Last week was a busy, busy week. Besides the visit from Loren and Zane, i had Olivia and a young local girl here to help. Then my knit group arrived on Friday. It was so much fun!
I've long wondered what would happen if i pushed and pushed and pushed myself. This is what happens:
1. I start to get sick. I began developing a cough. and
2. My body "shuts down." Literally. I HAVE to sleep.
Naps are not a happy or desired thing for me. I wake up from a nap feeling much worse than before. I avoid them as much as possible. When i push myself too hard, tho, my body demands sleep and simply shuts down and i have no choice. But it is not restful, and i wake much more tired and less able to function. I'm better off not pushing so hard and not requiring a nap.
So, here is the partially completed deck/sunroom/greenhouse. This deck faces south and is directly off our kitchen. Our kitchen is pretty cold in the winter. The upstairs deck prevents it from getting much sun, so i'm hoping this will not only help us to have a longer growing season, but will help the kitchen to have additional warmth in the winter, too.
The upstairs deck is now enclosed with chicken wire and netting so the cats can go "outside." It has been like that a couple of months now, and has lost its novelty. It is just another "room" to them and not all that exciting anymore.
The various different gardens. I've a lot of strawberries planted this year. I've raspberries (that really have raspberries on them for the first time; we might get a handful). I have blackberries and blueberries planted. The blackberries look healthy, tho one has died, and the blueberries are not doing anything. I also have potatoes, carrots, spinach, beets, peas, beans, three varieties of squash (buttercup, pumpkin, and zucchini), about 8 different kinds of tomato, broccoli, lettuce, cucumber, and watermelon and another melon i've never tried before. Also several different herbs as well as peppers that will go in pots in the sunroom as i don't think they will do much outside. My first year really trying to garden.
I had three cubic yards of topsoil delivered last week. I worked it a bit. David (who is building the greenhouse/sunroom) did some. And Duane has moved a huge amount of it. I wasn't sure exactly how much i ordered, but was afraid to order too little, because the delivery charge is $25 - and i didn't want to pay it multiple times! The pic directly above shows the terraces Duane built into the little hill on that side. A LOT of that 3 cubic yards went into these beds. I don't have enough to fill them this year, but i'm planning for next!
Most of this was started back in May when i had more energy. It is a struggle now. But that is why we are planning to have kitchen help more regularly. I told Duane that if i only have a bit of energy to use, i'd much rather be gardening than cleaning the kitchen. It was a struggle with energy, too, that i had most of these plants growing indoors in the "cat-free" room. At the time it wasn't a problem, but then they have to be carried downstairs and outside, and it was a lot of work as i had a lot of plants. I think the sunroom will help because i can then carry them directly outside and put them in the wagon to haul around.
I think it is time to go out and garden now. Happy 4th of July!
522
I've long wondered what would happen if i pushed and pushed and pushed myself. This is what happens:
1. I start to get sick. I began developing a cough. and
2. My body "shuts down." Literally. I HAVE to sleep.
Naps are not a happy or desired thing for me. I wake up from a nap feeling much worse than before. I avoid them as much as possible. When i push myself too hard, tho, my body demands sleep and simply shuts down and i have no choice. But it is not restful, and i wake much more tired and less able to function. I'm better off not pushing so hard and not requiring a nap.
So, here is the partially completed deck/sunroom/greenhouse. This deck faces south and is directly off our kitchen. Our kitchen is pretty cold in the winter. The upstairs deck prevents it from getting much sun, so i'm hoping this will not only help us to have a longer growing season, but will help the kitchen to have additional warmth in the winter, too.
The upstairs deck is now enclosed with chicken wire and netting so the cats can go "outside." It has been like that a couple of months now, and has lost its novelty. It is just another "room" to them and not all that exciting anymore.
The various different gardens. I've a lot of strawberries planted this year. I've raspberries (that really have raspberries on them for the first time; we might get a handful). I have blackberries and blueberries planted. The blackberries look healthy, tho one has died, and the blueberries are not doing anything. I also have potatoes, carrots, spinach, beets, peas, beans, three varieties of squash (buttercup, pumpkin, and zucchini), about 8 different kinds of tomato, broccoli, lettuce, cucumber, and watermelon and another melon i've never tried before. Also several different herbs as well as peppers that will go in pots in the sunroom as i don't think they will do much outside. My first year really trying to garden.
I had three cubic yards of topsoil delivered last week. I worked it a bit. David (who is building the greenhouse/sunroom) did some. And Duane has moved a huge amount of it. I wasn't sure exactly how much i ordered, but was afraid to order too little, because the delivery charge is $25 - and i didn't want to pay it multiple times! The pic directly above shows the terraces Duane built into the little hill on that side. A LOT of that 3 cubic yards went into these beds. I don't have enough to fill them this year, but i'm planning for next!
Most of this was started back in May when i had more energy. It is a struggle now. But that is why we are planning to have kitchen help more regularly. I told Duane that if i only have a bit of energy to use, i'd much rather be gardening than cleaning the kitchen. It was a struggle with energy, too, that i had most of these plants growing indoors in the "cat-free" room. At the time it wasn't a problem, but then they have to be carried downstairs and outside, and it was a lot of work as i had a lot of plants. I think the sunroom will help because i can then carry them directly outside and put them in the wagon to haul around.
I think it is time to go out and garden now. Happy 4th of July!
522
2 comments:
Slowly but surely .. a garden is ever changing and evolving from year to year. What a great start you have .. and the added bonus of a growing room/green house. Perfect. Raised beds are a lot less to maintain than in the ground gardening. Have you looked into square foot garden plans? You can really get a lot planted using this method. May God grant you restored energy too. XX C
Yes, C, each year i say, "This is my first year of serious gardening!" because it is evolving. I'm afraid after all the $$ we've spent we're still not going to get a lot of food from it, but we'll see. I keep on trying! I've seen the square foot plans, but need to look into them for next year.
Thanks for your well-wishes.
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