of lilacs and rain barrels

i have been outside more than alot this past week and weekend.  global climate change is causing unseasonably warm temperatures here in upstate new york.  average high is supposed to be about 60 degrees- it was 89 degrees monday.  anyhoo, that meant i had to mow already- and i used my brand spanking new reel mower to do so.  let’s just say that i am slower than the actual motorized motor   but it was nice.  yep, it was actual work pushing the mower but i wasn’t bothering anyone with noise and i got to enjoy the birds chirping and the smell of the grass mingled with sunshine.  now, someone remind me of that in august

i am currently working on two gardens- mine and the fam’s.  i started laying out the pattern for planting and i actually started planting there today.  i put in seedlings that i started at the beginning of april and the seed potatoes that recently arrived from johnny’s.  i have already started to think about watering said gardens and i am leaning towards a rain barrel drip irrigation system.  now, if i was extremely handy, i could build all my own from scratch.  but, i am not.  i have already enlisted my partially handy husband’s help on some of my projects- and between you and me- i think he is reaching his limit.  anyhoo- i get millions of gardening magazines and so, of course i look through them page by page to get ideas.  and what i have found- rain barrels are a bit pricey.  i found the new england rain barrel company that makes rain barrels out of recycled plastic barrels.  and yes, i did think about the plastic angle- wooden barrels rot and are hard to find– and are waaay out of my price range.  and metal isn’t much better than plastic once it starts to rust.  so, recycled plastics will have to do.  so, that got me thinking- how will i water my plants?  for my garden, i can use a watering can because i have a raised bed system.  at the fam’s, i have made a grid out of an existing veggie bed i had tilled up last year. (no till gardening will come in another post ).  it is too much to water and it needs watering in the morning- and i don’t live there.  so….

i thought about irrigating.  it’s a bit of planning with a rain barrel as it has no real pressure (you can get a pump system but that negates the purpose for me) and i thought of drip irrigation.  voila`!  i am not the only one.  this isn’t the world’s best info site but it gives you the gist of how to.  so, while my main focus over the next week or so will be planting, i will begin prioritizing and planning irrigation.  and where do the lilacs come in?  well, it seems that the new neighbors that border the back yard of the fam’s cut down most of their backyard trees.  don’t even get me started.  and there’s a big gaping gap where there used to be beautiful, screening shade trees.  the fam is displeased by this.  so, i am going to plant a treeline of traditional purple lilacs.  we had two beautiful big trees full of light purple and white lilacs.  loved them.  the old lady who lived in the apartment before we bought it- ripped out all of her lilac bushes and apparently decided peony bushes were better.  i have ripped out at least 3.  don’t really care for them.  decided i would see what the arbor day foundation had on hand over there- no lie- you can buy a lilac tree for $8.00!  you can buy as much as you want- and the shipping is a flat rate $4.95!  that is awesome.  unless you live in the states they can’t ship to.

so, landscaping, gardening, composting, harvesting and processing the food- that’s my summer shaping up.  will keep you looped

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how i spent my summer- and other such tales

i decided to get into gardening as a way to lose weight initially. i thought being outside and tending my harvest with the digging and tilling and pulling weeds was good exercise. problem was- i didn’t really have a yard. what to do? i did what i always do- i started googling like mad! and i actually came up with a few really good ideas. who knew you could have a compost bin in the city? not only did i make a rubber maid bin full of lovely compost from shredded junk mail, toilet paper rolls and veggie peelings- but i had a porch garden that actually produced veggies. i was very proud. it was my grand experiment. i have to say, living on the second floor was tough when i had to haul bags of dirt in order to plant- but i felt like mr. green jeans- that’s for sure.

this year, i am going to till up a part of my mother’s backyard- and i already have a bigger, better compost bin ready to go. i have been looking into heirloom seeds in order to save them year to year- i would rather not have any of monsanto’s genetically modifieds thank you very much. i have also looked at catching water in a rain barrel- and may add that in when i actually get something planted. what i thought was a good idea- especially for folks who don’t have much room- square foot gardening. my gardening cohort, jim, tells me not to make raised beds from pressure treated wood- as the chemicals can leach into the ground. i did not know that- so thank you jim jim also pointed me in the direction of weaseldog- who is making a go of permaculture. take a peek at his videos- it’s kind of cool.

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