Pea Pods

We've got pea pods planted in pots and planter boxes in 4 different places around the garden and I've staggered the planting so that they won't all be ready to harvest at the same time. They all seem to be coming along well.

I like to pick the small and tender ones whenever I'm making a salad or stir fry but today i just tossed a few in some rice.

 Having grown up in the city with a front step that went right up to the sidewalk, it gives me great pleasure to have lots of lovely growing things around me. Sometimes the bird songs even begin to drown out the traffic noises here and I'm the closest to paradise that I've ever been. 

Setting up for sales with a power wheelchair

Once in a while I'd like to sell off some things I don't need and turn them into cash that I can continue to fund the studio and the garden with. I discovered yesterday that it's easier than I thought, it just takes a few more trips to get everything out to the curb, setting things up and putting it all away again. Just take your time and enjoy the process.

Carrying things with the power wheelchair can be awkward because you have one hand to carry stuff with and the other to drive with. I solved the problem by using TV trays instead of a big table, making an extra trip for the sign and using my wheelchair to push the bin in and out of the house. (just remember not to pack it with too many heavy things). You can do this, you'll just have to keep the cash in a nail apron or other small bag you can wear on yourself or your chair.

Having tried it with a few things I'm working out a plan for displaying paintings and selling those. It appeals to me that I grow the flowers, I paint the flowers and I can sell the paintings to buy more flowers to start the cycle again.

Gardens are all about growth, renewal and hope. We can all use a little more of that.

Picking Flowers and Painting in the Garden

Painting Butterflies to fund the garden improvements

I had a few white hooks with butterflies on them so I thought I'd give them a fresh paint job and see if I could sell them. The easiest and most direct way was simply to attach them to the arbor at the front of the garden with a small sign and see if that works. I'll keep you posted on the results.

Painting Projects for the Garden

The glider showed up so much better in the photos since we painted it white that I decided to do more of the furniture as well.

I was so inspired by the new look of things that I had this old planter box with trellis brought up from the back garden to paint up and use as the entrance to my little garden with climbing roses up the back and filled with all my strawberry plants for the winter. I can't wait to finish painting it and putting it all together. Yes, I'm considering having the Arbor painted and moved up too.

Green House Makeover for a window without a view

The inspiration for this project was that our dining room window looked out on the less than appetizing view of our overgrown side yard and the neighbors trash dumpsters.

We started with a stained glass window cling from a local home store which was under 25 dollars and 10 dollars worth of pine lumber which we used to build a shelf unit to insert into the window frame to give a home to flower vases and plants that we didn't have room for.

We haven't decided yet whether to stain or paint it and have decided to live with the raw wood while we decide. Whatever finish we choose we're very happy with the project so far and really happy with our new mealtime view.

Update on the container garden

What I'm enjoying most here is the 4 different types of lettuce.

The carrots need thinning but the onions and peas are fine for now.

Party in the fairy garden. My favorite part of this is the fairy and the gnome at the Tiki Bar. It just makes me laugh.

These strawberries were planted much later than the ones on the deck but they seem to be bearing well and should ripen soon.

  The trellis is beginning to disappear behind the pea pods.

  Here we've got more lettuce, carrots and peas.

Hardscape

 I love the way the roses in my border dominate this view of my house and ramp.

We're still packing down the gravel on my shortcut to the garden area. This path will eventually be bordered on each side with hosta. As you can see there's a lot of shade in this area which limits the varieties of plants that I can use here. Lucky for me, we've got a LOT of that hosta so the only cost we've got for this project is the gravel.

Eventually we'll be building an arbor and planters to make my little container garden a very separate space from the rest of the driveway. We're also going to address the privacy issue to make it seem a bit more secluded.

Even just as it is it's a nice place to enjoy a cup of coffee or tea and each year it will get better and better.

Back Yard Bird Nests

Harvesting Lunch and Enjoying the Garden

I couldn't resist snacking on some ripe strawberries as I went out the front door this morning...and stopping to admire the roses on the way to my little veggie garden. We lingered over coffee and worked on a few projects before cutting a mixture of lettuces for lunch.

These are in our front border and wandering a few other places as well.

It's kind of handy to have the lettuce next to the chair and hardly like work at all to pick some.

The radishes failed this year but I believe in second chances and the flowers are so pretty that I'll try saving seed and seeing if I have better luck with that.

Painting the glider

Well, It's been black, blue and green over the years but I'm opting for a bright, clean, satin white finish this time. it will make it show up better in tea and garden photos.

I may eventually add a bit of color by painting the flowers on it but for now I'm just enjoying the glider as it is now.

Amazing 36 INCH art studio

People living in small places are bound to like this idea for studio shelving built in a weekend for just over thirty dollars. The small plastic bins were purchased at a a dollar store and pine lumber was purchase at a local lumberyard. 

This unit is 33 inches wide and 36 inches tall but you can make yours to fit any size space that you have available. You can save even more money if you're working with salvaged materials.

This houses my colored pencils, paints, brushes, canvas panels, rags, sponges and pallet knives. Everything I need in one easy location.

You can get more details on the actual build on Doug's blog.

In the middle of this table is a fairy garden that becomes a bit funnier all of the time. It's now got a little party going on in it with gnomes and a fairy at the bar and a few turtles wandering around the place.

Many of these small pots were transplanted into larger planters so that should clear off this table a bit and make it more useable at tea time.