My little garden (and what I learned)

Hello!

Yesterday, I mentioned that this summer I started a small (teeny tiny actually) veggie garden.

Well, here it is, in all of its zucchinified glory.  Who knew those zucchini's would get sooo big.

In there somewhere I also have some lettuce, green beans, tomatoes, and raspberries.

Here are the pictures to prove it.

Will these ever go red?



I've already picked a bunch of zucchinis.

And I guess I forgot to take pics of the beans and lettuce.  (bad blogher)

I also have this little raspberry bush growing in the back.  I bought it on clearance in July, so I'm only getting berries now, and I'm hoping they go red soon (before the snow comes).



There are alot of "green" berries on it.

And some cherry tomatoes in a pot.  These have been going strong for months.

In my quest to rid my home of harmful chemicals from my home and our food, I have not added any pesticides or anything to my little veggie garden.

In the Spring I emptied my composter into the ground and mixed it in there really good.  Lots of nutrients. And most importantly clean food.

You can see the corner of the composter in the top picture.

A few things I learned this summer while attempting to grow my veggies:

1. PLANTS NEED WATER EVERYDAY!

Duh! I know, it's pretty self explanatory, but I was not consistent in my watering.  My mom told me to water morning and night. She knows what she is talking about, since in the summer they don't grocery shop for veggies or fruit, they eat from their garden. I should have listened.

2. PLANT AS SOON AS THE THREAT OF FROST HAS PASSED.

In my area that would be around May 24th weekend (or Victoria Day holiday).  I think I planted mine the last weekend of June or first of week of July. No wonder everything is taking forever to mature.  In my defense we had alot going on at the time.

3. PLANT ONLY WHAT WE WILL EAT.

I love grean beans and so does hubby.  The kids don't. I should have used the area that the grean beans were planted in to plant something else that we would have ALL eaten... like carrotts or peppers.

Although I'm still waiting for some things to go red, I'm pleased with my little veggie garden this year.  Next year, I think I will only plant one Zucchini plant in the back corner of the garden, so it doesn't take over.

Did you plant a veggie garden this year? How did you do?

Do you compost? 

Any advice for a novice like me?

Bette

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Saying Goodbye

I stepped outside today, cause I heard voices in the backyard.

The pool closing people were here.

(I've been using the same pool opening/closing place for a bunch of years now so they know where everything is)

This is what they left me with...

And this is when it hit me!!!

When ever I see that cover on... I KNOW snow is on it's way sooner than later.

We added that safety cover last year. 

It's supposed to hold about 200lbs.

(not that I've tested it)

(and not that I weigh to 200 lbs either)

I want to make sure that if little A ever got an inkling to run accross it, he'd be safe(er).

(I hope I've scared educated him enough, that he wil never try it)

(sorry for bluriness)

Then I walked around the corner of my garden...

and saw this last little pretty one.

And these two holding on for dear life.

Just the last little bit of colour in my garden.

Goodbye garden and pool until next Spring.

Sleep tight.

Have you laid your garden/backyard to rest yet??

(Don't Forget }

 

Backyard Oasis - Part ???

Hello!


How are you doing today?


First, I want to thank...


Better After for featuring me this week!

 

And also Bonnie at House of Grace for naming me Twice Owned Queen!


 Thanks Ladies! I appreciate the link love!


I was in the pool pretty much all day yesterday cause it was soooo stinkin HOT! While I was in there I yelled at hubby to bring me the camera (I didn't want to soak the kitchen floor, and fall and hurt myself)


So, lucky you I took a few more pictures of the Backyard Oasis.  (I give you permission to leave now, if I'm boring you with all this backyard nonsense)

A few final details and then I'll stop talking about it, K?

hmmm... plants still need to be moved to the middle. 

Will they die if I move them now?

Or should I wait until Fall when it is cooler?

That pretty fairy was a house warming gift from my mother-in-law's friend about 5 years ago.

I got that wrought iron trellis f-r-e-e when my mother-in-law's friend's daughter moved to Scotland about 4 years ago.  I love F-R-E-E!! (did I get those apostrophe's right?)

This wrought iron piece is on my outdoor table.  I got it at Goodwill for $1.99 the other day. ( I stuck the plant in it and called it a day)

This is my rain-water barrell.  One night of heavy rain and that things fills to the rim.  It's perfect for watering the plants around the yard.  I'm constantly finding little A. filling up the watering can and watering the flowers. It cost me $69 and I'm sure it will pay for itself.

We had the electrician come by and put up an outdoor light fixture from Home Depot.

Our Chimenea.  We love to light it at night and make Smores.

Little A had to get in on the photo action.

I love this tree.  I think it's called a Japanese Maple

The Treehouse Pool Bar!! (and little A too)

Hubby made it and the construction guys finished it.

The trees grow through it...

Litteraly!!! This is on the inside left of bar.

