While it is still early days yet here in the upper regions of North America, many of us (myself included) have begun the process of buying and planting seeds for the 2012 gardening season. There are 12 years of resources published on this website, many of which even I have trouble locating, so I’ve compiled a list here to make it easier for you.

Inspiration

• These Are a Few of My Favourite Peas
• Giant Cape Gooseberry
• Salad Greens: Direct sow these.
• Wild Eggplant: Just for the heck of it, I decided to grow one this year.
• Growing Beans: Buy now, but wait until after the last frost to direct sow outdoors.
• ‘Trionfo Violetto’: If you only have room for one pole bean, I’d suggest this one.
• ‘Spigarello’ Leaf Broccoli: A very productive and beautiful leafy green.
• Edible Flowers
• Delicious Nasturtiums
• Tomatoes to Grow in Containers (or anywhere else for that matter)
• Hot Pepper varieties that I grew in 2011.
• Italian Edibles

Seed Buying

• The Safe Seed Pledge
• Kitazawa Seeds Japanese seed company that sells interesting edibles.

Seed Starting

• Build a D.I.Y Lighting System
• Printable Seed-Starting Chart (This is a good place to begin)
• A Quick and Easy Germination Test
• Seed-Starting Instructions
• Toilet Roll Seed-Starter (Please note that I have altered this system and I no longer cut the slots or bother making a bottom. Though either works, really.)
• Make Your Own Seed-Starting Mix (scroll down the page)

Caring for Seedlings & Planting Out

• Yoghurt Container Seedling Pot: Upsizing to a larger pot.
• What to Do About Tall and Floppy Seedlings
• What to Do About Forgotten Fall Bulbs
• Growing Microgreens on a Windowsill
• Hardening Off

This is an old project that I originally posted to this site back in the early 2000′s. It was lost when we switched over to a new design, but I’ve brought it back in time for holiday gift-making. (p.s. the photos are small due to the original page design)

You can expect a few more oldies, but goodies to appear here over the next week.

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This is a simple, but satisfying gift to make using herbs grown in your own garden. I’ve been making them for years and can fire off a large batch in one night. It’s the perfect gift for those who bathe — which is just about everyone.

What You Need:
• Cotton muslin or pre-made resealable tea bags (large size).
• Ribbon or string
• An assortment of herbs (see recipes below)
• Essential oils (optional)
• Rolled oats, epsom salts, sea salt (see below).
• Cellophane bags, cellophane roll, other packaging.

To make the bags you will first require some unbleached cotton muslin. Other cotton fabrics can be used, but I prefer this kind the most because it is dirt cheap ($2.00 and change for a yard or cheaper if you buy scraps from the ends bin) and has an open weave that holds in herbs yet allows their goodness to leach out easily into bathwater. In the past I have purchased ribbon (I’ll explain its use later), but this year I found some nice seam binding tape in earth tones for a very good price (29 cents a yard).

If you don’t want to sew you can purchase special large-sized, sealable tea bags made especially for this purpose. They are relatively cheap to buy and can be sealed with an iron. However, I guarantee you that even the most inexperienced sewer can make this. Keep in mind that it is going to be used a few times and eventually tossed into the compost heap. Precision is not necessary.

1. Start by cutting the fabric into squares. Any size is fine but I usually cut mine into 6″ squares because that is the thickness of my ruler and it’s faster.

2. Cut a 12″ length of ribbon or string. Butcher cord or just about any strong string you have on hand can be used. This will be used to hang the bag over the faucet so it must be strong enough to bear the weight of a bag of wet herbs.

3. Lay out a piece of fabric. Lay the string/ribbon on top in a u-shape with the U formed inside the square. The object is to sew the ribbon inside the bag so that when you turn the bag inside out, you can hold the ribbon like a handle. Place the other piece of fabric on top and secure with a few pins.

4. Sew around the square, making sure to leave a small opening to pour the herbs through. Turn your bag inside out through the hole, push out the corner and iron flat.

