Dueling DIY – The Final Update

Posted on May 27, 2016 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Six weeks ago when I launched this Dueling DIY adventure, I thought, “I got this. No problem. I’ve got six weeks! Sarah’s going down.”

I had a somewhat ambitious list, but I thought it was entirely doable. Now that we’ve come to the end of the challenge and my final report, I’m stiff, I’m sore, I’m proud of what we accomplished… but I’m also a little bummed that I couldn’t cross everything off.

In that respect, Sarah, whose update you saw earlier this week, is the winner.

Here’s my final list:

Hang the gate
~~Edge the garden~~
~~Build raised beds around the perimeter~~
Build trellises for the raspberries, tomatoes and squashes (I have wood and wire, but nothing’s put together yet)
~~Start a few seeds indoors~~
~~Till~~ in ~~the~~ ash, ~~straw~~ and ~~manure~~ (still only half the garden is done)

And a couple of maybes:

~~Weather permitting, plant grapes and potatoes~~
Run a waterline out to the garden (this one is Matt’s task, so I’m not really feeling too bad that we didn’t get this done)

So I made it just over halfway through my to-do list (56% if you’re wondering).

The perimeter beds were definitely a much bigger project than I anticipated–both in terms of the amount of work and their literal size. But I’m really happy with how they turned out. In fact, I’ve already started filling them up with onion (seeds), sunflower (seeds) and grapes.

Although filling might be a bit of an exaggeration. According to my original calculations when we started this challenge, the perimeter of the garden is approximately 175 feet. The beds are just over 2 feet deep, which means we have 350 square feet in the perimeter alone. I’m not sure Matt and I eat enough food to keep up with this garden!

The outer beds are obviously where I spent most of my time throughout this challenge, but the interior of the garden–or at least half of it–got some attention too. We’re now up to 5 rows of potatoes (who exactly is going to eat all these?). We have three rows of reds, which we grew for the first time last year, and then we have two new varieties that we’re trying out: Kennebecs (highly recommended by Karen at The Art of Doing Stuff) and Russian Blues (another Karen suggestion that I couldn’t resist adding just for fun).

Our sprouts have overcome their damping off and are growing well. In fact, I’ve moved on to the hardening off stage and they’ve spent a few days outside this week. Matt brought home some tomato plants to supplement our own seedlings. Those can probably go in the garden this weekend, but I’m going to let our sprouts grow a bit more before they move outside permanently.

Aside from finishing the raised beds, our biggest accomplishment last weekend was wrestling an abandoned hay bale out of the tree line beside our big field (where it and a friend have lived for years)…

onto the trailer (seriously, it took us about 45 minutes to get to this point)…

and up to the garden.

I’m going to try the deep mulch method to deal with weeds, maintain moisture and add nutrients to the garden. This bale is going to be my mulch. Hopefully it’s enough because I do not want to go back to get his friend. What a ridiculous way to spend a holiday Monday morning.

So obviously work does not end on the garden just because Dueling DIY has concluded. Trellising and tilling and gating and waterlining are still going to happen. As is planting and growing and (hopefully) harvesting. And I’ll be sharing more garden updates as we go along–I can’t help myself.

The beauty of taking on a project like this Dueling DIY is that in the end we each win. We’ve each made progress on our gardens, and we’re closer to enjoying the fruits of our labour (literally) than we were six weeks ago.

Thanks for the motivation, Sarah. And congratulations on your victory. I may have to send you a potato as a prize. And thanks to all of you for following along, doing your own challenges at your homes and encouraging us.

How’s your big spring project going? What gardening progress have you made recently?

Dueling DIY – The Challenger’s Final Update

Posted on May 25, 2016 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Six weeks ago, Sarah in Illinois and I started a Dueling DIY challenge. Our mission was to get our gardens in shape for the year through some friendly competition. Today, Sarah’s here with her final update on how she did. To see how we got here, check out all of our previous posts.

I have to admit, when I first made my list of things to finish for the challenge, I thought that I made it too easy on myself.

I saw Julia’s list and thought that I was sure to win.

However, what I learned was: most projects take longer than what I plan for, weather does not care what you have planned, and I procrastinate just as much as I did in high school when doing homework.

So as you can guess from what I have written so far, I did not completely finish everything on my list. But I sure made a valiant effort!

1. Make some kind of designated area (possibly raised bed) for annual vegetables such as asparagus and strawberries.

I call this 90% done. Everything is planted. Asparagus and strawberries are planted, rhubarb is in the ground and seeds and bulbs are planted for my cutting garden.

For the borders I used old rough cut barn wood. We have a large pile of old wood out in the barn but I did not find enough long boards. So I am going to have to keep digging to find a couple more boards.

