#new garden bed

[jensownzoo]

Okay I finished phase 5, the final phase, of the replacing part of the front lawn with a garden bed project exactly a week ago. Though I was ELATED to be done, at that point we hadn’t had any significant rain for nearly four weeks (everyone surrounding the city had had plenty—just that weird warming column that comes from so much asphalt and concrete dried up every storm that passed over :-/) and with a clay-and-fill-rock soil that I was literally breaking up by hand...well I couldn’t move my hands for typing up a post for some time afterwards! But here it is:

The eggplants look a little sad about being transplanted, but they’ve since recovered. I’ve got four varieties—Black Beauty, Ping Tung, Antigua, and Thai Frog’s Egg—to give me a nice mix. I interplanted with clover, nasturtium, and candytuft. Then on the slope down to the sidewalk (bordered by some salvaged concrete edgers colored with teal concrete stain I picked up on clearance years ago), I basically threw every seed I had that was over 8 years old. Mostly flowers and herbs, but it will be an interesting mix. There were so many seeds that if even 1% germinate, that slope will be packed. Which will help with the erosion that would happen otherwise.

I had some old panels of wire fencing that I installed in two offset rows behind the edgers to keep people and dogs from walking on the loosened soil. Also found two pieces of pound-in plastic edging that had a serrated-style bottom—which due to my rock problem didn’t “pound in” but I had to make a trench—that I put in along the side with the grass to help keep the zoysia from immediately crawling over into the much nicer fertilized area.

Anyway, we finally got a bit of rain this week, and just in time too since I’ve been hand-watering with buckets of water from the rain barrels and they’d run completely dry the day before. We had a storm yesterday that completely filled all three of them, so I’m feeling much less anxious. The tomatoes LOVED the rain—just look at how much they’ve shot up in only a week:

You can see that I had to start the Florida weave, which is going really well in the front row since I managed to get those tomatoes planted in a straight line. I was going for a vee in the back two rows, but ended up with curves which is not working well for the weave. I think it will fix itself as the plants grow taller though.

The nice straight row:

And the rows that you can laugh at:

But even though getting this garden bed in and planted is done, I still have related projects to accomplish, namely:

I think my dad gave me the barrels something like 15 years ago to convert into rain barrels. At the time I didn’t have the know-how nor easy internet access so they ended up shoved in the garage (and I bought pre-made ones later). Dragged them out and gave them a base coat of brown spray paint to prevent algae growth (since they were translucent white). I’ve got the bulkheads and a hole saw on order. I’ve got old screening and roughly a 1/4 tube of silicone (leftover from the diy olla project). I know I have at least one spigot, but I need to look through my plumbing supplies a little more closely. Anyway, one of the barrels held Mountain Dew syrup and I’ll be putting that one on the front porch to water the new garden bed. I’m going to have to reroute a downspout for it though since all mine currently dump at the rear of the house. The other held industrial cleaner and will be reserved for scrubbing out pots and similar. I kinda wanted to get this all done before the heat and mosquitoes arrived, but oh well.

[purpleleafsyt]

Caution, Temptation, Danger, Resilience

<- | 4. Rhododendron | ->

[emaadsidiki]

Rockefeller Fountain ⛲🦄🐠🧜‍♀️🦆 Bronx Zoo

[xxplastic-cubexx]

just read the original trial of magneto issue and Lilandra butting in on Charles and Erik's tragic dying bromance vows is halariously abrupt. these two old men are romantically staring in each others eyes and then a bird woman flashes down out of no where to say son't worry he'll be fine in an hour and then leaves

they may as well have just started makin out i think i woulda burst a blood vessel

[stickyarbiterwombat]

Alright, I don’t post much, but I have a question for some of you out there listening. I’m gardening out of my apartment & can’t use the dirt/backyard space because of lease agreement. What is y’all’s best recommendations for a raised bed/standing bed?

[cultivating-wildflowers]

this month is really making me feel like a homeowner in the most mundanely stressful ways

I have to replace my toilet because it's falling apart, but it's so old that we have to find one that will fit, and then we have to adjust the connections (thankfully my dad knows how to do this)

my parents are getting a new washing machine so I will be inheriting theirs (this is how I got my stove)

the friends selling my parents their washing machine are also getting rid of their dryer, so I get a lightly-used dryer for cheap (the sensor on mine died so I can only use the time setting)

my mother is once again critiquing my house's siding (it's wood. and we painted it in the middle of a cold snap in March four years ago before I even bought the house so the inspector would quit pitching a fit)

she also has big plans for re-configuring my driveway

and she wants to know when the township will finally fill the hole in the off-street parking area (it now has its own biome)

my dad may be swapping my lawnmower with his so I can quit getting mildly zapped every time I turn mine off via pulling the spark plug (I mowed on Sunday. it ran out of gas with three passes left. my lawn looks so stupid but we're under a flood watch and I will not be mowing until...later)

thankfully the water heater, furnace, windows, and roof are all quite new and/or in working condition!

[icewindandboringhorror]

Apparently I can meet my goal of roughly 400,000 words in 6 months if I just somehow write at least 2,200 words a day ghbjh... Almost 2,500 today... huzzah...

[babbling-starling]

My little N. ventricosa has been doing so well I got brave and ordered some more carnivores! The paler nepenthes is closely related to ventracosa and the spotty one is a ventracosa hybrid, so I’m hoping they’ll do just as well. The fly trap and purple pitcher plant will be my first try doing winter dormancy. Fingers crossed!

Species in image descriptions!

[albatris]

the ace of pentacles asks me to plant a seed for my future

[cherry-pop-elf]

I finally made my persona in the game, and properly this time, so take some fun little screenshots. Needless to say, this Herbology Season has been the best UwU

((God HPMA has such cool character creation))

🥀

“Welcome to Belladonnas Bewildering Blooms! How may I help ya, sug?”

“Oh that’s an easy fix, sweet pea! Mama Don Don has ya covered!”

“There you go, just remember to keep her in a brightly lit area. Also, be kind. Plants understand emotions better than ya think!”

“Come back again sometime, and if you are heading to Zonkos could you drop off some WWW products for me? Yer a life saver, sug!”

[mildmayfoxe]

made banana chocolate chip pancake & slathered em in butter & my mom’s homemade red currant jelly & also homemade smoked maple syrup

[purpleleafsyt]

Spring Winds, Arrival, Protection, Loss

<- | 2. Anemone | ->

[artswaps]

Every once in a blue moon I'll make a post about how I miss being active on tumblr and in fan communities as a creator, and then I go straight back to lurking, quietly liking posts and contributing nothing to the fandom ecosystem

Well, I finished my diploma in June and moved cities, and am now putting in my mandatory hours as a jobless graduate, so I've had a bit of spare time the last few months! Who knows, maybe this is the year I finally return to the self-indulgent, chronically-online lifestyle I crave.

[yeahlikethebird]

.

[always-a-slut-4-ghouls]

Basil (the herb) is a whore and you should know that before your second year with it in the flower bed

[comfortableinthesilence]

It’s all go today! Been out pressure washing my decking since 8:30am (sorry neighbours ha) and waiting on my slate guy to deliver 1 tonne of blue slate! Got more pressure washing to do and then an afternoon of shovelling slate around 😅😅😅 Top my day off with dog sitting Pip this evening and all in all its not a bad day!