Category Archives: Gardening
Milkweed
And why it matters.
Six-month performance review
Not to alarm anyone, but we’re halfway through the year. (Sorry. Tempus fugit.)
It’s been nearly six months since I posted my home goals for 2014. Time for a mid-year performance review.
I had six projects on my list. Here’s how I’ve done so far.
1. Paint the main floor hallway and kitchen.
Big fat done on task number one. Matt and I knocked this one out in February.
2. Laundry room.
I haven’t started this one yet. I figure it will be a good fall project when I don’t want to/can’t work outside anymore. Besides, I can’t start anything until Matt digs out the foundation wall and fixes the basement leak. Hello summer honey-do list.
3. Master bedroom.
For the most part, this is another fall project. However, prep starts this month with removing the popcorn ceiling.
4. Furniture.
I’ve done fairly well in this department.
- Sofa table for the living room. Found this one in an empty office at work (I asked permission before I took it).
- Narrow dresser for my office. DIYed this one out of two nightstands.
- Cabinet for the laundry room. Bought this one from Canadian Tire. (There was some DIY, since we had to assemble it ourselves).
- Ottoman for the basement reading nook. Made this one out of a plastic barrel.
I have a few more pieces that I’m still on the lookout to buy or make. Top on the list is refreshing my bookshelves and the living room TV stand. My books have been packed away for more than two years. I want them back.
5. Living room fireplace.
Hope still springs eternal. The fireplace will be redone some day. Whether that day is this year depends solely on how much we’re able to rebuild our post-solar bank accounts.
6. Landscaping.
- Reestablish the flowerbeds around the house. I’m slowly, ever so slowly, working my way around the house.
- Continue to plant the turnaround. The turnaround is looking awesome, albeit a bit weedy.
The pond shore is even more overgrown than last year and is pretty much inaccessible. Since this is my favourite part of the property, that is a bit of a downer. I’m willing to cut my losses on the pond this year, but I’m still hoping I’ll be able to clear and fence the vegetable garden before the end of the year.
And that brings us to the bottom of this year’s original goals.
However, there are a few things we’ve done beyond this list.
Obviously, the solar panels are a pretty massive project.
We’re also revisiting the basement, finishing off the reading nook, adding the ping pong table and making over the doors (in progress).
I’ve had a bit more success this year staying on task thanks to the monthly projects. Thanks as well to all of you for your encouragement along the way. It’s nice to look back and see that I’ve actually made some progress. We have half a year to go, and I have a bit more work to do yet, but I think I’m on the right track.
Have you ever given yourself a mid-year performance review? Who else feels like time is flying by? Is there anything you’d like to accomplish over the rest of the year?
Pretty peonies
We’re fortunate that we have numerous peony plants growing around the property.
I’ve moved a few into the gardens that I’ve reclaimed, but most are still out in the undomesticated wilderness.
They’re all different shades and are a beautiful splash of colour.
I never pick a bouquet of peonies because I’m cautious about ants, but it would be nice to have some the beauty inside as well as out. Am I worrying unnecessarily?
Who else is a peony fan? Do you have a favourite colour? Any tips for peony care?
May progress report
Let’s see how many excuses I can come up with to explain my attitude towards working outside during most of May.
- Weather was cold and rainy.
- My Dad jetted off to England.
- The tractor still had the snowblower attached to it up until the middle of the month.
Despite sounding like a big whiner, I actually did accomplish a few things this month. In fact, I surprised myself by how much I was able to cross off my ambitious list of landscaping to-dos for May.
Here’s how I did.
Turnaround
Weed the flower garden halfSpread wood chips on flower garden– I nearly didn’t get to this one, but knowing I had to report back to all of you made me get my butt in gear.
- Make a top for the bird bath – I still haven’t figured out what I’m going to do for this one. The idea that I had for the top is a little bit… well… little.
- Put the bird bath in place
Place the benchContinue to fill in the garden with more plants
The turnaround is looking awesome IMHO. It’s turning out even better than I expected. Obviously the plants still need to fill out a bit (okay, a lot) more, but I think it’s going to be beautiful.
Front garden
- Edge the garden
Transplant a few bushes, trees and other plants out of this bed and into some of the other gardensFill in the pit from the woodstove chimney- Fix the downspouts
- Weed as I go
Trees
Pick up fallen branchesCut branches to firewood lengths- Split firewood
- Burn brush – We have three massive piles of brush, but the wood is still a little damp and isn’t that interested in catching fire.
Matt got an in-depth hands-on session with his new chainsaw when his Dad came over to help us with the clean up. This to-do was definitely a team effort. Lesson learned: The chainsaw is heavier than you think, a fact that becomes obvious after working with it all day. Second lesson learned: Your wife doesn’t care that you just learned how to use a chainsaw. She’ll still send you up an extension ladder to trim branches off the pines outside the kitchen window, all so that she can have a better view of the pond. Third lesson learned: Baxter was a big help, as usual.
Grass
- Add top soil beside the front stoop and seed
- Overseed in front of raised bed under the dining room window
- Rake solar trench smooth and seed
Wop-wop. Big fat nothin’ on the grass front. We did mow before it got knee-high, which is an improvement over the past two springs, so I guess that’s something.
Hoses
Turn on water to exterior tapsInstall hoses at sideand back of house- Install a proper hose bib at the driveshed, so that the hose isn’t laying on the ground. – My Dad’s going to help me with this one, but he couldn’t do very much from England.
- Shorten waterline
- Attach to waterline to wall
- Install a splitter so that I can someday add another hose bib at the opposite corner of the driveshed
- Reinstall tap on shortened waterline
- Install hose hanger
- Hook up hose
My plan to focus on one area per week (or weekend) went a little off track due to weather, support crew and motivation, but I still feel like I put a good dent in this year’s landscaping plan.
