Adventures in Remuddling

We had disconnected the outdoor spigot in fall of 2005. It wasn’t a big deal last year - we just ignored our dried out lawn and let our garden go to weeds. Aside from the occasional five gallon bucket of water hauled from the basement utility sink, we’ve been relying on on our 2-3 rain barrels for 95% of our outdoor watering. Now that we have little vegetable seedlings, Tig is carefully managing the rainwater use, trying to stretch it out and avoiding using municipal water as much as he can. He checks the weather constantly on the internet and reminds me how long it’s been between rains.

I originally thought that water conservation meant buying lots of rain barrels and installing a drip irrigation system. However, Tig stumbled upon a book called Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture. The book cites examples of lush gardens in New Mexico that require minimal watering. I was fascinated by the possibilities. Here are some notes on some of the techniques listed in the book. We’re going to try a few of them and see how it works.

Continue reading “Avoiding Municipal Water - Permaculture Notes” »

(This is post is mostly for ourselves - sometimes we need a motivational boost or a pat on the back.)

So the month-long project to set the groundwork for urban nano-farming and for better curb appeal is mostly done. A recap of the completed tasks:

• Ripped out the privet hedges
• Narrowed the concrete walkway
• Put in a step down into the left side of the garden and a step up to the right
• Painted and installed a white cedar fence
• Built cedar garden beds
• Planted vegetable seedlings
• Replaced front step, straightened drooping concrete landing pad
• Painted porch floor and ceiling

And the hero of this story is Tig, who worked tirelessly to check off each item on the list.

After a long slumber, the IPR has awakened…

After spending hours making an infrared paint remover (IPR), and using it for about 5 minutes, it has spent the last year sitting in a corner of our basement. So when it came time to repaint the front porch floor, I revived the beast to remove the old peeling paint.

Continue reading “Using the IPR and Painting the Porch” »

Close friends make fun of me because of my fondness for white in decor and black in clothing. The New York Times ran an article, “What Does Happiness Look Like” about the same debate between designers who love color and those who prefer monochromatic color schemes.

I like color, just in small doses. So when Tig was painting the front porch steps (gray, to match the new steps…sort of), I begged him to paint the ceiling blue like the homes we saw in Martha’s Vineyard. He obliged, and now I have a slice of happiness to look at everytime I walk in and out of the front door.

Continue reading “A Slice of Happiness on the Front Porch” »

Tig in California (several years ago)

“The weather forecasting is so much better these days. The technology must have improved a lot over the years.”

Tig in Massachusetts (now…every 20 minutes)

“The weather forecast said it was supposed to rain yesterday. Wheeeeeere’s the rain?!?!”

Continue reading “The Nano-Farmer Watches Weather” »

Mmmmm, fresh mustard greens, harvested from our raised bed garden on June 6th!

.. continued from “New Concrete Pad for Front Steps”

Time to build and install the new steps.

The zig zag looking pieces of wood in the picture below are called “stringers”.  They need to be built first.

Continue reading “Putting in the Front Steps” »

.. continued from “Broken Step = Bad Impression”

After the broken concrete step was removed, we dug down a few inches and filled in with gravel. There wasn’t much organic dirt under to begin with, it was mostly rocky fill. So we topped off with gravel and tamped it down.

Continue reading “New Concrete Pad for Front Steps” »

When we bought our house, we planned on fixing the front step as soon as possible. Two years, and two winters later, the step still hasn’t been fixed yet. In fact, the step - and the concrete pad in front of it - seemed to sag even more. This spring, we decided it had to go…

Continue reading “Broken Step = Bad Impression” »

Presenting a finished raised garden bed.

Continue reading “A Finished Square Foot Garden Bed” »