However, I am happy to have the two outside beds defined so that there is no fear of cutting too close with the mower.

2. Neaten and define north flower bed and add mulch.

Nothing new has been done here. Steve and I are debating on whether to buy a couple bags of mulch or dive right in and get a truck load.

Now that he is in the field all hours of the day, we still haven’t made the decision so the mulch didn’t get put on the flower bed. But I am still happy with how this flower bed is filling out.

3. Divide mums and spread around deck.

This is the first thing that I finished, and the mums are really taking off.

4. Make a designated gardening area complete with workbench.

This was my favorite project!

We were tearing out a room in our pole barn and so I had the countertop and the top shelf ready. All I had to do was make the framework.

I say that was “all I had to do” but designing the work bench from scratch was time-consuming. I knew I wanted a top shelf and a shelf underneath. I also knew I wanted a place to hang my tools.

I used mostly older barn wood but a few pieces are newer pine so I used the darkest stain that I had on hand to try to blend the different woods together. I really could not be happier with the finished project!

So here is my final list:

~~Make some kind of designated area (possibly raised bed) for annual vegetables such as asparagus and strawberries.~~
~~Neaten, and define north flower bed and add mulch.~~
~~Divide mums and spread around deck.~~
~~Make a designated gardening area complete with workbench.~~

I won’t find out until Julia’s post to see how I fared in this competition, but I’m feeling kind of good about my odds!

I am so happy that we did this challenge. I guarantee if I didn’t have the constant competition in the back of my mind, I would not have gotten as much done as I did.

I would have made excuses about how I was tired, or how I had so many other things to do, and I would have avoided all of the hard work. But I am proud at how much I got done, and I am happy with my progress whether I “win” or not!

(It would be nice to win though!)

Okay. I’m impressed that Sarah can cross everything off her list. And that potting bench is awesome. I’ll be back on Friday with my final post in this Dueling DIY challenge.

Marble tulips

Posted on May 23, 2016 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

We have some beautiful tulips in the gardens this spring.

The striations remind me a bit of marble.

I think it’s neat to compare the gentleness of a flower with the solidity of stone, and see the similarities between the two natural forms.

Trilliums, trilliums everywhere

Posted on May 20, 2016 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

The trilliums are out.We see them along the roadsides, at the edge of the fields and–this year–in our front garden.

Last year, I carefully transplanted a couple of plants into the front garden. One of them survived and is blooming this spring.

It’s a bit remarkable to me how many are around the farm. Growing up, I very rarely saw trilliums–Ontario’s official flower–and it was a special occasion when I did.

Now, even though I see them more regularly, it’s still special. Especially when it’s right outside my front door.

Have you ever successfully transplanted a wildflower into your garden? Do you have any elusive flowers in your area? What’s your state (or provincial) flower?

Dueling DIY Week 5

Posted on May 18, 2016 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Five weeks ago Sarah in Illinois and I started a friendly Dueling DIY competition to help us get our gardens in shape. In last week’s update, Sarah was distracted by newborn kittens and falling behind. I gave a fist pump and started to calculate how much farther ahead I could get. But apparently I was counting my kittens before they hatched as the saying goes. With just one week left, I’ve had a setback. Read on to find out what happened and if you want to review the progress we’ve made up to now, you can check out all of the previous posts here.

Let’s start with the bad news first.

#1: In this Dueling DIY challenge, this is all of the cuteness I can offer. Cute absolutely, but perhaps not at the level of Sarah’s kitten cuteness.

Bad news #2: Some of our sprouts aren’t doing so hot. I think it might be a case of damping off. Although some things might be turning around. (More on this below).

And the worst news: We lost a full weekend of work because both Matt and I are sick. I ventured outside at one point and spent 45 minutes lying on the lawn when I felt like I couldn’t stand up anymore. Matt is on antibiotics for throat and ear infections. I’m holding on to my belief that this is just a cold. The amount of time we spent horizontal meant that we didn’t spend time working in the garden. So, so, so incredibly frustrating.

But between the time of my last update and being struck down with this plague, we had accomplished a few things. So there is some good news in this Dueling DIY challenge.

We have a new team member: Colonel Briggs. Short for Briggs and Stratton, our new rototiller. Honestly, Matt’s been wanting an upgrade since we inherited Fairfield. When he brought the Colonel home, he declared that the rototiller couldn’t have just a single name, hence the title.

Matt put the Colonel to work right away, and they’ve tilled half the garden.

(A face shield is not normally necessary for tilling. Matt wanted ear protection, and his chainsaw helmet was closest).

We’re thisclose on the raised beds. I have about four timbers left to set–less than 1/8 of the perimeter to go. Then I have to spread the cardboard, layer in the mulch and top them up with dirt.

