Cattle Panel Trellis

Woohoo! We have a cattle panel trellis! I'm going to run out and take some pictures a little later.
We used four 5-foot t-posts and one 16-foot long cattle panel. The total cost was around $48, but this thing will last for y e a r s. I think it only took us about 25 minutes to get it up, which is a huge bonus! We (meaning my wonderful husband LOL) used a sledge hammer to drive in the t-posts and since the ground was wet from last night's rain it was a cinch. (Ok, he has big muscles. It might not be a cinch for a weakling like me to do.) I got the idea from the GardenWeb forums and I'm really excited that it turned out so well and was so easy to do. I can't wait to see tomatoes growing up it!

See it back there?

Working My Butt Off

Boy, have I ever! This past week I have been so busy that I haven't come inside to sit down until nine o'clock every night. That meant no time to post. So now that Friday is here and I have almost everything I wanted to get done accomplished I can sit and post an update. If it isn't raining like crazy tomorrow I'll get pictures.

Wednesday I helped Grammy and Poppy till and plant their garden. We planted lima beans, radishes, turnips, three varieties of spinach, three varieties of lettuce, carrots, garlic, scallions, um....I think I'm forgetting some things but my brain is fried so we'll just leave the list there. I also weeded some flower beds and planted Poppy's dahlias.

Thursday afternoon I helped Mom haul four loads of topsoil, haul four loads of compost (seaweed from the lake....this stuff is beautiful!), till it all in, and plant the following: tomatoes, pole beans, cucumbers, onion sets, carrots, and snow peas.

Today we went to Mom's again. We tilled a new garden area and planted the following: watermelon, Minnesota midget melons, more cucumbers, Jack 'O lanterns, triple treat pumpkins, spaghetti squash, acorn squash, buttercup squash, zuchinni, crookneck yellow squash, ornamental corn (3 varieties), a few types of lettuce, a few types of spinach, and more tomatoes. Then we planted some flower bulbs my dad bought her for Mother's Day and some perennials he brought home that someone from work sent for Mom.

And then.....I came home and finshed filling my two 4x4 square foot boxes and planted the following: chives, borage, broccoli raab, oregano, broccoli, cucumbers, better boy tomatoes, early girl tomatoes, basil, dwarf grey snow peas, strawberry spinach, romaine, salad bowl lettuce, and mesclun.

Now it is time to rest a while and catch up on e-mail, laundry, and tv shows I've missed (Lost, anyone?)

Crab Apples Blooming and Square Foot Layout

Well our crap apple trees in front of the house are blooming and they are so beautiful, I just had to take a picture to share.


I also wanted to share some pictures of the square foot beds and tell you what I have planted so far.

Bed #1: All five squares on the left side are Super Snappy Snap Peas.
The middle row has 2.5 blocks each of Teton Hybrid Spinach and Avon Hybrid Spinach. The five squares on the right are full of Bibb Lettuce, planted with the help of a four year old, which is why there are too many planted. :)


Bed #2: Bed #2: if you read this like a book, blocks 1-9 are still empty, blocks 10 & 11 are carrots (planted today), block 12 is white onion sets, blocks 13 * 14 are yellow onion sets, and block 15 is red onion sets.


Yesterday I finally got bed #2 filled and planted the onion sets. I also got my strawberry bags filled and planted with Ozark Beauty Strawberries. Plus I pulled weeds (a whole wheelbarrow full!), I started a weed garden (more about this another time), moved some daffodils that were mysteriously growing in the middle of my yard so they wouldn't get mowed down, mowed the lawn, and Marc and I moved the swingset and grill and then picked up another load of tiles from my parents' house for our patio. It was a busy day.

Today I planted the carrots, and finally tied my twine to make my square foot beds official. I also managed to get some pots filled with potting soil so that I can plant some flowers and herbs later today. Then I moved the sandbox and other play equipment to their new locations. The yard is looking HUGE without the swingset right in the middle!

Marc and I discussed the new beds we hope to start working on in the next two weeks. He thinks we should do them all in brick so it looks nicer. I can buy bricks like the ones I got free from my mom for 20 cents each, which would be less than $15 for each bed. Since I can't seem to find any free scrap lumber anywhere and would have to buy the 2x4s I think we'll go ahead and do bricks. I think he's right about how it looks, and the bricks will never have to be replaced. We may have to fix them yearly because of frost heave, but that's not a problem.

So that's where I am with the yard and garden. It's keeping me busy!

ETA~I spent three hours this afternoon transplanting my squash, pumpkins, broccoli, and tomatoes. My feet are killing me! Here are some (hopefully) happy squash and pumpkin transplants for your viewing pleasure.

My Seedlings Are Really Growing!

I promise to post pictures later, but my pumpkins and spaghetti squash are getting big!

Another Brick Square Foot Bed

Well I got the second raised bed made. We didn't make it outside until a little after noon and had to come in around 3:30 because of the rain. I dug up the sod and leveled the area, then put down cardboard and hauled the bricks over to stack. I didn't do the leveling for my first brick bed and the difference is remarkable, though it doesn't look that much different in the photo. I used the sod and the soil I dug up to fill some holes created from pulling huge chunks of concrete out of the middle of the yard.

Both beds (new one is still empty)


Closer View of Bed #2


Where The Rock Garden Will Be



And Photos of All of the Growing Seedlings Taken Today 5-2-08

Scallions


Purple Basil


Roma Tomatoes


Green Goliath Broccoli


6 Jack 'O Lantern Pumpkins!


3 Triple Treat Pumpkins


3 of the 6 Spaghetti Squash


Butterbush Squash


3 Giant Moonflowers


Oregano


And the Italian Parsley Has Finally Sprouted!


I just wish the tomatoes and broccoli I planted in the little trays would have sprouted. The ones in the pots were just some of the extra seeds I let the boys plant (which is why there are so many in each pot!) and I'm not even sure how to thin them?! Oh well.