This is the other side with a loft area, that I've let the kids decorate!

(see the tree growing through it)

The bar to the left...

The Treehouse Bar...

I found these little dragonfly hooks the other day at Goodwill for 99 cents each. (I still have to put them up.)

The view from the Treehouse Bar... (and alot of balls!)

Awww... there is the culprit!!

(Doesn't he look huge with that suit?)

And some more brick work...

Steps into lower garden.

The step into the house.

(looks like Little A beat me inside, can't wait to see the kitchen floor)

So that is it! The Backyard Oasis is done! (for now)

What have you been up to?

Bette

Outdoor Furniture Update

Hi ya!

How was your weekend?

I tried going garage saleing after A's soccer game on Saturday, but the storm clouds rolled in pretty fast and I only managed to go to one where I snagged two picture frames for .25 cents each. 

So, instead I ended up at Winners.  In a momentary lapse of judgement I picked up 3 cushions to update our outdoor furniture, 4 outdoor curtain panels for the pergola. The larger cushion was was $39.99, the two for the chairs were $24.99 each, and the 4 panels were $24.99 each.  I wish I had pictures of them, but alas I didn't take any pictures... cause I returned them yesterday!

You see on my way home from Winners, I drove by Fabricland and I popped in to see what they had in outdoor fabric! 

They had BUY ONE METRE (or was it yard), GET THREE FREE!!!!

Are you kidding me???

So I grabbed my newly purchased cushions from the van and had the lady measure enough fabric for the cushions. I ended up buying 2.5 metres of two co-ordinating fabrics (that's all that was left of each). 

 So here are the before pictures of the cushions from my pergola post.

They were o.k. but not fabulous.

So I took my new fabric and laid the old cushions on top (doubled-up) and cut my fabric. The old cushion tops and bottoms were attached so I just folded them in the middle.

I just sewed a couple of squares.

Here's the after:

For the upper cushions I used old pillows that I wasn't using and used the old cushions for the bottom (doubled up).

I played around with the cushions and now I don't know what look I like better.

What do you think?

Should I leave the matching pillows or contrasting?  I like them both.

Oh yeah and the total for this fabric and some extra (8 metres) for outdoor curtain panels (at $1/metre) was $42.50 (including tax). (I also bought 1/2 metre of another fabric for another project I'm trying this week.)

OH YEAH!!!

Can you believe it??? $42.50 for three chairs and curtain panels of outdoor fabric! 

So I quickly returned the cushions and curtain panels to winners! (and bought a pair of shoes while I was there!)

And I found this cart in the clearance section marked down from $69.99, to $52.00 to final of $15.

Again my dilemna, leave as-is or paint?

I'm linking up to some of these parties.

So, what were you up this weekend?

Backyard Oasis - Part Deux

Happy Day to you!

I am back today to bore share with you more Backyard Oasis pictures. I already shared with you here a little bit of what we did with the space.

I managed to find a couple of Befores from before I lost my camera before the work started.  (Did you follow that?)  Sorry that some of the befores has a picture of A in it, but I think the focus on that photo shoot were the boys not my hideaous backyard.

So here we go!

BEFORE: This is A's buddy picking "flowers".  We hadn't cut the crass in a long, long time!

We didn't bother cause we knew the construction trucks would be destroying it anyways.

(yes, that's our excuse, and we are sticking with it!)

AFTER: So much better! Look no "flowers"!

AFTER: Here's another shot abit further back with the "cottage" that I can't get rid of because it was S's and then H's and now A's. I'm hoping he outgrows it in the next 10 yrs. We've had it for 10 yrs now!

If you notice we cleaned up the bushes around pool and extended the fencing too.

BEFORE:  This was the walkway/pond.  Right behind the boys was the end of the rotting deck at the back of house. This swamp pond made me jump anytime the kidlets went near it.  I was always afraid someonewould fall in.  In this picture the boys were trying to catch the Koi fish (whichare now living in my friends much cleaner pond)

.

AFTER: Aaaawww!  Clean!

BEFORE: ummm... I'm stumped.  Don't know what to say!

AFTER: So much better.  We removed a tree and the dead bushes at the back corner.

AFTER: We removed the dead bushes and put in the fence.  All the flagstone is from around the swamo pond. The grass needs to be cut, but we don't to kill it in case it has not taken root yet.  Anyone know how long I should wait? I picture a hammock in that corner.

And now a couple of little details.

New fence! (replaced a chain link)

A close - up!

The edge around Pool walk-about.

Stonework around pool with coping over edge of pool.

(ignore pool toys and kreepy crawler)

And now a question! 

Does anyone know how to keep this guy from digging up my new yard??  >: {

Next week I'll show you the final details of the treehouse that is now a Pool bar! And some random lovelies from around the yard.  Thanks for putting up with my excitement of having a finished backyard! 

What do you think?

I'm linking up to some these parties