5. To fill the bag, take a piece of scrap paper and form a cone with it. Insert this into the hole and use it as a funnel through which to pour your herb mix.

6. Sew the seam shut with matching thread.

7. Herb bags can be packaged in cellophane to retain freshness and the potency of the smell longer. Or you can give as-is. Be sure to include a list of ingredients and instructions for use with each one. “Hang over faucet when filling tub. Hang to dry and reuse up to 3 times.”

Herb Mix Recipes:

Every year my recipes are different but they are always based on what I think are the three things people want out of a bath; to heal dry winter skin, to revitalize and stimulate their mind after a long, cold winter’s day, and to relax. As a result I mix my herbs accordingly. I often add a few additional ingredients including: rolled oats (coarsely ground in the blender first) for moisturizing and soothing, epsom salts for muscle relaxation and celtic sea salt (as opposed to table salt) for its healing properties. Powdered milk and citrus peel are also good additions. I have listed this year’s recipes below as well as a listing of other potential ingredients.

Please Note: When using herbs be sure your recipient doesn’t have an allergy. For example, chamomile is a common allergen to those with ragweed sensitivities (myself included). Also note that some herbs should not be given to pregnant women. Although you will not be drinking this ‘tea’, your skin is a semi-permeable membrane and anything that comes into contact with the skin will have an effect.

Soothing: Calendula petals, eucalyptus leaves, lemon balm, rolled oats, espsom salts, celtic sea salt.

Relaxing: Rose petals, lavender leaves, white sage, rolled oats, epsom salts, celtic sea salt.

Stimulating: Mint leaves, lemon grass, rolled oats, epsom salts, celtic sea salts, a dash of lemon grass and mint essential oils.

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Skin Softening/Healing:

· Chamomile
· Plantain
· Linden
· Rose Petals
· Ground Almonds
· Calendula flowers
· Chickweed

Stimulating:

· Mint (various)
· Lemon Grass
· Basil (various)

Relaxing:

· White Sage
· Calendula
· Rosemary
· Lavender
· Eucalyptus
· Rose Petals
· Thyme
· Beebalm
· Lemon Balm
· Chamomile
· Bay Leaf
· Jasmine flowers

Kangaroo apple (Solanum laciniatum) is one in a long line of marginally edible foods that I have been experimenting with in the garden. The fruits are considered poisonous when green and unripe, and edible when they turn orange.

That hasn’t stopped the squirrels. As I waited patiently for the fruit to ripen so I could have my first taste, the squirrels got there ahead of me and stole their fill while the fruit was still green, rock hard, and supposedly poisonous. Not only did it not kill them or give them so much as a tummy ache, they probably liked this plant more than any other treat in the garden. Proving once again that the squirrels are superior beings that will be roaming the earth harassing and poaching from some other more evolved humanoid-type creature in the distant future once the aliens have come in the name of interplanetary peace but then accidentally reveal their true intention to farm us for food, which leads to a terrible and epic battle for the lives of all humankind.

Spoiler: We do not win. Squirrels survive on the planet for another 50 million years.

I never imagined that I would need to protect this crop, and it was already too late by the time I caught one of our acrobatic circus-performing squirrels dangling upside down off of the plant.

It’s fall now and the plant is still holding on through the frosts. There are four fruit left, two of which are right on the cusp of full maturity. Although their flavour will likely be ruined by the cold, I am determined to get my taste of this fruit before the winter takes the plant down. While sifting through some boxes of garden stuff, I came upon this cotton muslin drawstring bag and the idea hit me to cover the remaining fruit to keep the squirrels out. The bag is light and open-weaved. It lets light and air in easily, and provides a smidgen of extra warmth as an added bonus.

So far it has worked brilliantly. The squirrels are still out there everyday, doing their nasty business messing the garden and undoing every bit of work I do immediately after I do it, but the kangaroo apple fruit remains completely untouched. Ha! Take that suckers!

If I decide to grow the plant again next year, I will most definitely employ this strategy right from the start, as soon as those first (supposedly) tantalizing morsels appear on the plant. I’m also planning to use it on my most prized and anticipated tomatoes, peppers, eggplant… you name it.

