Friday

1. 2 Adirondack chairs polyurethaned.  Check.
2. Backyard "mowed" with weed eater.  Check.
3. Front yard mowed with  mower. Check.
4. Used blower to clean off sidewalks, driveway, and patio. Check.
5. Dirt spread around SFG. Check.
6. 3 loads of laundry done. Check.
7. One trip to WMT. Check
8. Following the events in Boston and West, TX. Check.

It's only 2:17 but I'd say it's been a productive day. Check. Check.

Thankful Thursday 04/18/13

1. I went to two networking groups for career transition in the last week. One begins a 12-week session next week.

2. Yesterday I got into the pool for the first time--too cold to get completely wet but it surely cooled me off after working outside.

3. An acquaintance from my previous church sent a postcard which I received on Monday. It was refreshing to receive.

Thankful Thursday 4/11/13

So thankful today that I get to be the one praying for my friends.

1. My dear sister-in-law lost her mother on Tuesday after a long illness.

2. My dear friend in Michigan lost her father this morning.

3. My dear friend from college is facing surgery at the end of the next week to remove a brain tumor.

4. My dear friend in OH is waiting the results of medical tests yesterday.

Adjusting to a new area and looking for a job has a different perspective today.

Square Foot Gardening Pt. 2

The mix is mixed and placed in the boxes and the tomatoes and peppers are planted.

What I have learned.
1. "Mel's Mix" is sold pre-mixed at Home Depot. For the cost of the 3 items (peat moss, vermiculite, and compost), the time to mix, and the effort to mix, I think it is worth buying the pre-mix.
2. The book says to put the 3 items on a tarp and pull corner to corner to turn it over and get a good mix. This is heavy to do. I got it done, but for the second box I ended up turning a lot of it with a shovel.
3. There is a reason the book says to use a tarp. I used a plastic dropcloth and on the stony patio this ended up not working so well. It also ripped with the heaviness of the mix.
4. It was heavy to drag the mix to the box and try to get it in the boxes.
5. It would be better to put the grid on after filling with the mix.

Most important things I learned:
6. I'm all prepared to help others build and fill their boxes.
7. I had a lot of fun in the "dirt" today!

Square Foot Gardening Pt. 1

With a smaller back yard I am making a switch to gardening this year and trying the square foot gardening (SFG) method. I am not completed but wanted to share what I've done so far as I'm very excited about it.

Here are most of the supplies ready to go.

 



 Maybe not a conventional way of doing so but here I'm building one of two 4x4 boxes. I was working on it alone and wasn't sure of how to do it but this worked for me.

 



 This is one box completed. The author says if you don't have the grid it isn't really SFG.

Saturday I leveled out part of the yard, put down the landscape fabric, and placed both boxes.

The next step is to make the "soil" mix, but all of the items are dry so the book recommends not doing it on a windy day. Of course, now that I'm ready to mix it we are having 15-25 mile winds with higher gusts so am having to wait to mix it. I may end up mixing it in the garage but then that means making multiple trips to the backyard with 5 gallon buckets of the mix so not real excited about that.

More updates coming as the process continues.

Thankful Thursday 4/4/13

1. Great, great visit with Jayne from Handbells.

2. Made it to the airport and back twice without getting lost.

3. My parents are coming for a visit!!!

4. The oil leak from my vehicle was just a loose drain plug that the first auto shop I took it too tightened for me. The only charge? "Just bring it in the next time you need a repair."

5. I have all the supplies for 2 4x4 square foot garden boxes. I hope to build them in the next day or two and then get the stuff planted.

6. Met the neighbor who will put a word in for me at his place of employment. Would be a good thing.