Getting dirt between the toes

Between my allergies, my new job, getting the house prepared, and my recent cold, I have surprisingly found some time to plant some stuff in the garden - but I'm no where near done. So far, I have planted some bleeding heart roots that I bought at Wal-mart. They were affordable, and I have always loved bleeding hearts. They were in both Mikey's and my yard while we were growing up. I also planted some wild Horseradish roots that Mikey dug up from a ditch near the farm. I've planted those in an isolated spot, that will be easy to till in the fall so that it doesn't take over our garden.

Mikey and I are still getting the corn plot ready by tilling in lots of peat and organic matter, because it is freshly turned. It is finally raked into a wide hill, and I am hoping to get the corn in either tomorrow, or Sunday. The secret to planting it this early in our climate, is actually a trick that my co-workers gave me. They cover the plot in black plastic for about 10 days while the seed germinates. This keeps the soil warm, and protects the seedlings from any frost while they emerge. I'm stealing this idea so that my corn can also have an early start.

Today I planted all of my carrot seeds, and then covered the rows with wet burlap. This helps protect the slow emerging seedling, and also contributes to minimizing moisture loss. I also planted a few miniature corn seeds in a row further away from my main corn plot. I'll cover these with black plastic tomorrow as well. I planted my green beans, pickling onions, green onions, beets, radishes, rutabagas, and... thats it!

Tomorrow I need to plant my potatoes, and my storage onions along with the corn... I was also thinking it wouldn't hurt to try and grow some new tomatoes and peppers in the greenhouse - because most of the transplants have wilted... I also have to start hardening off my other seedlings that I still have in the house, because they will all be planted outside at the end of the month (hopefully). I need my counter space back!! OH, and I have "ornamental" corn that I want to grow as fall decoration... the only problem is that they have to be grown at least 100 feet away from your eating corn. I'll have to find/make a suitable place for them.

I was thinking of getting some solar lights to hang up in the trees above where the hammock is going to hang. I think it will be romantic, and dreamy. *sigh* Tomorrow morning, Mikey and I are going to check out the Seba Beach Farmers Market. Ive never been! I figure it will give me a chance to see what people have to offer, that way if my greenhouse and gardening catch on, I can see what my competition is, and find out what no one else is offering! There is also a plant exchange here in Tomahawk at the end of the month. I've never been to one of those either, so hopefully I don't work, I'd like to check it out! Now it's time to take my allergy meds, and get to bed, I've got a busy day tomorrow!

Front Deck mini Makeover

I had this past Friday off, so I decided to spend it in the garden! I pulled weeds (with this really cool weed puller we got!), raked leaves and started to pick up sticks, I watered flowers, took pictures of all the cute things growing in the garden, and then I decided that the front deck needed a makeover! I'll try to explain this as clearly as possible - but the pictures will help.

Our front deck is only about a foot, foot and a half off the ground. The west side of the deck is up against the house, the North and South ends of the deck are open, and the East side of the deck has a railing with really ornate pillars, which are super wide and block your view to the pretty yard - which are not spaced to code anyhow. When you sit down and look out to the yard, all you see is railing. I thought it was kind of funny to have the railing only along only one side, especially along the side that you want to look out from while you're sitting on your deck.

The deck could also use some ambient lighting (along with 20 other upgrades), but I figured I could do something with the existing railing, and some lighting to make it esthetically pleasing, and serve a purpose. Mikey and I bought some solar post lights from Wall-Mart (an 8 pack for $60) and then got to work.

This is what it looked like before, while Mikey started taking down the ornate pillars (click on pics to make them full size):

<- Heh, cute tiki man (his eyes light up at night)

**Note that Mikey is using a screwdriver to take it apart** Maybe 10 minutes after this, Mikey got a fire call and had to leave. That's when I busted out the power drill, and finished taking everything down in about the same amount of time:

Then I took the beams that went across at the top, and moved them down:

After that, I just had to wait until Mikey got home so he could saw off the posts to a shorter length, and then we attached the post lights!

It looks so much better, seems to make the deck feel so much larger, and adds a great feel to the whole front yard. I will post a photo of it at night, I just have to wait till it gets darker, and I can get a pic of the lights on! Now all thats left for the deck makeover is to stain it (dark brown maybe?), re-building the steps up to the front door, fixing the area along the house that has been chopped up for some reason.. etc etc etc.