RIP: Raised Garden Bed

This weekend was one of many triumphs. The rest of the brush/limb/tree pile was chipped into tiny bits (it was left over from the last time we rented a chipper). The lawn was mowed and leaves collected. Many annuals were uprooted and composted. Indoor plants were repotted and brought inside.

But one of the most exciting things done this weekend, was tearing apart the raised garden bed. This is where the tomatoes and the zucchini were earlier this year and where the previous homeowners planted tomatoes and squash and eggplant for years and years. You can see it in this photo it's small, but it's the best one I have.

But now it looks like this:








This bed is approximately 4' x 20'. While this was plenty of space for the sparse garden of 2008, I have big vegetable plans for 2009. So we're going to build 2 beds in it's place. This one runs east-west. The two new beds are going to run north-south and will be 6' x 10'. We'll gain 40 square feet and it will all be usable space (where as at the end of this bed, it was pretty messy and the boards didn't align correctly at the end).

Look for a post soon on the finished product! Well, it could be spring by the time this happens. Perhaps the sun gods will bestow some more 60 degree days on me, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

Someone should tell those hornworms they are too late!

A week or so ago I decided it was time to compost the tomato plants. While cutting them into smaller parts, I noticed some small white things on some of the leaves. Upon closer examination, I see there are more and they are attached to the ugliest, most disgusting thing ever: TOMATO HORNWORMS!


ACK! Someone should have warned the hornworms that they were a bit too late. They didn't get a hold of my tomato plants until after I was through with the harvest. Nevertheless, we squashed them. No hornworms are going to go into my compost pile. I found three in all. And they all had these little white things on them. I had no idea what they were, so I consulted my good friend Google on the matter.



According to this article they are parasitic wasp cocoons. They are wasp larvae that attach themselves to the hornworms, eat it's insides and eventually kill the thing. Good to know me and the wasps are on the same side.

Some days I do really like fall

Like the other day, when Tod and I went for a walk around my neighborhood. We collected pretty leaves to press. They will perhaps be used next fall in Emily's wedding.

I like fall colors.
I like fall smells--pumpkin, bonfires.
I like fall sounds--crunchy leaves.

Crisp, but sunny days. We've been really lucky to have such wonderful weather in November. I hope it stays around for my big clean-up weekend this weekend!

My new favorite garden tool

With fall clean-up comes several special projects this year. It's my first fall at this house and there are several projects I'd like to accomplish before winter settles in.


I've found a new favorite gardening tool for edging the flower beds.
Enter the Fiskars edging tool (I thought they just made scissors). I picked this guy up at Lowe's.




And it's done some amazing work at my house so far. I forgot to take a before picture, but here is an "after" picture of the bed between the sugar gum and the patio.


You can see the lovely edge the tool has created. And it's so easy. I assume I could have done this with another hoe, but I felt like this tool would make the job so much easier.


You can see the clumps of grass and soil it unearths when in use. The grass will go to the compost bin and once I have some bulbs planted beneath the tree, I'll add some wood chips on top.

Garden Sketch: by the Mailbox

This is a small space that I've prettified with some plants.

I made this sketch with my Tablet PC...how do I have a Tablet PC or even know about them? Because I work for a company that creates and sells Ink enabled (I won't write it here, because it will come up in everyone's email thanks to Google alerts)software to schools. But if you are really, really interested (hey, we're doing really cool stuff for education), Google search "Tablet PC replay education." A post about the company will be the first result. You can take it from there. :)

Anyway, I created this picture in InkArt, part of Microsoft's Experience Pack.

It has all of the flowering perennials and I make mention of the bulbs, tulips and hyacinths, that are planted there. This is the one spot, thus far, at my new how, that is truly mine. I dug up everything and put in what I wanted and took out what I didn't. More sketches to come for sure!

Vacation Pics, Part Two (Grand Canyon)

If you've never been to the Grand Canyon, you're missing out. This was my first chance to see one of the coolest 7 Natural Wonders of the World. It is amazing! It's very difficult to really understand how big it really is.
We drove along the South Rim, stopping at several points to look out over this massive hole in the ground. You can see the different types of rocks in layers, which indicate how old they are.
And of course, there's the reason the Grand Canyon exists: the Colorado River. We didn't actually hike down the canyon or get to the river -- hopefully, though we can on the next trip! You can hike down, ride mules, go rafting and more. An entire vacation could be spent in the Grand Canyon alone.

Fall Clean-up 2008

Fall clean-up will be happening this weekend. I need to get busy like the squirrels.

Moving the compost pile will be first.



Then...
The tomato plants will head to the compost pile.
The sad-looking annuals will head to the compost pile.
The leaves will head to the compost pile.

Oh, and the rest of the bulbs will be planted.

Those are the goals for this weekend. According to the weatherman, Sunday looks like the best day to do it.