two and I'm happily working away and forgetting to take snapshots... but it's ok, there's nothing here we ain't done before. The base was screwed together with 3 inch construction screws, the corner blocks screwed in as well.
It was given a quick sand, corners and edges rounded. This was more for splinters sake and for finishing than any aesthetic.. I used what leftover sanding pads were in the shop.
 We then went and put on the exterior deck stain. I got a semi clear sealer/stain because I like the natural look of wood, and the lumber didn't suck. I also had some 'weathered oak' stain from another project, so I mixed some in to bring out a little more color - the end result was a very nice honey color that I'm rather pleased with.  The stain is mainly for longevity rather than eye candy. I applied a couple of coats, I didn't put much time into sanding down between ( because when you apply stain the grain raises - this is more a furniture problem than a 'thing' problem - so I didn't care).

2 layers of landscape cloth finish out the bottom. Same as the garden bed - staple, pull tight, staple, cut.. I didn't put in a solid bottom because it gets wet here, and although the moisture will wick up into the sand - I'd rather that than a mini pool. Also having a wooden bottom and standing water in the bottom will hurt the longevity no matter who much care I put into prepping the wood.  Learning my lesson from last time - we used a normal stapler with normal staples - because it's the right tool for the job and nail guns are dangerous.

News flash - everything is dangerous.

Yeah....  I can't even take solace in this being a 'manly' accident.  After a day with saws, drills, razor sharp chisels, table saws, and nail guns... I get done by a normal stapler.. not even USING the normal stapler. I was putting staples in it. I broke off the bar of staples to fit them in, one somehow stuck me right in the thumb.

Onwards! plywood is cut to size, glued and a nailed down. A couple of pavers and some bits of 2x6 I have been saving for an upcoming garden project are used to weigh it down while it sets up.  After that, we sand it all down, round corners and edges.  Test fit the top and bottom to make sure they all go together easily.. they do... and so on we go.

Meanwhile Wife requests that handles be put on the front to make lifting off the lid easier.

A couple of offcuts are trimmed down. Holes are put in the front, and I routed out the back a little. Some plastic based rope I had as a clothesline does the job for a handle.  Here's a tip - this stuff frays when you cut it - but you can fix that with about 5 seconds of holding it over a cigarette lighter... the space in the back will hold the knots and the rope passed through the holes...attached to the front.

 

Soooo close to the end, a couple of coat of stain to the lid once it's sanded, and the handles are attached.

And Finished.... now all I have to do is get the sand to fill it.

An open....

...and shut case.

Hope some peeps find this useful.

Cheers.