Me: 1 – Squirrels: 1million (But I’m catching up!)

We arrived home late from an evening spent with friends on Thursday, October 27 to the realization that several plants and crops would be spoiled or dead by the morning if we did not act fast. So it was in a panic that we bundled up and headed outside with flashlights and bowls to collect as many of the remaining green tomatoes as we could manage, along with pots of tender perennials that were meant to be overwintered inside. I’m so grateful that we got home when we did because some of the most exposed plants were already covered in frost and others were slightly frozen!

The kitchen was a disaster for days afterward. Every large bowl in the house was filled to overflowing! The basement and fridge doors along with the coffee machine were inaccessible. Guess which hurdle was tackled first?

Salvia officinalis ‘Berggarten’

Lamb’s Ear (Stachys byzantina ‘Big Ears’)

I am slowly managing to get the chaos under control. Most of the potted plants have been settled into their winter locations. I sorted the tomatoes by size and ripeness while watching old episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and retired them to the basement for safe, short term keeping. On Saturday I pickled jars of cherry green tomatoes that will be used as garnishes for Bloody Marys next summer, (the recipe for my homegrown, home-made version of this classic cocktail is in my forthcoming book) and experimented with a few jars of pickled ripe currant tomatoes flavoured with fresh tarragon (also harvested from the garden in heaps) rather than dill.

There is still much left to do. The lemongrass is sat in a bucket waiting to be dried or chopped and frozen. The kitchen and dining room tables are makeshift holding centres for bowls of seed that need to be packaged up and green beans whose fate remain undetermined.

Silver Sage (Salvia argentea)

Last week marked our first year here. The quantity of bounty that has been banked from such a small, urban backyard (especially given that there was pretty much no garden as recently as May) is almost hard to believe. I may be overwhelmed with food to put up, but I am proud of the little garden Davin and I have built together and feel very fortunate to have it. A year ago I was disassembling the roof garden and worrying my hands about what would come next. Now that I know, I can’t say that I miss my old garden space one bit.

Here’s a photo (with notes) of the backyard as it looked at the end of the day on Friday.

Every botanical garden has their forte, their special something that sets them apart from the others. Prior to any trip that includes a stop at a botanical garden, I tend to scour websites in anticipation of the sort of plantings I will see. However, before my trip to speak at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens last month, I decided not to do any research before hand. I thought it might be more fun to be surprised and wowed without the anticipation that comes with knowing what to expect.

Sure enough, I was absolutely giddy to discover that one of the garden’s claim to fame is their carnivorous collection! I have lots more to share with you, but first is a project that can be achieved at home.

Venus fly traps (Dioneae muscipula) are probably the most well-known carnivorous plant, and are widely available as impulse buys in big box stores and supermarkets. Yet, few of us get to really experience them beyond one small plastic shell packet in a cardboard counter display. The plants are marketed as an enigma, tend not to last long in our dry winter-heated homes and are a little bit intimidating as a result.

They’re a temperate-warm climate plant that prefers high humidity and can withstand short freezes, but can not survive the killing frost we experience here in the North. Venus fly traps love Toronto’s hot, humid summers, but require a chilly, but not freezing, winter dormancy period that fluctuates around the 50 degrees F mark. For this reason I have grown them as an annual in miniature bogs like the one shown above (photographed at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens) through the summer months, but tend to abandon them once the winter comes. In the right climate you can easily achieve the sort of mass planting shown in this bowl as the plants do reproduce readily and will even set seed.

Soil:

I’ve had a lot of luck using a mix that is 1 part sand, 1 part peat (substituting coir), and 1 part perilite.

Planting:

It wasn’t clear to me if the bowl (shown above) had drainage holes or not. In my experience, I have had best results growing venus fly trap outdoors in a pot with holes with a deep, water-filled saucer placed underneath to keep the soil moisture high, yet also allow for drainage through periods of heavy rainfall.

