This is my urban back yard, as viewed from the back fence looking towards the house. See if you can spot:
- Two sparse beds of strawberries trying to re-establish themselves
- The curly water hose that I used to wet the fast compost pile
- My cold frame, which has seemed unnecessary this year as we stopped getting freezing temps 6 weeks early
- The row of peas that will grow up the barn-red tree house trellis
- My messy back porch that I will tackle as soon as I get the garage cleaned up this weekend.
The yard slopes down to the south, with a creek beyond my back fence. Most of the garden is between 4 and 8 feet below the level of the house, so I would have great water pressure if I set up rain barrels. They’re just so expensive! I need to make DIY rain barrels!
Posted by Randomability on March 31, 2012 at 2:31 pm
I sense a project coming up… keep us posted.
Posted by Jimmy Cracked-Corn on March 31, 2012 at 5:16 pm
LOL, Maybe!
Nothing drastic, but you know me, I’m always building something.
Posted by faking40at50 on March 31, 2012 at 4:55 pm
I recognize the strawberries. I have the same small sweet ones. You are ahead of us. We still had a frost warning. Veggies are big in the basement!
Posted by Jimmy Cracked-Corn on March 31, 2012 at 5:17 pm
I found a couple flowers in one of my “June-bearing” strawberry patches today! I’ve been doing so much early season stuff outside that I’m very much neglecting the seedings in the basement!
Posted by Ashley on April 8, 2012 at 5:04 pm
Here’s an idea for a DIY rain barrel. Contact a car wash facility and see if you can have (or purchase for $15 like I did) a large 55 gallon drum. They seemed confused when I called, but less confused once we were face to face. These drums contain either soaps and chemicals…I chose the soap barrel thinking any residue I missed while cleaning wouldn’t hurt as much as a chemical. Then simply purchase the hardware to set up a hose and collect water. I painted mine with a spray paint designed for plastics so that it didn’t look like clutter in the back yard. Then I googled rain barrels to decide exactly how I wanted to install the hardware. I also used the same type of drum to make a rotating compost bin.
Posted by Jimmy Cracked-Corn on April 10, 2012 at 5:36 pm
I am going to do this, this year! Thanks Ashley!