Reminiscings of the Summertime

Having no inclination to do much in the garden lately due to rain, chill and too much school work (primarily the latter), I was looking through pictures for amusement and distraction (from aforementioned schoolwork). Now that my Wednesday night essay is finished and posted, I have a moment to myself and thought I'd start a thread. This is for any pictures or garden musings you might have as you think back over the last year. I often create wild plans and dreams in the depths of January, and I wondered what all of you might be dreaming up as well.

I may have shared this before, can't remember, but I was having fun looking at my pictures and this gave me a laugh.This year, we started a small flock of chickens. The coop design came from brainstorming and drawing out ideas the winter before. We were pondering how to make a movable coop so it could be parked in different places around the yard as whim might drive us to want a new garden spot cleared by our new cadre. This is what we came up with. There are snowboards attached to swiveling posts (from old casters), and the coop glides across the grass when pulled by the lawn tractor.

You can see the nesting box on the back in this picture.

This message was edited Feb 1, 2012 11:39 PM

"Sir Clucksalot" and some of the hens foraging under an old apple tree.

Last year I tried growing peas and tomatoes in 5 gal buckets in one of the better sunny spots in my yard (in front of the barn.) Peas were great--slugs couldn't attack them quite so easily- and the tomatoes were a total bust, as was the case with most of the garden attempts last year. Now I have decided that the spot where I located the buckets could easily be converted into a more permanent raised bed. Will plan to put a half-cover of plastic (umbrella type) on it so that I will get a green-house effect for the tomatoes. Now I am trying to decide what kind of border to use for the bed, keeping in mind a bit of economy. The spot where it will be located on is gravel, so the bed will have to be raised quite a bit. Any thoughts or suggestions would be most welcome. Have to get it done by the end of February as that is the time for the peas to be seeded.

Yay for chickens!!!

I am sure whatever you do will be great, Sharon

My recollections have to do with a great bunch that met for lunch to meet this east coaster. Again I will say that get together was AWESOME!!! I will be putting in more veggies this year, cuz, sadly I won't be traveling across the country.

Sharon, that's a really good idea for peas. I rarely get them into the ground soon enough because the ground is too cold and wet. I have been considering the idea of cinder block raised beds to replace 10 year old cedar boards that are beginning to rot through in places. I think they could have some kind of artwork, like mosaic, put on them so as not to look quite as ugly, but with enough vegetable verdance tumbling over the edges appearances might not matter anyway.
Jan, I'm sure sorry I missed you last Summer, but it was fun seeing the pictures of your visit.

I like the idea of decorating the block. It would retain warmth also. Win-Win

I missed seeing you, too. How's school going?

Plus--You could plant smaller things in the holes of the block--like Herbs and Mints and small succulents,
ground-covers and such. Hen ans Chicks? Just place them with the "holey" side on top.

Been reading this Post--thought i would jump in and share my ideas....

Gita

Hi, Gita! Glad you piped in. Maybe lettuce in the holes?

Wow! You guys have got me seriously considering cinder blocks now. I remember my ddh put an adobe surface on some a while back to simulate an adobe wall and that turned out looking really good.... Things to think about.

I'm a huge fan of spraypaint! There are stone looks out now, but I think cinder blocks would look good in pink & aqua! Thanks for the idea -- I've been mulling some raised beds too & think that would work better than any of my wood options.

That is a good Idea! Cinder blocks! I want a raised garden to grow food. More grass is going to disappear!
Welcome Gitagal

Yes, welcome to all on the eastern side. We are all northwest of somewhere, and east of somewhere too for that matter. I like the idea of planting in the cinder block holes. This would be a long term project for me, as I transition from wood boards. My beds are already established at a height of 10 inches to raise my soil up from the mucky clay. I have to figure out how I want to do this with the basic height of the cinder blocks being 8 inches, dig down and use double height, or mound up and use single height. I'm not sure what kind of a base cinder blocks need. I don't think I want something so permanent you can't ever change the configuration if you want to.

I would use two rows of cinder for stability. I don't think you'd necessarily have to dig it down if you have a fairly level base to begin with, although you could. If you staggered the holes to overlap but still be on top of one another, you could drive a stake of rebar down every so often and on the corners. That would be moveable in the future but still pretty solid. Bringing it up a few more inches would be a bit easier on your back is how I look at it...

Might steal your idea, I'm scheming about a veggie garden again and the logical place is in our front field. I'd rather not till if I can help it. This would work if I first laid out black plastic to kill down the bottom level, then brought in some dirt to fill the beds. Hmmm. I also like the notion of painting the cinder.

Please don't use black plastic on the bottoms of your beds. Use cardboard instead. It will kill off the grass or weeds and eventually decompose letting the soil under live and breath.

I wouldn't leave it there, just use it as a quick oven. You are right, though, cardboard would work as well and I could lay the cinders directly on it. Lord knows we have enough beer boxes around here...

Good way to recycle.

Looking at Lauribob's greenhouse made me think that a raised bed with walls of glass blocks rather than concrete would be gorgeous (and practical for allowing the soil to heat up.) Wonder if anyone has tried it??????????????

That sounds like a good idea and project.

Oohhh, I like the sound of that. Picturing it in my head and liking what I see. ;)

I dunno. Aside from the cost, how would you secure them? At only 4 inches thick, they aren't heavy like cinder blocks, and they would need to be mortared in order not to just fall over. Plus, you would lose the translucence if there was soil behind them, not air, not to mention that they themselves would have dirt all over them being at ground level.

You could use the glass block as a second tier to wood or cinder block and use it as a bit of a windbreak / greenhouse effect, keeping the dirt below the level of the glass. Could be very impressive, especially with some of the patterned glass blocks. Spendy though.

That would be pretty, and probably quite unique.

That's true. Keep in mind, though, that if you tend to kneel or sit on the edge of your beds like I do, that you need to plan for a comfortable top.

The issue of the comfortable top is one negative consideration for the cinder block idea. Concrete can have a bit of a rough touch. I'm not ruling it out though.

You could run a top wood board by somehow anchoring it into the cinder holes. That would give it a nice finished look as well I would think.