When drainage is not offered, I line the bottom of the bowl with gravel and keep the pot in a sheltered spot where I can control the amount of water it receives. Venus fly traps like wet conditions, but they can still become water-logged and rot if left permanently submerged in water.

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I cover growing a carnivorous bog in my first book, You Grow Girl: The Groundbreaking Guide to Gardening, and if you’d like to learn even more on growing all sorts of carnivorous plants, I highly recommend The Savage Garden: Cultivating Carnivorous Plants by Peter D’Amato.

The Carnivorous Plant FAQ has an detailed section on growing venus fly traps, including a few tricks for dealing with dormancy.

The reality of leaving the garden during the growing season is that you will come home to some small or large disaster. You roll with the punches, accept the losses, or you never leave home. I love my garden, but since travel is a part of my job (and one that I enjoy), I have had to do some adept rolling as well as learn a bit of acceptance along the way. I also try to plan my trips for cooler parts of the season when my constant attention is unneccessary.

I have just returned from a trip to Georgia to an aphid infestation of epic proportions on two of my Spigarello plants. Of course, they are my favourite two. The prettiest two. The two I am allowing to bolt so I can harvest seed. Were this a Sophie’s Choice situation I would say without hesitation, “Take the ones at the back of the garden. Heck, take ALL OF the kale if you must. We’re pretty much sick of it anyways.”

But no. Alas, we gardeners do not get to choose which plants the pests will descend upon. And often times they want the very plants we want to keep most. That is how it goes. I have loads of nasturtiums in my garden right now (a known aphid attractant), and amazingly enough they are completely unscathed. Nary an aphid in sight.

Were I not trying to save seed from these plants and if the TV crew were not going to be here next week to shoot a segment that involves these plants, I would simply cut them back hard and call it a day. I would wash the aphids off in soapy water in the sink and freeze the leaves for winter storage.

However, due to the reasons above I have had to resort to plan B: Hose that thing down daily and squish aphids between my fingers until I’m dead on the inside.

Inevitably, whenever I travel to speak, someone or several someones in the audience will ask about how to deal with pests. There is a long answer, which involves striving for balance and a diversity of plants and insects in the garden, taking very good care of the soil, and practicing good cultivation techniques that will keep plants healthy and resilient to pestilence. But under time pressure I do not have time to explain the long answer. I have a minute tops to explain, so I usually skip straight to the short answer: squish them. Barriers/preventative measures work for some pests, too.

We want shortcuts, but there aren’t any that don’t involve sprays and/or chemicals. Over the years, I have cut out sprays save for an homemade herbal concoction. I only pull out the soapy spray on indoor plants during the desperate winter months. The reality is that where there are plants, there will be pests. It happens under the very best of circumstances to the very best gardeners. Aphids love brassicas and they are born pregnant. That’s a fighting strategy that is hard to beat.

The key to the water spray/squish method is persistence. Do not wait a day or so between sessions. Do not leave any crack or crevice unattended. This works, but it does take a time commitment that we don’t always have.

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P.S. If you’d like to learn more about growing Spigarello and other Brassicas, I have an article on the topic in the current issue (Fall 2011) of Garden Making magazine. There is also a good chunk on the topic in Grow Great Grub.

Oh dear. I really have been remiss in providing updates and photos of the garden in its first year. The last photo I posted was on June 29. We were headed to Denver and I wanted a record of it before I left. Until that time June was still a bit wet and sometimes cold. A heatwave struck while we were gone and the garden really took off from there.

To tell you the truth, I’ve been neglectful about taking photos of it in general. However, I have spent a lot of time in it and have put a ton of work into it. I am pleased. I’ve finally found a place where I am as happy about where it is right now as I can be. There are little things for sure: the perennials that are smaller than I’d like them to be; the lavender that didn’t transplant well from a life indoors; the small patch of grass that I was too tired to dig up; my failed attempts at covering the low fences in vines of my choosing (Fine, morning glories, you can have it!); a desire for large rocks that I can use to create more structure. There are others, but I’m okay about that right now. It is a work in progress. When I look back at what the garden looked like when we moved in versus what we’ve managed to accomplish considering the mania of our schedules this year… it feels good enough. And when I’m alone in it with no one else’s taste or approval to meet, it is more than enough. I love it.

