New Front Parkway

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IMG_8945A new corner was installed last season and they turned the front into a front parkway.  A container grew raspberries and catnip here in previous years and now the entire 20+ feet is an in ground garden.  I was able to save the mature raspberries from last season and they are doing well.  Catnip survived and I planted Cleome, and a lot of flowering seeds.  There are some volunteer tomatoes and some plants I can’t identify.

The alley planters were disassembled and all that potting soil was used to somewhat raise the center of this bed.  In the distance I built a raised bed structure to contain the potting soil.  That box is completely wildflower.

I’m letting all tree seedlings grow.  By the time the weather cleared to plant trees it was too late so I have to wait until August.  If some seedlings look good I may defer to them to grow into full size trees in the next 20 years or so.

SE Corner Main Roof

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IMG_8840SE corner main roof has 12 habneros, 2 basils, and a fat eggplant.  Last two seasons sunflowers grew here but nothing else grows well with sunflowers.  St. Hedwig Catholic church is being restored in the distance.  This restoration project has been going on for years now.

New hatch assembly

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IMG_8779A new prototype hatch assembly being put together on south wall main roof.  In the distance is SE corner main roof which is all habeneros this season (14).  Last season sunflowers grew here.  No sunflowers on main roof this season.  When completed the hatch assembly is supposed to provide roof ventilation while keeping water out.  Some design issues still being worked.

Chives in the foreground keep coming back year after year.  Chives are a great invasive plant that can survive in containers even over harsh winters.  A lot of mint died due to the extreme winter we had but not chives.  Pineapple mint was another big survivor this winter.

Tomato Status

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IMG_8784 IMG_8785Here’s a brief update of tomatoes as of 6/27/2014.  All 8 tomatoes in caged positions healthy and we’ve had a lot of rain.  Fertilized once last week.  That might be kind of late.  Need to fertilize today.

The two wooden boxes are new planters that can hold two big plants.  They are 2x3x1.5=9 cubic feet.  The plastic tub planters are only 3 cu ft.  The two pictures show caged positions 1-7 of which there are 15 this season.  The wooden cage slots have not been installed and they may not be necessary.

Tomatoes buffered by Cleome in caged position 4 and skinny eggplant in caged position 1.  Caged position 7 has two habeneros and caged position 5 and 6 (bottom pic) has tomatoes.  The caged positions closest to the west which get the first shade are growing the best independent of container size.

Update

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No pics.  I’m a bit behind updating this log book so this is a text update.  Pics will be coming soon when I get motivated.  Added 2 3’x2’x1.5′ = 9 cu.ft planters on main roof  which each take two tomatoes around Memorial Day and got all tomatoes, eggplants, habeneros, and even basil planted in time.   Because of the new arrangement somehow ended up with 15 caged positions instead of 14 per previous two years.  Found Cleome in four packs at the Menards parking lot guy.  Those have been successful companion plants for tomatoes.   I couldn’t find them anywhere last season.  I’ve been derelict on veranda level so everything is just growing as if it were maintenance free.  It will be interesting to see how the vines turn out growing wild.

Front parkway doing well.  Have good raspberries and two areas where the catnip returned but it took awhile for it to come up.  Usually that blooms at the end of June and right now it’s nowhere near close to blooming.  Like me and my gardening projects, Catnip is over a month behind schedule in my estimation.

A Cardinal Stops By

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IMG_8639It’s still bird season but winding down.  Menards had 40 lb bags of bird food for $10 at clearance which means the birds should be able to forage for their own food soon.  I stocked up for next season.

There’s a family of Cardinals down the street and they stop by every now and then.  They can’t figure out how to fly onto the suspended bird feeder.  This little Cardinal is picking seeds from the ground like a common pigeon.

Chives grow in a debris clump

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IMG_8606Chives start out strong in a debris clump.  Raspberries are sprouting in front parkway.  Started to dismantle alley planters today.  Dumped almost 8 cu. ft. in front parkway.  I decided not to build anything raised in that area — only by the stop sign.  More on that later ….

Sump pump and new front parkway

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IMG_8463Luckily I had a new sump pump laying around  to pump water off the veranda.  The extremely cold winter froze the drain so water from melting ice is pooling and finding its way inside.  So far the pump works although it must be operated manually.  This wouldn’t have been necessary had I kept vigilant about keeping snow cleared on the veranda level.

It’s raining today and the pump has kept a lot of water from draining into the downstairs bedroom.  I suspect there is a small breach on a corner seam that pretty much stays dry being under an eave so the leak never became a problem.

Pretty soon I’ll start feeding the birds and I have quite a few new garden related construction projects planned.  I am eliminating all alley planters this year to maybe be rebuilt in 2015.
IMG_8386The wood from the alley planters will be reused into replacement planters for the main roof and front corner parkway. The front parkway will be a completely new planting this spring. More on this later. To the left is a pic taken right before the thaw.  The pile of shoveled snow is the new in ground parkway that will be planted with two new trees and the mature raspberry bushes that grew in a container for the last 4 years.  Hopefully the snow pile protected the raspberry roots so they’ll sprout in the next month or two.

Ice Garden

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Icicles hang from eave on veranda level
Icicles hang from eave on veranda level.  I have been a bit derelict with regard to shoveling snow off veranda level and now there is a slab of ice under the snow about a foot thick.  This shot taken the afternoon before the thaw on Sunday Feb 16, 2014.