We had four yards of triple mix delivered, and I’ve filled the raised beds more than half of the way around the garden. I feel I have to say the beds would be completely done if we hadn’t been sick. Argh.

Despite not being finished with the garden set-up, we’ve already moved on to planting. Three (!) rows of potatoes are in, and we’re not done yet. A new shipment of seed potatoes arrived in the mail yesterday.

I’ve also planted eight grape vines. I’m so excited about these grapes. Although I fully admit that I have no idea what I’m doing with them. I’m trying to read about pruning and planting and trellising and training. Right now, I’m focusing on watering them and keeping my fingers crossed that they take root. Please share any tips you have.

In terms of smaller updates, let’s start with the literally small–the sprouts. As you saw at the top, we’ve had a lot of shriveling and dying. We’re down to just one watermelon out of seven. We lost about half the tomatoes too. I think it was a case of damping off, so I’m giving the watering can a rest.

The sprouts continued to die, but I was very surprised that some new sprouts started popping up as things dried out. We have a new watermelon–our first of the Crimson Sweet variety–and a whole bunch of new tomatoes. I know I’m going to have to separate the sprouts that are doubled (or tripled) up. I’m not sure I can bring myself to pinch out the extra sprouts, but I’m not sure I can keep everyone alive if I try to separate and transplant them. Any advice?

The other win is that the raspberries–black and red–are weeded. And the raspberries themselves are spreading like weeds. I’m so pleased with how they’ve settled in.

And if we hadn’t spent our whole weekend horizontal, we would have the trellises set up to support them.

Argh.

Let’s move on, shall we? We’ll take a look at the original to-do list. Again, I can cross a little bit more off.

Hang the gate
~~Edge the garden~~
~~Build~~ raised ~~beds~~ around ~~the~~ perimeter (more than half done)
Build trellises for the raspberries, tomatoes and squashes
~~Start a few seeds indoors~~
~~Till~~ in ~~the~~ ash, ~~straw~~ and ~~manure~~ (half done)

Only one week to go in this Dueling DIY challenge. Send vitamins.

Forsythia failure

Posted on May 16, 2016 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

I’m not sure I should even be posting about this, but it’s part of an annual tradition for me and something I like to track, so here goes.

Here is the forsythia out in bloom this year.

Impressive, n’est-ce pas?

Allow me to look back 4 years to our first spring here.

Yeah. So apparently we have not been good for the forsythia. Our bushes are doing big fat nothing this year.

After a few years of less than impressive blossoms, I gave it a vicious haircut last spring. It didn’t bounce back the way I hoped. In fact, we have the fewest blooms yet–three. Yes, I counted.

Even the green leaves don’t seem to be as plentiful. Some of the old branches that I trimmed last year have hollow centres. Anyone know if this is a symptom of anything?

I’m choosing to believe that the forsythia is still in the process of bouncing back, so maybe new growth will come this year, which will bring more blossoms next year.

A girl can dream, right?

Any ideas of how to convince the forsythia to bloom?

Guess who’s at the door

Posted on May 13, 2016 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

In a bit of poor planning, a robin has set up her nursery right by our front door. There was already a nest in the yew bush, but it was a bit rundown. We didn’t notice it was being rebuilt until the eggs showed up. Actually, we didn’t notice the eggs either. We noticed the robin exploding from the nest every time we used the door.

The last time we had robins outside the door, it was the back one. It was relatively easy to avoid mama and the nest and the babies.

The front door is a little more challenging.

She sat for a few days, and we managed a couple of entries and exits without spooking her, but we haven’t seen her in a little while, and I think she might have given up on her nest.

I’m not sure how this is going to play out.

Garden Dueling DIY Week 4

Posted on May 11, 2016 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Sarah in Illinois and I are in week 4 of our Dueling DIY challenge.We’ve been making slow progress on our gardens (you can check out the progress in our previous posts), but recently Sarah’s attention has been directed elsewhere.

Distractions. It sounds a lot better than: “I am really far behind and worried that Julia may very well win the competition.”

What has me distracted?

Bad weather:

A full day of shopping at an antique/craft market and then shopping at a HUGE garden center with my mom and my brother’s girlfriend:

My purchases: rhubarb, cucumbers, spaghetti squash, rosemary, parsley, fun flowers and a micro cherry tomato plant. (I can’t wait to see what it produces!)

And then finally a surprise litter of kittens:

I mean, seriously, who can get any work done when you have this to cuddle?

I knew that one of my cats was very likely pregnant and when one day she was noticeably thinner, I started searching. She hid them very well and it took me four days to find them. But now that I have, I can’t stay away. I will be sure to find homes for all of them as soon as they are old enough but until then, I get to love on them!

