Hardy plants for hardy souls
When I first started gardening, the "proper" way to prepare a garden bed was double digging. I wouldn't recommend that for anything except really long-lived plants, like peonies and asparagus. These days many people recommend lasagna gardening or something similar. I tried that, and it didn't work too well for me. The biggest mistake I [...]
The front of our current house presents a very long surface to the road, having been added onto twice by attaching rooms to the side. It faces the most level land to be found on the entire ten acres, the front lawn. And yet, when we moved in, only a scruffy scrim of shrubbery clung [...]
In my previous post, I described my idea of a cabin fever bed as a way to enjoy at least a part of the garden from indoors, when the weather is too miserable to be outside. One of the goals of such a bed is to grow plants that provide interest as far into winter [...]
Cabin fever is a colloquial expression that means different things to different people. Wikipedia defines it as a claustrophobic reaction that takes place when a person or group is isolated and/or shut in a small space, with nothing to do for an extended period. Cabin fever describes the extreme irritability and restlessness a person may [...]
Last weekend the last stage of the front walk project was completed. Every stone had to be leveled and the gaps between stones filled in.That's how my sons did it, at least. A lot of people would use sand for the leveling and joint-filling, but they thought the crushed bluestone would stay put better. They [...]
The path project, on hold for weeks, finally took a step forward this past weekend. The split blue stone from the quarry arrived last week, three large pallets worth. The stone came in a variety of thickness and sizes, from half an inch thick to three inches thick, and from one foot in diameter to [...]
The Secret Garden is a path through the woods along the side creek on our property. (See map at the end of this article.) The creek comes under the road through a culvert and then drops several feet to the creek bed below. I refer to this as the waterfall, which may sound a tad [...]
Work continues on the front walkway as the menfolk have time, ambition, and supplies ready to hand. Yes, you need all three to get anything done. I suppose it helps to know what you're doing, too. Here's what happened May 18th while I was at the Ithaca Plant Sale. First, the mailbox was moved out [...]
Last Saturday, May 4th, work on the front walk began! First my son Rundy marked out the edges of the walk with string and stakes.When he fills up the bed of the truck, he will fill up the trailer parked behind it. He uses the mattock to loosen the soil as needed and to pry [...]
The stone will go at the bottom of a trench that has yet to be dug, to provide drainage for the irregular bluestone pavers. It turns out that what I thought was fieldstone is actually Pennsylvania Bluestone. We are still waiting for a quote for the paving stone. This is one of several projects planned [...]
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