So, if you are wondering about my layout this year, I am growing the snap peas along the fence instead of in the flower bed. I hope it works. They are not south facing, so they won't get as much sun as they did last year, but I hear peas are okay with that.
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| Photobomb! That's my eight year old. |
My original plan was to cut soil bags in half, lengthwise, and prop them up like troughs along the side of the fence. Well... apparently--and it seems so obvious now--soil bags aren't really known for holding their shape. They were more like half-submerged canoes than troughs. But, thankfully, there is a retaining wall along the fence, so I "borrowed" some of the bricks from that to support the bags. I hope the soil doesn't wash out the back! But I don't think it will. I think once it settles, all will be well.
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| I said troughs! TROUGHS! Not waterlogged boats! |
My children were everywhere, photobombing away. But they are cute little bombs, so I'm okay with it.
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| Gathering up the toys. |
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| Legs! |
So anyway, above you see my dresser planter. You may also have noticed that my rubbermaid tote planters are gone. They had been out there for three summers, and were just brittle as... well, I can't think of something brittle. Unhealthy hair? Not very tote-like... I'm getting distracted. I took the soil from both totes and put them in the dresser. So now the soil there is at a nice, full level. I didn't plant anything in the little front box yet. I might try herbs, but I will probably do flowers in it like last year.
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| New addition! |
To replace the totes, I brought out my old foot locker. The ancient one that has been buried in the garage for years. I got this foot locker for my thirteenth birthday. It had a stuffed penguin inside. Ah, memories... anyway, it wasn't serving a purpose, so I thought I would give it something to live for. Obviously, I need to buy some soil to fill them with. It will be nice to have a planter that has not been designated for anything. Who knows what I will do with it? Hopefully something neato.
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| Another newbie. And one of those cute little bombs. |
I also took an old fashioned wooden box (maybe a sewing box?) that I have had for years and filled it with dirt. I'm thinking flowers or herbs.
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| Complete patio spread. |
You might be wondering why there are stakes and twine all bundled around the dresser. The short answer is Nora. The long answer is that she likes to play in the dirt (don't we all?), and for some reason, this particular box is very appealing. The stakes are what I like to think of as a big advertisement that says, "This is a no-no dirt box, Nora." Will it work? All signs point to no.
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| I also cleared out this flower bed. I had the old drawer laying around outside, so I put it in there to break up the monotony. |
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| Oh... right... probably should clean this bed out too... hmm... |
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| Okay, so I took a series of pictures that all looked like this, and I thought crap, my camera's busted. Then I realized my three year old had messed with the settings. She does keep me on my toes! |
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| This is the picture I was trying to get. Oddly, I think I like the other one better. |
In addition to the Super Sugar Snap Peas, I planted these. They are in the big box with the no-no Nora fence on it. The Swiss Chard is some sort of Fordhook Giant. I don't know what that is. But the package said Swiss Chard, so I bought it. I've never actually eaten Swiss Chard. Not to my knowledge anyway. So, this should be an interesting experience.
The one in the middle is Kale--Dwarf Blue Curled Vates. Again, not sure what that is. I looked for Red Russian, which was recommended by a friend, but this was the only Kale I could find. I hope it's yummy! I have never grown Kale, but I love eating it. Yum!
I think it's pretty obvious that the last one is good ol' Broccoli. Once again, I have never grown this, and didn't really know what I was looking for. But I do love me some Trees, so I hope it works out!
The end.