Work is ongoing and will continue for a few months (years) yet.
What progress have you made outside so far? Have you learned to use any new equipment this spring? Are your four-legged friends as helpful as Baxter? How do you handle your hoses?
Forsythia of ’14
Two weeks later than last year, six weeks later than our first year, our forsythia is finally in bloom… if you can call it that.
I think the harsh winter gave our forsythia frost bite. We have just a handful of yellow blossoms on the very tip of a few branches.
Rather than going golden this year, I think our bushes are going to straight to green. Green is better than the dismal grey days we’ve had so far. I think spring is here.
Has spring arrived at your house? Have any of your plants been frost bit?
Trilliums!
When we moved to the farm, I thought there must be trilliums somewhere on the property. After two springs, though, I still hadn’t seen any. Then, on Monday morning, I found them. In the small grove between the front field and the east field, alongside the creek, there are trilliums. Lots and lots of trilliums.
For those that don’t know, trilliums are Ontario’s official flower. There’s a common perception that you’re not allowed to pick trilliums in Ontario. But, according to Wikipedia, trilliums are only protected in conservation areas or provincial parks (and in some areas in the States). However, picking a trillium can kill the plant.
Trilliums tend to be a bit elusive. They hide away in the woods and aren’t seen very regularly, so I’m super excited that we have some on our property. I even spotted some Jack in the Pulpit, which I’ve never seen before.
Happy spring!
May days
May has arrived, and work outside has begun. Landscaping remains the biggest project at the farm, and the biggest to-do this year.
The plan for this month is to focus my attention outdoors. I have only a few months of nice weather, so if I’m going to continue knocking things off the landscaping master list, I need to take advantage of every day.
Here are some of the projects I’m considering this month:
Turnaround
- Weed the flower garden half (I gave up on planting flowers last fall and decided that half the turnaround can be grass for now)
- Spread wood chips on flower garden
- Make a top for the bird bath
- Put the bird bath in place
- Place the bench
- Continue to fill in the garden with more plants
Front garden
- Edge the garden
- Transplant a few bushes, trees and other plants out of this bed and into some of the other gardens (especially the turnaround)
- Fill in the pit from the woodstove chimney
- Fix the downspouts
- Weed as I go
“What do you mean you have to weed?”
Trees
- Pick up fallen branches
- Cut branches to firewood lengths
- Split firewood
- Burn brush
Grass
- Add top soil beside the front stoop and seed
- Overseed in front of raised bed under the dining room window
- Rake solar trench smooth and seed
Hoses
- Turn on water to exterior taps
- Install hoses at side and back of house
- Install a proper hose bib at the driveshed
- Shorten waterline
- Attach to waterline to wall
- Install a splitter so that I can someday add another hose bib at the opposite corner of the driveshed
- Reinstall tap on shortened waterline
- Install hose hanger
- Hook up hose
This list might be a bit ambitious for one month. Plus, I have to confess I don’t have sole responsibility for completing all of these tasks. When it comes to the tree clean-up, I’ll be relying on Matt and his Dad for their chainsaws and log splitter. Some of the transplanting will go easier with Matt’s help on the digging. My Dad will work with me on the plumbing for the driveshed waterline.
My plan is to focus on one area per week (or weekend)–weather, support crew and motivation permitting, of course.
Have you started outdoor work at your house yet? What’s on your gardening list? Seeding? Weeding? Transplanting? Watering?
Project Replant
You may remember that our trees took a bit of a beating during the Christmas ice storm. So you can imagine that I did a double take when driving home on Friday I heard the words, “Lowes is giving away free trees this Saturday” come out of my radio. Free trees? Even better, I didn’t hear any words like “conditions apply” or “minimum purchase required.”
I walked in the house said something like, “Free trees!” to Matt and then dashed to my computer to look up the details.
It was true! Lowes was giving away 2,000 trees. And one of the locations was our local store.
The giveaway was called Project Replant, and the idea was to “help rebuild some of the tree canopy lost in … the ice storm.”
The giveaway started at 9:30, but I wanted to be absolutely sure I got a tree, so I got to the store 45 minutes early. Twenty-six other keeners were already lined up in front of me. About a half hour later, Matt arrived and joined the end of the line. Yay, another much needed tree!
There were coffee and hot chocolate and donuts and great camaraderie amongst the people in the line. The Lowes staff kept the hot drinks flowing and walked the line chatting with people. When the trees were finally wheeled out, I thought that people were going to cheer. They were 1 gallon red maples, about 4-5 ft. tall, and normally cost $30 each. But Saturday they were free!
And Sunday they were in the ground.
Our poor willow beside the driveway took such a beating over the winter and a tree-lined driveway is one of my big wants, so one tree went there.
On the turnaround our big maple only lost a few branches, but it looks so fragile and old that I’m not sure how much longer it will last, so we decided we’d better get a new tree started sooner rather than later. (Especially since the new trees are so small. In the photo below, you can see the metal stake that we used to keep the tree straight better than the tree itself).
Small or not, the trees are so nice to have. Thank you, Lowes.
Did anyone else get anything free this weekend? Did you do any gardening? Any tips to help our trees get established and make sure they survive?
Rituals and signs of spring
Waiting for our forsythia to flower has become one of my spring rituals since moving to the farm. For the past two years, my post on April 2 has been an update of how close we are to blossoms.
Our first year, the forsythia was in full bloom at the beginning of April. Last year, we weren’t anywhere close to flowers. It would take another month before the forsythia would be out in bloom. This year, we’re even further away from the bright yellow flowers.
So far in 2014, spring has just been a date on a calendar. I’m eagerly awaiting its arrival and the return of my forsythia.
What signifies spring for you?
Home on 129 Acres 