Here are a few pictures. I promise to post more in the future. There are lots of little corners and areas of interest that I want to tell you about, but they each deserve their own post. This is just a taste to get things going.

We brought the sitting bench (at the back) from the old place when we moved. I thought it would be nice to have a spot to sit in the back of the garden, although the pathway that leads to it is now covered over with exploding greenery. I found the red bench in the garbage recently. Those are zucchini flowers and coriander seeds sitting on it that I had harvested that morning.

One of three varieties of bushing zucchinis that I planted this year. This one is a patty pan. It has produced lots of male flowers and is only now beginning to out out the first fruit.

Red cabbage, nasturtium, and colourful amaranth underplanted beneath some tall, indeterminate tomatoes.

This image shows two large raised beds on the west side. The first is home to eight indeterminate (vining) tomatoes that are underplanted with assorted basils. The second holds 4 indeterminate tomatoes and 4 determinates (bushing).

The ‘Lacinato’ kale is growing in an old wooden crate. The pot behind that is my iron cross oxalis. It’s still going strong and producing flowers exactly a month later. That red thing is the largest amaranth I have ever grown.

A close-up of one of the teepee structures that I am partial to. It consists of 4 stakes set in a diamond shape, one indeterminate per stake. As the plants grow, I tie up the main stalk and cut out excess foliage to promote good circulation.

This is one of the raised beds that is closer to the house. The entire west side is comprised of raised beds that we built using scrap pieces of wood that was either found on site or given to us. It cost us exactly ZERO DOLLARS and was absolutely necessary since the entire west side sloped downwards. The plant in the foreground is cilantro/coriander that has gone to seed (I collect and eat the seeds). The plant behind that is Tzimbolo, a crazy pseduo-edible solanum that I grew from seed. It should not be there, but I didn’t have anywhere else to put it. This is my second year growing this plant. More on that in a future post.

Creating more structure is next on the agenda. The main bed on the east side is just one long bed. I had to do that as a time saver, but it is the number one issue that I have with the garden right now. The plants were all put in haphazardly. The goal at the time was just get stuff in the ground and fast! It’s a bit of a jungle and difficult to get into to weed and water. The cat loves it though. She has a special spot where she goes to cuddle up with the soaker hose (when it’s not on, of course!).

About halfway up the long bed is a galvanized washbasin that I bought at a flea market this spring. As soon as I brought it home, I stuck it there because I didn’t know what to do with it. It stayed, and I have since planted it up as a pond that holds big-leaved tropicals (Giant papyrus and alocasias/colocasias). The grassy thing on the right side is sorghum (black or red. I’m not sure yet). The purple spike below that is anise-hyssop (Agastache foeniculum). I’m a fan of this plant and made sure to bring some over from the roof garden where I had been growing it for years and years. Behind the sorghum you can see a garlic flower that I let go (don’t do this if you want nice, big bulbs). The bees love it! There is one on there in this pic.

In the fall, once the tender annuals start to die back, I intend to break that long space up and put in a path. I’ll move some of the plants if I get the chance. We have managed to create one bed within that long patch, a dry bed full of silvery plants and hardy cactus and succulents. I will post about that separately as it needs its own entry.

UPDATE: I posted a larger version of the first image to my Flickr account so that you can see the details more clearly. I’ve also added more notes.

Ascending up to the front door of our new place is a series of cracking concrete steps. They are fully exposed to the sun and I predict that in combination with the metal railings, they should prove to be a hot spot by mid-summer.

Since moving in I’ve been contemplating what to grow there. The steps are thin so I could not install large pots that would impede the mail man’s ability to get to the box. They’re in front of the house, and now for the first time in my life I am actually considering the neighbours. To a degree. This isn’t the suburbs after-all. Fortunately, I live in a mixed ethnicity, working class neighbourhood so it’s not an external pressure to “Keep up with the Jones” but more about not inciting bad blood with the Castilhos or receiving hostile stares from the De Silvas.

