WIP Crows Follies

Crows Follies No's. 1 thru 14

There is nothing like seeing them laid out like this to make one realize what needs to be done, fixed, changed, etc.!  I'll have to have John make two new raised panel frames for me to replace No's 11 and 12 as these two do NOT go with this particular series color wise.  The good news is is I'll have him make more than two new frames for a new series in the blue tones.

Off to add more paint and ink to these panels.

Garden Plot for 2014

Half scale of what the actual garden will look like, we are moving our raised beds to the back garden this year and the space is 16x29 feet.  If I planned everything correctly I will have enough room for six raised beds and four trellis panels with enough room for a minimum of 16 tomato plants.

The green panel to the left represents the asparagus patch, at the top and the rhubarb bed to the south, yes my rhubarb bed really is that big!  The wedge on the lower right represents lawn, I have to account for the garden shed door so I can get stuff out of the garden shed.

And as I look at this sketch those two herb beds could be one large herb bed instead, lol. I'll probably rework the sketch several times as we start to move the three raised beds we already have, and then start building the other two raised beds.

I'm guessing this was a good  year for us to decide to start over from scratch with our gardening efforts.  Only one of the five blueberry bushes survived the brutal winter, haven't seen any leaf buds on the current bushes yet, and none of the strawberry plants survived.  Yep, a great year to start over!

Spring has Sprung!

Angel and Oliver hanging out in the outdoor dog run last summer.

Remember all of the hard work John did last Spring to build up my raised gardens in the front yard, here is a photo from last year?  Well we are going to move them to the north garden because mostly we get more sunlight in the back yard than we do in the front yard.  

Soooooo, today began the long process of clearing out the north garden, John removed the fence posts, and the chicken wire fencing while I cleaned up all of the trash that blew into our yard over this past winter.  I also organized all of the fence posts, etc., and otherwise acted as his runner for tools and such, while Angel and Oliver hung out in the outdoor kennel.  

Hopefully next weekend I'll have new photos to share as we embark on this new journey, but we are both in agreement that we love the raised beds and this is the direction we want to go, that and a quarter or half CSA share which we need to make a decision on in the next week or so.  I will say that I was excited to see that my raised beds are completely thawed out, a minor miracle considering this years winter and the fact that we still have ice in the back yard!

Spring has Finally Sprung in Central Iowa

The trees are finally leafing out, now to find something to plant in my hanging pots.

The neighbors crabapple is stunning this year, mine has lost most of it's blossoms already.

John tilling the east garden, most of which will be planted with native prairie plants that are useful for my natural dye plants.

Lettuce, strawberries, chard, basil, tom thumb peas, and arugula in this raised bed.

Various herbs along with three cabbage plants that I"m thinking of moving elsewhere, so I can plant more dill in this bed.

Snow!!!

Woke up to some snow this morning.

Well at least the raised vegetable beds are getting some much needed moisture.

My more tender herbs are covered by plastic buckets.

Traffic is moving slow enough that I was able to get a clear shot of the intersection during rush hour.

Livestock Tank as Raised Vegetable Bed

Got these lovely livestock tanks this afternoon from an old friend of John's.  They are delightful in their shape, patina, and the fact that they will keep my madder root contained!

In addition to the livestock tanks, John also got a yard of composted horse manure for our gardens.

He's beat from all of the shoveling and moving of topsoil and manure, but I'm thrilled to have everything in place for the growing season!  This weeks forecast is rain, rain, and more rain.

All three beds are now dressed with composted horse manure.

Raised Vegetable Beds 042713 Part 2

Round two of off loading the amended topsoil.

 

Almost ready for the compost!

This raised bed holds a full two yards of soil. 

"I bettter get some pesto this year..."  I'm betting dollars to doughnuts that's what's going through his mind when I took this photo!

My babies!!!  All grown locally in a local greenhouse, and here I said I wasn't going to have a large garden this year... well this time we're gardening smarter by laying down cardboard and then mulching those areas heavily.

Filled and already sporting some plants.

So far two plantings of chives, one dill plant, two peppermint (with the dark purplish black stems) three jalepeno's and three purple cabagges in this bed.  The soil temperature is around 60 degrees.

All three beds need new bird netting, to be added this week, and will be painted a lovely color called Copper Pot, looks just like terra cotta. 

Raised Vegetable Beds

From this, which was about ten inches deep...

To this which is about 18-20 inches deep; we need more soil though because...

The first thirty seven bags of organic top soil wasn't near enough to fill the box!  I will be planting leeks, garlic, parsnips, and a few other yummies later in the week.

Raised Beds Under Stress

This one just flat out collapsed and has taken on the appearance of a bathtub.

The bed to the far right is starting to lean.  The one in the middle has been over engineered so should stand up to the snow with no issues.

Waiting

... on gesso to dry, after this layer has dried I'll apply a final layer of gesso. 

New Raised Bed

I need to edit the photos and post them here for this particular bed.  John has been experimenting with several approaches to the whole sustainable garden, one of those is the back to eden method.  In this new bed we layered composted wood chips and leaves on the bottom and then some good soil on the top.  I've planted lettuce in this bed and then once it's up I'll layer in leaves atop the soil in between the rows.

John will build the lid for it tomorrow, this will ensure that the rabbits don't eat my baby lettuce plants and the neighbors cat cannot use it as it's litterbox.

Raised Panel Frames

Awaiting paint and other yummies!

More Frames

Raised panel frames 3x9 inches that John made for me for a new series.

A stack of deep faced frames for my textile work ready to recieve glass, bumpers/spacers, and artwork!

The master and his craft!

Coat number one of black stain now applied to the framing stock.

Garden Update No.???

No pics tonight, just a note to say how much I hate Grackles!  The little buggers pulled all of my baby leeks and baby onions :-(  So tomorrow, if it doesn't rain, I'll be replanting and this time applying large amounts of bird netting over the nursery area.

Salad Garden

Bird netting now attached to the hoop house portion of the raised bed and just in time for the baby lettuce sprouts that are now breaking through the soil.

Raised Beds and Hoop Houses

This raised bed is waiting for it's hoops still, first I need to turn the soil and then plant it with lettuce, chard, and other salad nummies.

Tomorrow I'll add the mesh and then the plastic to the hoops.  The mesh is for later in the season to keep the critters out, the mesh I use is a half inch square plastic netting.

The boards are covering my leek trenches.

WIP - Encaustic

From last Wednesdays Ustream.  These are in need or more surface manipulation.

Encaustic Panels EVERYWHERE!

Encuastic Setup

Set up for working on two panels simultaneously.