Gardening prep day 2: Pots

We got the beds prepped yesterday. Today was Easter dinner, and one of our friends came over to eat Lamb with us, so since he was headed near where Mr. Moon works anyway he offered to drive. I was feeling a little cooped up and wanting to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air, so I was going to take a book outside, but they're all still packed away! Then I decided I could go prep some of the dirt in the pots out there until I just didn't feel like it anymore.

This is what I had to start with! Weeds, moss, dead plants, and broken tools. Some of the pots are full of decent dirt, but a couple of them are about 50% those white rocks that get put into potting soil for drainage. It's no wonder nothing would grow in them besides moss!

I set those pots aside to mix into the dirt in Bed #2, mixed some of the pots together if they were very low on dirt, and just got all of the moss, root clumps, and old plants out. Nothing too backbreaking, just some digging around with a trowel and tapping root clumps to save the dirt before they go into the compost pile. It was pretty outside, Mum came out to help and get some sunshine, it was a nice afternoon!

This giant pile is everything we pulled from the pots. Mr. Moon will have to shovel it all into the compost pile tomorrow, because it was a bit too much for me to handle. Still, I'm rather proud of the work Mum and I accomplished today. We couldn't have been out there more than an hour, and we finished up what we thought was the last pot just as the sun went behind a big cloud and the wind took a turn for the chilly. There is actually one more pot to do, but that's just a matter of dumping the dirt into the bed to get it aerated and mixed in.

Lots of good black dirt, and I'm ready to get the plants mapped out and into place. We have an early day tomorrow, but even just committing an hour in the afternoon to mapping things out means we can start going to ground as early as Tuesday. One can only hope!

------------------------------

Not bad for a lazy Sunday afternoon!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sub-Urban Gardening

Mum and I picked up the plants for the vegetable & herb garden in the backyard today. We got a few seeds, but mostly starter plants. This year with the moving and everything we got a late start, and don't have the space or time to be dealing with seeds right now. For the basis of this entry, let's just assume that everything is neglected and overgrown, shall we? As it stands, we have an old mint garden in the back corner (away from everything else) that may or may not crop back up. Possible volunteers will be spearmint, chocolate mint, peppermint, and pineapple mint. But Mum hasn't tended to it for years, really since it got planted 9 years ago, so we may need to go back out to pick up some mint plants, as we would like to keep that as a mint corner. The catnip we just picked up will be going back there. We have two raised bed planters about 3x4 feet each which are currently housing a HUGE, delicious looking oregano bush (well, three of them actually). I mean, o...
Read more

Grocery Shopping: To coupon or price book?

You can find more detailed information about grocery shopping price books at Get Rich Slowly and Organized Home (both links take you straight to their price book articles) so I won't bore you with the details. Suffice it to say, as a kitchen manager and chef, I have been sold on the concept of price books--they're imperative to costing recipes. I haven't really used them outside of work, though. Not because I don't think you should, but a) because I did it at work and didn't want to do that at home too; and b) because I have a head for numbers and am obsessed with getting the best deal, so I do very well with that without writing things down. When I moved from Michigan where I knew all my prices (and had determined that Shop At Meijer was the best way to save money) to Seattle where I didn't know the prices and had a lot of other projects on my plate, I didn't pick it up then either. Nonetheless, I think it's a good idea. I have heard a lot of peopl...
Read more

DUDE! Get On That Already!: Making a DIY Pot Rack

Image
You know those projects that have been hanging on your to-do list so long you barely recognize them as words anymore? Those things you leave shut tight behind a closed door hoping one day they will fix themselves or just disappear? Dude! Get On That Already! The challenge created by the good folks at Young House Love , to clean out those spaces that are filled with unfinished projects and un-used decor. Join in! What are you going to finish this week? --------------------- We started building a pot rack in MARCH! Took a few measurements, bought the supplies in April, started with the hole drilling, and there it sat waiting to be painted all summer long. Finally I got around to it the other day. So here's my step-by-step tutorial. Step 1: Take measurements. Decide where you want the thing to hang. Make sure it won't be hanging where anyone is likely to bang their head, nor block line of sight in the middle of a social common area. Remember that you need to measure this inclu...
Read more