We built a new raised bed this week. That’s not a trick of perspective: it actually is much narrower at the far end. On this end is a mound (hard to see) for a three sisters planting. Past that is amaranth, then two columbine plants at the far end.
Posts in: Gardening
Newly built window box is up. Lean out the window and there’s a salad waiting for you.
Green Man’s Grotto is showing signs of life! Phlox is blooming:
Yarrow is back and is spreading around the pond:
Rachel’s seedlings are doing great!
Two paths ahead of us with regard to climate change
Early on in At Work in the Ruins, Dougald Hine discusses the overall response to climate change. He says we have entered a new phase of the process in which the dominant institutions have accepted the reality of climate change and are at least talking about acting accordingly. (I take him to mean that the era of climate change denialism is substantially over. I do not take him to mean that our institutions are acting in suitably radical ways.
Preparing for winter
A few updates on Green Man’s Grotto: We finished all the transplants mentioned here and both of the original raised beds have been doubled in depth. The third, newish raised bed has been cleared of everything except Purple Poppy Mallow (aka, Winecups) at each end. The only thing remaining to be done on the grape arbor is the addition of some trellis on the sides (for plants other than grapes) and painting.
Vermicomposting update
We started vermicomposting sometime in July 2022. We ordered our worms from Uncle Jim’s and set up a bin using a Rubbermaid container. I would definitely recommend that method as an entry point for people. It’s low cost—especially if you have spare Rubbermaid containers sitting around—and it’s a great way to recycle kitchen scraps and junk mail. There are plenty of YouTube videos for reference. Vermicomposting and regular composting use pretty much the same rules on what kitchen scraps can be used.
Eight uses for fall leaves from the Old Farmer’s Almanac. We’re raking ours up, mowing them to shred them, and placing them in areas where we plan to do new planting next spring, in order to both kill the grass in those areas and improve the soil.
We finished the grape arbor. Now it just needs some paint and we’ll be ready to plant grapes next spring. We’ve raked the leaves up there to kill the grass over the winter so we can do more planting in that area.
It’s going to be a beautiful weekend here so one more big push to finish a few projects: finish the grape arbor, fill the final raised bed, put out some Halloween decorations. But first, coffee and The Biggest Little Farm (thanks for the recommendation, Tim).