Garden Photos, strawberries, raspberries and tulips

The strawberries I planted a few days ago are starting to green up and settle in.

 It won't be long before they're looking as nice as that one that was left over from last year.

Here are the strawberries that I planted yesterday. They don't look like much yet but should be nice next month.

 The raspberries are headed for the neighbors again. It's surprising how quick they run away if you don't watch them. When I traced it back to the spot it was growing from it was about ten feet long.

I need to head back out there with some pruners...or maybe a machete...

I'm waiting for these tulips to bloom so I can do a series of drawings or watercolors of them in case they don't survive the move when I dig this mess up and try once more to get these plants separated and transplanted to better locations.

The most unusual horse yet

Today's Dala Horse

This is the first time I've tried painting a Dala horse quite this shape. Thanks to my friend Ron for cutting it out for me.

This shape seems to have a spirit and personality all it's own even when painted with designs that I have used before. I started a new store today for the more traditional dala horse designs.
http://www.zazzle.com/dalahorse*  

How to plant strawberries. The strawberries came in the mail, now what?

Here are 25 plants just as they came out of the box. It doesn't look like much does it?

 Take a deep breath, relax and remove the rubber band. You'll find the plants are easier to separate.

 Grab one and trim a tiny bit of the roots at the bottom. At the top of the plant you can trim off a couple of dead, brown looking stems and you'll begin to see there's really a live, green plant there so put the roots into a dish of water with the plant itself staying above the water line while you do the rest of them.

 It should look like this

It doesn't look like much yet, does it?

Believe it or not, this is all 25 plants and they will be enough to fill that whole four by four foot planter box in my garden. These will be going into the recycled plastic box next to the new cedar box that we put in last weekend.
The only other thing you need to know at this point is not to bury them to deep. Only the roots go in the ground, don't let the dirt come up over the plant itself.

A tangled mess with roses and tulips

I've been trying for years to get these plants apart but there's a lot more to do. I try to save all of the plants and move them to better locations but it looks like I'll have to try an approach that's as aggressive as these plants are in order to solve the problem.

Bird on the brush pile, trimmings from the raspberry patch and roses

I'm glad that we lice in a city that allows backyard campfires because this mess will disappear quickly when we get a chance to burn it.

The neighbors think we're a bit odd but we always cook dinner in the campfire when we're having one.  It makes things more fun and nothing goes to waste. The ashes get stirred into the gravel around the campfire area to keep the weeds down.

The lilies are back and wandering into the studio

I've been digging these out for years, giving a lot of them away and transplanting the rest to the borders around my yard.

They're so tight to the foundation of this building that I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that a few have tried to slip in under the door again.

This situation needs attention but I want to get the rest of the food planted first. Aside from the seed there are black raspberry bushes that need to be moved.

The latest look at that new planter box and plans for the old one

I did add that last strawberry plant from my old planter box so that I can rehab the old box and get that ready to plant too.

Actually there are 2 old planter boxes that need work. Yes, I'll be working on the easiest one first.

This one up against the fence was a bad idea. There's a driveway there and the neighbors have about a half dozen cars that are in and out all of the time. Clearly I don't want to grow my dinner there so I'll be digging this one out and relocating it to be filled with new, clean and safe soil. It will be planted with the rest of my carrot seed and peas along with whatever else will fit in it.

Project updates and a quick tour of the worktable

Some of the finished pieces are getting a few coats of polyurethane to make them more durable and ready to be displayed, sold or given as gifts.

 I've decided to change 2 of the edges of the horse head design tools that I've been inventing. I had hoped that they'd stay together and be used as a set but it looks like they'll be separated and need to stand on their own. That will affect the patterns that each will need to have on it to be effective.

I'm also experimenting with some other shapes of Dala Horses.

The square box will be covered with more Dala horse design ideas and be part of a set with one of the horse heads inside it. I'm looking for 2 more boxes that size for the other two design tools.

The ideas just keep on coming and I look forward to seeing whether they'll take the form of a book, instruction sheets, patterns, classes or a video...maybe all of the above. You just never know...

Taming the roses that ran away, getting a fresh start

As you can see some of the climbing roses have run around the front yard and a few have run through the back yard as well.

The biggest concern was the ones that had gotten around the air conditioner. I got some help digging them out carefully so that none of the power lines and other mechanics would be damaged.

Some of the roses couldn't be saved but there were a few with good, strong root systems so we transplanted them to the trellis on the new planter box.

As always the walker comes in handy for a place to sit and rest as well as a way to move myself ad the things I need around the garden.

When I got all of the roses planted we spread a little wildflower seed around them.

As you may have noticed by now, I just can't leave bare soil alone and I want to cover the whole world with flowers to cheer everyone up and keep their minds off their troubles.