People grow their own food here, always have, and I suspect that the lack of large, old trees in the neighbourhood is the result of the importance that is placed on growing a good tomato crop. It’s not uncommon or breaking an unspoken social contract to grow food out front in these parts. I’m not breaking new ground in doing so, although where I suspect I will be is in some of my methods.

But I digress. My stoop is eight steps high. When it came time to plant, it was by chance that I happened to have exactly eight sap buckets, one for each step. I’ve been using these thin, but deep buckets for years to grow hot peppers and dwarf tomato varieties. The plants can take the heat absorbed by the metal and since the containers fit perfectly on the steps without getting in the way, it just happened to be the perfect place for them.

Varieties:

Since they are going to be out front, I placed some importance on aesthetics. I like the repetition of the same container sitting on each step. I chose varieties that would not only thrive in the containers, but also look nice. I grew all of them from seed, starting with a few slow varieties in February and the rest in March.

• Dwarf Tomato ‘Hahms Gelbe’ – Has pretty, compact foliage and produces yellow cherry tomatoes.
• Hot Pepper ‘ Chocolate Habenero’ – The foliage is uninteresting, but the fruit eventually turn a chocolatey brown and hang like little lanterns.
• Hot Pepper ‘Purple Cayenne’ – Pretty purple foliage and stems with purple flowers, followed by purple fruit.
• Hot Pepper ‘Filius Blue’ – Shown in first photo above. Compact purple foliage, flowers, and fruit that eventually turn red.
• Hot Pepper ‘Golden Nugget’ – Variegated foliage produces small, square-ish green peppers that turn orange.

Growing Tips:

• Holes were punched into the bottom of the pot using a large nail. I’ve had these pots for many years so that was done long ago.
• One plant per pot.
• I mulched each container with straw to lock in moisture and cool things down a bit. They are predicting a hot and dry summer.

Hardening off. It sounds a bit dirty doesn’t it? Sort-of like “getting off” (see also “Back and Forth Forever“), but then when I think of the two acts, even just in terms of gardening, they are by comparison, practically opposites. One is about letting go of restraint, so to speak, while the other is all about withholding our desire to “just get those plants out there and into the garden already!” It is the impatient gardeners’ ultimate test of will and patience.

For those who are new to gardening, hardening off is the process of preparing your indoor-grown seedlings for life outside. Think of it like this: your plant babies have spent life so-far indoors underneath lights where it is cozy and temperature-controlled. There are pests and problems for sure, but for the most part life is simple and easy. There is no wind inside, nor is there pelting rain, chilly nights, blinding sun, or squirrels (sorry, hardening off can’t help with that). Thrusting your babies out into the big bad world in one go would be devastating to them. The sun alone would fry them to a crisp in no time.

And so, not unlike human children, we introduce them to the world and all of its joys (sunlight, beneficial insects, gentle breezes) and strife (see above) gradually, easing them into it as best we can. This means putting them outside, in a sheltered spot for short stints. Gradually, over the course of two weeks, we nudge them away from shelter and out into the storm.

There are lots of ways to do this. Cold frames and plastic greenhouse thingys are helpful. My friend Barry sets his seedlings behind an old window screen. The screening diffuses the sunlight. You can also make a tent from a newspaper to cover the seedlings with to a similar effect. I prefer to put mine out against a brick wall in a shady spot. The plants gain protection and warmth on one side from the brick. It helps if they are close to a door so I can pull them inside quickly in the event of a freak downpour or (god forbid) hail.

The trick is in remembering that while tomatoes and peppers are sun lovers by nature, they aren’t ready to be out in the sun just yet. Your plants will get there eventually, but if you don’t exercise restraint now, chances are good that you could lose the whole lot of hard won seedlings in one swoop if you expose them to too much, too quickly.

