Yay! Awesome birthday present came my way from my in-laws! … Well, other than the shed which my parents bought me. Randy and Mary Ann bought me a motion activated, solar powered LED light! So I never have to worry about the darkness within ever again! 🙂
So my initial plan was to germinate inside the shed. I have two four foot, double bulb, T8 shop lights and I was going to run them in the shed. The problem is, as I’ve come to find out, T8s don’t give off the full spectrum needed by plants. So I have two choices at this moment; windows in the shed or a germination shelf that will go inside, behind my couch, in front of the patio door. I’m pretty sure I know which one Ann Marie is going to prefer.
I’m an addict! It’s official. I’ve got the bug… the gardening bug! 🙂 It’s going to be a long winter! But with a little luck I might be able to cultivate some fun plants inside for a while.
That’s a good shot of the lights I got for my birthday! 🙂 I wanted to set them up inside the shed but I think the first thing I should do is build a shelf-light for in house sprouting.
Side garden is complete! Have a look and see. 🙂 I wanted Ann Marie to be able to envision the garden with me so I marked all the bulb positions with little skewers with masking tape flags on top. Charlotte helped me place all the flags. She wanted to watch TV more than plant the bulbs though so I let her go.
After covering the side garden with mulch (it only takes two bags and I bought 7) I covered my garlic with mulch as well. I have yet to see if the chipmunks and squirrels will dig into it.
I also got another tip from Suburban Homestead to plant Zinnias and Marigolds so I will make sure I do that too. 🙂
I think a few flowers popping out of my veggie gardens will not be unwelcome.
Marigolds are even more beautiful. 🙂
So I am not sure what the evergreen variety we have in the garden. Nor am I certain what the silver leafed plant is. I am sure I will spot them for sale at some garden centre some day. I will make note of it when I do.
Hosta, Calla Lily, Tulips, Giant Daffodils, and Paperwhites. Oh and White Hyacinth!
This is our side garden. It’s looked the same since we moved in with the exception of some tulips that pop out in the spring and the calla lily blooms mid summer. I never gave it much thought. Ann Marie has hated this garden since the beginning and has tasked me with the mission of kicking it up a notch. I accepted and today was day 1.
This garden was untended for at least the three years we’ve been here and so was very overgrown. The previous owners again utilized their railway ties as edging. The plants are growing directly out of the ties now and worms are munching on their rot. It’s kind of gross yet kind of beautiful. Other than overgrowth they placed a layer of smooth rocks over the garden to prevent weeds from growing. That’s fine but Ann Marie and I don’t like all the rocks around our property and have been slowly removing them since we got here. They’re so cold and hard when what our hearts yearn for is warmth and softness.
The leafy cover around all the plants I thought was going to be the easy part but it ended up being the hardest part by far. The vines shot out from these base plants which had a thick root that went straight down for 8 or more inches. The main root often branched off and connected to other base plants. It was a total weed nightmare. I cleared out the garden from left to right and took the rocks and weeds out as I went. I am almost done and the garden looks a hundred times better now.
I still have to finish this portion at the end…
So the hosta looks like hell here but it’s all by itself now. It was reaching for light from under the other hostas. I am going to replant it and it will be straight and awesome.
So the remaining to-do:
That shouldn’t take too long, right? Right?! RIGHT?!
Played guitar for a solid hour today. Pretty stoked about that. 🙂 Practiced Something in the Air by Tom Petty, Dan’s Song by Frank Turner, Do You Remember by Jack Johnson, Can’t Hardly Wait by the Replacements, oh! and Dammit by Blink 182. That song has a special place in my heart because it was the first song I ever learned to play on guitar. Around that same time back in 1997 I also learned the picked riffs of Enter Sandman by Metallica and Crazy Train by Ozzy Osborne along with the 5-chords for Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana. Dammit was the one song I found at the time that I could learn the picking and chords. So it’s stuck with me.
Yesterday I trimmed our umbrella tree in the front. I planted approx 20 garlic bulbs in the end of the garden box. I will update the garden plan asap. I have a tarp over the entire box and to create 4 corner spaces wasn’t logical. So I peeled back the 4 sq. ft. at the end closest to the house, planted the garlic and covered them with one layer of weed barrier to keep the chipmunks out. I also built my tomato cage. It’s still missing chicken wire but I can throw that in quick enough in the spring. I’m so glad I’m getting a jump start on all this stuff. I would have never got it done if I had woke up in March and decided I wanted it.
Speaking of chipmunks I set a trap for those little bastards yesterday. It’s the standard bucket trap. Thankfully Ann Marie has a ton of sunflower seeds and I had an old Home Depot bucket. I set it up in the back yard. The front would have made more sense because that’s where they know the seed is already at the bird feeder but I did not want to upset any neighbour who might peer in the bucket and see a chipmunk or mouse struggling for his life. I have already gotten one mouse. I would like to murder a chipmunk or two per day. I hate those cheeky bastards. Get it? Cheeky. LOLÂ The squirrels are smarter and get away with a lot of seeds. I have lowered the water level of the bucket trap twice already. Ann Marie suggested chicken wire. I think I am going to do that for sure in my next iteration.
I’ve googled this song and found nothing for too long. I’m going to break Let It Last by Hayden down myself.
Am       C
Let is last, let it last,
G Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Am
This moment in our grasp.
C Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â G Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â G
Let the sun stay right where it is.
Am        C
Let us bask, let us bask,
G Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Am
In this time that moves so fast.
        C               G           G
May you remain, just as I see you now.
       Am        C
It’s so sad, it’s so sad,
GÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Am
That the memories that I have,
C Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â G Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â GÂ
Are the ones that I don’t want back.
Am           C
But it’s alright, it’s alright.
Am          C
It’s O.K. yeah it’s O.K.
Am           C
Cause today was the day
G Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Am
That the light hit you in away.
C Â Â Â Â Â Â Â G Â Â Â Â Â C
And it will always, always stay.
Piano solo (Comment for it and I’ll tab it out for guitar.)
        Am         C
But it’s alright, it’s alright.
Am         C
It’s O.K. yeah it’s O.K.
Am          C
Cause today was the day
G Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Am
That the light hit you in a way.
C Â Â Â Â Â Â G Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â C
And it will always, always stay.
Trying to nail down Something In The Air by Tom Petty and It Ain’t Me Babe by Johnny Cash and June Carter. I already knew the basics to It Ain’t Me but I’m setting a goal to write out the lyrics and memorize. Something In The Air is that amazing song that the fictional band Stillwater sings in the movie Almost Famous when Russell and Penny “meet for the first time”. I re-learned Yesterday by the Beatles and have been going through my songbook practicing generally. Getting better at Dan’s Song by Frank Turner too.
Other than that I’m going to keep working on my scales.
Choir is good too. This week we have a more difficult song to master, Come To The Lord. It’s a bit high so I need to figure our which octave I’m singing in. I’ll have to get on the piano for that.
Brains to Byzantium 