Tag: Hoop House

Everything is Planted & I hurt

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My normal work schedule is Monday through Friday. I took off Thursday, and my wife and I made three trips to Lowes. We got 24 bags of dirt, 12 at a time, and 5 huge bags of beauty bark. As you can see in the pictures the beauty bark filled out the rest of the hoop house aka the Squirrel Interdiction cage.

The problem with having a physical disability is you like to forget and think you can do things you used to do 30 years ago. I am in rough shape. I not only filled the raised beds, added the bark, but I mowed the lawn.

My lawn mower saga is now over. I had ordered that lawn mower from Lowes, and they no-called, no-showed me three times, so I canceled and ordered a Makita battery mower from Amazon.

I was just going to test it to make sure it worked, so I could break down the box, but it was so cool, I mowed the back yard. My grass is only in tufts becuase they used nasty glass and garbage and rock filled dirt to level the lot, so it’s a bumpy nasty yard to mow.

We also have an issue with the driveway as they only put a bare inch or so of gravel over the crappy fill dirt, and it is growing so many weeds now. We are opting to use 2 cups of rock salt in 1 galloon of water to kill the weeds. I have sympathy at trying to get a house ready for sale, but a lot of corners were cut all over.

So anyways, I have things set up in the garden finally, and I was starting to wonder if I had committed a bit of overkill on the hoop house and chicken wire, until the day after I planted it all.

The damn cat, which is lovely and beautiful and feral, had dug up my mint bed to pee in it. I had to drag out the chicken wire and wrap each of those small round beds to keep him out.

All this is to say, I am dead up against a wall of sore and exhuastion today. I spent the day in bed and watched Good Eats on Discovery+ with the wife. She made game maps next to me while I dozed.

I have so much more to do, that it’s nuts. I have 9 more curtains for the house, a kitchen cabinet box, and a coffee table. I’d have been done with this in a few days when I was healthier. Not so much now. I have to take each item day by day.

Like for instance, today I was going to sew one set of curtains, but I just can’t. I hurt. It’s really hard to be able to work with your hands, and be prevented because of your body’s failings.

I am trying to be patient with myself and happy that at least the garden is planted. I will need to top the beds with dirt in winter, and maybe transplant the strawberries to a fuller raised bed, but it’s in its final form. Now, even when I am hurt and sore, I can still do the little planting things. As this condition progresses, I am set up to continue with my garden which brings me a lot or joy.

Garden Progress

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-Originally posted to Tumblr

I got the gate on, and dirt in three of the five beds. It started really raining, so I gave up and it’s been raining all day today. I need to put my tomato cage in the back bed. I am just going to put a PVC frame in there and use twine to train them up. I need to make two because I have cucumbers as well I am planting.

The dirt looks amazing in the beds.

(Spoiler from future me: It was not enough dirt and settled down pretty low. I will have to amend and add to it next spring.)

I get the rest of my dirt on Tuesday. I’ll hopefully have my beds planted by Wednesday. This year’s last frost was super late, and I am later still because I was building this out. However, I am happy! Next year will be pretty easy.

After putting the dirt in the beds, I found some big ‘ol worms, which I put in my tomato beds.

My wife wanted nothing to do with them! I am finding some great ones as I am slowly moving Mt. Garbage Dirt out.

I am pretty grateful to my wife for helping me move the dirt. I am not as physically able as I once was, so her help really is appreciated.

I think the last thing I will need is some bark to lay down on the ground between the beds. I also have some mushroom compost I need to lay in when I plant, and some straw to use as mulch.

I have never been this excited for dirt before. I never thought I would get a home, and be able to have a garden. It still feels unreal.

Garden Progress & Operation Squirrel Interdiction is a go

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Well, I got the chicken wire up on Operation Squirrel Interdiction.

I am going to use PVC pipes on the front there, and make a door that is all chicken wired.

I am thinking of covering the ground with gravel, but I can’t seem to figure out how much gravel I need, and I had sticker shock when I looked at Lowes.

It occurred to me my cat can come out with me to the garden when it’s done because it will be inclosed. She may like that.

I also used some of the surplus dirt to fill holes in my front yard. Oliver the big black main coon stray cat that was re-homed and his incredibly feral littermate were using my entire front yard like a free roaming litter box. I had thought it was a dog because the leavings were so damn big. These cats are bigger than some dogs.

The result is my lawn looking like it is going through chemo because of the tufts of grass and big dug out holes.

So with the holes filled, we seeded the lawn with clover seed. We prefer clover to grass. We will see how that works out.

What I have learned is the lawn looks like it was landscaped with some sort of garbage rock fill dirt. There is literally garbage all over. Glass, roofing shingles, plastic, kids toys, and so damn many rocks. It’s bad. I am glad I am going with raised beds and expensive new dirt.

I mean, the city I live in is notorious for superfund sites anyways, and you have to get the soil checked if you want to grow in the ground. I don’t even want to try, and now with all the rocks and crap? Yeah, no. I’m not in a specifically known site, but I’m not taking chances.

I had to order more T fittings for the PVC and it won’t get here until Thursday. That and a couple bails of straw are the last items I need to start an actual garden.

It may be late in the seasons, but honestly the last frost date just happened so we are all late this season.

Garden Plans

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-First published on Tumblr on 4/10/23 before I realized Tumblr has no real archival function.

For most people, they would probably have knocked out this garden on a weekend. I mean, I would have when I was in my 20s or 30s.

However, because I live with a degenerative physical disability, I take time. It took me about a week, working like an hour or two at a time to just dig out the sod, and it took me three different days to do the raised beds.

It’s very nice to see my work come to fruition, but it’s bittersweet because it’s a noticeable loss of ability to take this long to get it done, with recovery periods between each work period.

But, look at my soon to be garden. It’s a mess because it’s in progress. I am going to put chicken wire over the whole hoop house/greenhouse thing, and that way, the squirrels, cats, raccoons, and possums can’t get into my beds.

It’s a 10 foot by 20 foot hoop house frame for about $200 on amazon. The three blue beds are about $200 each on amazon as well.

I chose expensive metal raised beds because 1) I won’t have to redo them, as they won’t degrade like wood, and 2) my physical condition is worsening and raised beds are easier to work with for bending and mobility. I am looking to the future when my body is worse, so if I get it all in now, I will still have it then.

Ideally, I would have liked to get this all in before the last frost, but we own the house so I don’t have to rush. Everything I get to work on this year will be there for me next year.

I have to build in recovery days. Like I don’t have pictures, but I started the chicken wire, and I overdid it a little. It took me three days of soreness and exhaustion to recover. I will put up pictures when that phase is done.

It’s so weird owning a home, where I can do anything I want. I never thought I would own one. It’s like minecraft in real life. Each little project I get to keep, and my world is better for it.