I put mine out slowly at first; an hour or so on an overcast day. Over time they stay outside for longer periods and eventually overnight. It’s okay to halt the process in the event of unseasonably cold weather, especially if frost is predicted. We’ve had some exceptionally cool nights and hard rains this year, and I’ve had to pull my plants in for a few days on a couple of occasions. The first batch are ready to stay out overnight, but they still need a bit more time in full sun before they’ll be ready to take their place outdoors for the season.

Therein lies another tip: Don’t try to harden everything off at once. I try to stagger seed starting as much as possible. Granted, different plants have different schedules, but I don’t do all of the same type at the same time. This year my tomatoes were done in two batches. So were the peppers. As a result, I have less plants at the same stage of development to harden off at the same time. If something goes wrong with one batch, I don’t lose everything at one time. It reduces the risk and also makes life just a bit easier.

Are you currently in the process of hardening off your transplants? How is it going?

First up I need to clarify the meaning of the last post. A lot of people thought I was talking about gardening hardship, when I was actually talking about work deadlines. I was REALLY tired and not too with it when I wrote that post. Please excuse my lack of clarity.

Hardening off (back and forth forever) is certainly a pain in the butt, especially now that the kitchen floor is covered in trays and we can barely open the fridge door. However, my complaints were about NOT being able to garden rather than being overwrought by the work I have before me. Sitting at my desk and plugging away at a computer when there is a backyard out there that needs to be transformed into a garden is a certain kind of torture.

All I want to be do is garden!

But this is life as an adult so moving on….

It rained a lot this weekend, but I was out there anyway. It was my first weekend off (sort-of. Not really. But mostly.) since Xmas and I decided ahead of time that I was going to take full advantage rain or shine.

We got very wet and I’m suffering for it now, but at least the garden is starting to look like slightly more than an anthropological dig or an uprooted burial site on a television crime drama. Now it looks like a mud wrestling pit!

Here’s what the yard looked like just before we moved in.

Here it is, this morning, it all of it’s “glory.”

Before I go any further I have to address that mulch in the bottom right corner. The bag it came in said, “natural cedar mulch.” Davin says it is natural and that it’s just unexpectedly red wood. I say they are lying liars who lie and it is dyed. I absolutely abhor dyed mulch. It is one of my biggest pet peeves. And now I have it in my yard. Gag!

• This weekend’s crowning achievement was installing the cinderblock wall that you can see in the bottom of the picture. We’ve planted it up with an assortment of sedums. I’ll post a photo once it has grown in a bit.

  The wall was needed because we have a sloped yard. All of the work we are doing is in an attempt to even it out as best we can (by hand) and make tiers.

• The three raised beds on the left hand side were built using scrap wood. As a result the sizes of the wood determined the layout and subsequently the eventual placement of pathways. We still need to place a few more beds down that side. Our intent is to go right up to the compost bin, which sits in front of the ramshackle shed. That area is full of violets that I want to dig up and move, as well as a young lilac bush that was put in by the people before us. They look really wonky in the picture, but that’s because this image is an amalgam of several pictures and some were rotated to fit.
• The bricks that sit to the right of the raised beds are just there for placement. They mark where I have created two levels or steps. I purchased the cement urns at a flea market over the weekend and they sit at the edge of the steps. The recycling box is just there to hold grass and is not part of the design.
• The little pear tree is blooming. I planted ‘Silver’ thyme underneath. We also planted asparagus back there and two raspberry canes way in the back corner (you can’t see it well). There is a patch of garlic back there as well. I planted that shortly after moving in.
• I’ve dug up a lot of goldenrod (Solidago). A LOT of it! There is more yet.
• The rest of the back half still needs to be dug up. That’s where a lot of the edible annuals (tomatoes, peppers,etc) will be going so as you can see I’ve got a lot ahead of me. And it’s needed in short order! We still have half a bag of duck manure waiting to be added in. And we haven’t found the gravel we want to lay down pathways with.

Hopefully this will look more like a garden next month. Hopefully.