Thankfully I did take advantage of some beautiful weather the last few days of April, and I made great improvement to the landscaping on the north end of the house. I hand washed the siding to remove all of the green that has been building up.

Before:

After:

My mom gave me two of the roses I had planted when I still lived at home and I transplanted to this bed.

However, until I get some mulch, I can’t mark this off my list. So I hate to admit it, Julia, but I cannot mark a single thing off this week.

Make some kind of designated area (possibly raised bed) for annual vegetables such as asparagus and strawberries — Area is tilled and asparagus planted but strawberries need planted and needs border
Neaten, and define north flower bed and add mulch — So close!
~~Divide mums and spread around deck~~
Make a designated gardening area complete with workbench

I am very aware of how few days are left in this challenge. So I am going to dig down and find the drive to make these last two weeks count (between kitten snuggles)!

Okay. Sarah definitely wins in the cuteness category. And some of the shopping and roses are in the gardening category, even if they’re not on the to-do list. I’m ahead for now. Hopefully it stays that way for the next two weeks.

The highlight of my week

Posted on May 9, 2016 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Mother goose and gosling

The highlight of my week happened last Wednesday. I held a brand new baby gosling.

It was just a few seconds, but it was pretty special.

The gosling was outside at my work. His Mom was in the flowerbed above, but he couldn’t make the leap up the ledge. She just stood in the flowerbed and kept calling him, and he kept valiantly trying to leap more than 6 times his own height.

After observing–and (who am I kidding) talking to them–for a few minutes, I decided I would see if Mama would let me touch the baby. I walked over to the ledge, kept a close eye on Mama and made a quick grab. I set baby in the flowerbed, and he and Mama trotted up the hill.

No geese or geese-crazy women were harmed.

Although my geese craziness has reached a new level. I think coop construction just moved up the priority list. I need some birds back in my life.

What was the highlight of your week (or weekend)? Do you have any goslings in your neighbourhood?

A Mother’s Day wish

Posted on May 6, 2016 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

One day visiting my grandmother, I was in the guest bedroom when I noticed a photo on the dresser. I asked, “Where did you get this black and white photo of me? And where are my bangs?”

She said, “That’s not you. That’s your mother.”

My Mom and me

Browsing old photo albums, I’m occasionally shocked by how much my Mom and I look alike.

I’ve gotten a lot more than just my looks from my mother, and I’ve been thinking about that a bit as we celebrate Mother’s Day this weekend.

No barriers

My mother went to college at the end of the 1960s. She shared the story of walking into her marketing class, and the instructor greeting her with, “Typing’s down the hall, honey.” My Mom didn’t let that stop her. She earned her diploma and started her career–and never learned to type. Seriously, you should watch her write an email.

My Mom was also an avid sewer. Some of her biggest projects were her own wedding dress and several prom dresses for both herself and her daughters. She taught me how to sew, but she also taught me that I can sew, cook, push the lawnmower, work in the garden, paint a room, refinish furniture, speak my mind, manage my money and choose my own path.

Homemade wedding dress

Family

My Mom enjoyed her career, but when she became pregnant with me, she quit her job and became a stay-at-home-mom. She and my Dad decided it was important to her to be present in that way for their kids. Even though I was there, I look back now with a completely different perspective on the situation. I cannot imagine how my Mom held it together as well as she did when she was always on duty for four kids. The experience of having my Mom always there is a really, really formative part of my identity. And she’s still always there.

My family

With my Mom

Marriage

My parents are truly partners, and that has had a huge influence on my own marriage. They view each other as equals and appreciate each other. My Mom handled a lot of the financials and did whatever was needed for my Dad’s business. My Dad valued how she took care of the house and us kids. Although there were lots of “Mom said no. Let’s go ask Dad” moments, when it came down to it, Mom and Dad were always on the same page. They problem-solve together, share the same values and put their kids first.

My family

My Dad is sick, and my Mom has taken on pretty much everything to do with the house, their lives and his care. So far, I’ve not seen anything my Mom won’t do for him. Sometimes it’s hard for me to accept how much she’s taken on and how little help she’ll accept, but it’s definitely given me new understanding of “for better and for worse.”

Mom and Dad

The biggest thing I got from my Mom is to be true to myself. She may not always understand my decisions, but she’s always on my side.

However, being true to yourself is an area where I sometimes don’t feel like my Mom has given herself the same opportunity that she gave her children. I hope that she has more opportunities to sew, to garden, to fix up the house, to spend time enjoying her children and grandchildren–to do the things that give her joy. That’s my Mother’s Day wish for my Mom.