Working on the Farm

After traveling the last couple weekends it was nice to do nothing for once, almost.

The garden is coming along. We have a couple days of cool nights ahead and then the tomatoes will be going in. Here is the tentative garden layout. There are a few holes that will be filled in on the fly. The first planting of beans, broccoli, radishes, spinach, and lettuce have been in the hoop house for a few weeks. The squash, cucumbers, and peas also got planted this weekend.

The tomato and pepper cages in for testing spacing. The wire trellises near the house are for the peas, cucumber, and summer squash.
The only bad thing about the hoop house is that I should have built two. There isn't any more room between the salad plants that are growing in the ground. For the cost of a few pieces of pvc and plastic, it has been well worth it. I could have started the salad items during the first part of march. The plastic keeps everything pretty warm.

I ran the free state trail marathon Saturday morning. It was very muddy so the pace was slow going. I was under-trained and happy to finish.

Much Needed Updates Part 2

While John was in San Francisco, I was at home working on the patio and with the plants. A few weeks ago, I found this door plate online. Eventually I want to get a new front door and get one of the Crestview door kits. I was thinking either bright orange or bright green. This door plate will be perfect.

We recently bought a few cheap chairs for additional seating on the patio. The blue matched our cushions perfectly. Thank you, Home Depot.

I also bought some lights and paper lanterns since there isn't much light on the patio. The paper lanterns can't stay outside but the lights can.

Lights off.

Lights on.

Hopefully this will help the next time we're all drinking on the patio. We haven't planted much yet, but hopefully in the next few weekends we'll get to the garden and landscaping.

Some Much Needed Updates (Part 1)

It has been a crazy couple weeks. I was in San Francisco for work and then we were in New Orleans for Sam's ironman race. The garden and yard are becoming overgrown. Here is the first post to catch up.

I had never been to San Francisco before. Although it was cool and rainy most of the time, I did get a few good pictures. Looking towards Golden Gate bridge.

and to Alcatraz
Lombard the crooked street.

Haight Ashbury was pretty quiet.

The Japanese garden at Golden Gate park is amazing. It is probably the best Japanese garden in the country.

I went in the middle of a downpour, so there wasn't anyone else around.
San Francisco was the first city in the country to pilot compost bins. They looked like people were using the program.

There were lots of urban gardens all over the city including a few larger gardens for the homeless shelters.

All in all San Francisco is pretty cool. The people, neighborhoods, and food are something to see.

Nera and Friends

Spring is here. This is how Nera spends most of her day, making sure the squirrels dig up our entire yard.

What did you say?
That's one big magnolia.

On a totally different note. The other weekend I made brioche pretzels and croissants. They turned out good enough to take a picture.