Megan's 2011 SFG

Thanks!

We have been hearing about snow all day and when I was on the road today, I saw pre-treatment in many places. The local weather websites have said everything from a dusting to 3" for my location. I am thinking we'll get somewhere near an inch, hopefully not enough to keep us from moving the lumber tomorrow. (And that is truly funny, as usually I am whooping and hollering for three feet of snow. )

I planted some lettuce back in early February but nothing came of it. I am tempted to try again but I think it's just too early. My existing plants (crocus, jonquils, chives, strawberries, pansies, salvia, etc) are greening up and showing life.

In a way I want spring here NOW.... but, in another way, I'm glad it's holding off, as it will take another few weeks for me to get my boxen wood painted (or stained, haven't decided yet, assembled, and the MM mixed up and installed. Does that mean I'm sort of on time? I hope so!

Megan

Megan wrote:

CindiLou wrote:Just remember to all who chip wood for mulch, you have to let it age at least a year. It will leach nutrients out of your soil.

That is a great truck story, CindiLou! But I am confused about the reference to chipping wood for mulch??

Someone suggested you chip the tree for mulch. You can't use a fresh chipped tree. The mulch will leach minerals out of the soil. It has to set for at least a year.

It sounds like you have managed a good work-around for the HOA. I look forward to seeing how it goes. Can't wait for more pictures when things really start to be productive. (might I suggest giving the rampicante (sp?) its own space. LOL

CindiLou wrote:Someone suggested you chip the tree for mulch. You can't use a fresh chipped tree. The mulch will leach minerals out of the soil. It has to set for at least a year.

Ah, thanks CindiLou! I read that as being chips for around the beds, meaning the walkways, not the beds themselves. But I'm glad you said something in case someone else tries it. In my case, the chips are all gone, just some minor sawdust that went into the composter and the leaf bags. (At the time of the tree removal, I actually did suggest to hubby that they leave a portion behind for us to add to the composter, but he said no, we contracted them to remove it all, so I let it be.)

Chopper: LOL. I am going to grow rampicante again... This time I'm giving it a 4x6, but I'm going to try to make it share with some pattypan squash. We'll see how well that goes! Come to think of it, I'd better lay some plywood along that section of the fence so it doesn't get through into the neighbor's backyard. (It crept over the front yard fence last year when I wasn't watching.)

We only got a dusting of snow last night--the vehicles are covered, and the grassy areas are snowy, but all the hardtop is clear. Guess this means I get to offload lumber today. Ugh.... where's the Advil??? I'm sore!

Oh, something I forgot to say yesterday is that since the boards were almost all 14-16 feet long, I ended up over-buying. I'd estimated my lumber needs for 10-ft lumber, but since this reclaimed lumber had some flaws--angled ends, crowns, bows, notches in some places) I just went with my original estimate. I figured any leftovers could go into high-rise boxes or building a frame for my (future) rain barrel(s).

Sure enough, once cut-to-length boards for my boxes and the one planned high-rise were accounted for, I still had almost 3 boards left plus some scrap ends. From those, I cut another highrise, and boards for my potato box! I'm really excited about the potato box. I hadn't been looking forward to trying to deconstruct the pallets. I'll still use them, I need posts for the potato box and material for the compost pile bins, but I probably won't need all of them. If anyone local wants leftover pallets, let me know.

For the potato box: I planned it as a double-wide 2x4, two 2x2 bins. They will share a common back and divider. The one side will 11" high and meant for sweet and new (early) potatos. The other side will be roughly 28" high when fully assembled, for late potatoes. And I do hope I get some this year!