Yes, I realize how crazy that sounds but artist's aren't always sensible or ordinary and I like to think that the world is a better place because of that.

Easy ways to sow seed in the flower garden even if you have limited mobility

My best friend in the garden these days is the old dandelion weeder. The handle is just the right height to use as a walking stick or a cane and the weeding tip makes getting across grass and uneven ground easier and safer. The other thing that really helps is making sure you've got somewhere to sit and rest up near your work area so that you don't have to walk too far or be on your feet too long.

An odd assortment of rakes, weeders and cultivators come in handy.

I started by raking out this old lily border then using a little weeder here and there. With the soil around the lilies stirred up a bit I was ready to start planting seed.

 I began with a mix of wildflower seeds, dropping and spreading them about with one of the weeders. That whole process stirred them in a bit and got the border off to a good start.

The next step was to poke my little dandelion weeder in the ground here and there to make some holes to plant the sunflowers in and then drew it across them to cover the seed. This is going to be a pretty wild border because on top of all of that I surface seeded poppies.

Planter box,trellis, strawberries, cucumbers, peas, lettuce, carrots and radishes in a small space

I got some help filling this and attaching the trellis. The climbing roses will be planted at the base of it and the box itself has been filled with strawberries and topped with a cover to keep some of the larger animals from bothering them until the plants have a chance to get established well enough that we don't have to worry about anything pulling them out.

The roses will be planted in the ground outside the box so on the inside of the trellis I planted a few peas and cucumbers.

Around the other three sides of the planter I put in lettuce, carrots and radishes. This box will be crowded when all of the plants get going good but if it's really full of good plants there's less room left for weeds.

I've always over planted and have had pretty good luck with it. Some years are better than others but that's usually because of the weather or my choices of plant varieties. I'm trying several new ones this year so I'm looking forward to seeing how everything works out this season.

Building Planter Boxes

We've built a lot of planter boxes over the years and the easiest and fastest yet was this kit from Suncast. it's cedar and should hold up well even in our colder climate.

This planter was made of recycled plastic and is quite a few years old. As you can see the sides are beginning to bow out from the weight of the soil and only one strawberry plant survives there.

The new cedar box is a bit larger but will look fine with the rest of the boxes in the garden someday when I'm able  to get nice paths put in between them. Eventually I'll be putting siding around them to match the house but this will do for now.

That trellis will be added to the side of the planter facing the yard and I'll be putting climbing roses at the base of it. The roses will encourage the bees to come and visit the berries and it will make it nice to look at from the patio.

Getting around with the walker means it's going to take me a bit longer to fill the box and get the plants in but the weather is beautiful today and I'll get back to it as soon as I finish my coffee. Most of the time I just put the bucket on the seat of my walker and drag the shovel behind me. If you've got a better method for getting the job done I'd love to hear about it so be sure to comment when you finish reading this.

The first look at the back yard

As you can see there's a lot to do around here this year. That new trellis is part of the planter box kit we're building for thre new strawberry plants.

This bunch of volunteer trees are taking over a shady corner of the yard and I'll have to do battle with that soon. So far I've just offered the oaks, maples and walnuts to some of the neighbors. Maybe I'll get lucky and all these silly little trees will be off to new homes and out of my way.

Yes, there's a lot of clean up to be done and I'm looking forward to using that campfire ring again. Thank goodness we covered it last year so everything wouldn't be wet the next time we used it.

There's quite a bit  of firewood left in spite of the fact that I often share it with the neighbors around here that don't have trees in their yards.

I'm making progress on that new planter box and am really looking forward to getting all of the strawberry plants out of the crisper drawer in the kitchen.

Keep reading, things are bound to get interesting here soon.

The first day of gardening with my walker

The first thing I noticed is that the walker needs better tires because it kept getting hung up in the tall grass. It was nice to be outdoors again and we put together a new planter box with a trellis from a kit. it went together pretty fast and easy and it was on sale so it was actually cheaper than buying cedar lumber and building it ourselves from scratch.

Filling it will be a different story, keeping the walker nearby as I fill the bottom of the planter box with brush and other stuff that needed to be cleaned out of the garden anyway. I alternate layers of plant debris and soil in the bottom of the planter box to help fill things us a bit before adding the good, new garden soil and my plants.

At the rate I'm moving it will take most of the week to finish this project but I am determined to get it done and would much rather do this than go to physical therapy.

I'm getting exercise either way and I'd rather grow strawberries than run up bills. Wouldn't you?

I also stopped to pull a few weeds and prune off some of the old raspberry canes, it felt great to be out in the garden again and I'm looking forward to the rest of the season. Aren't you?

Project updates

I continue cleaning and organizing the workroom and spend a lot of the day at the computer putting my artwork on products at Zazzle.
Letters get a lot of drawing and painting on borders and envelopes and I'm still painting Dala Horses as I continue designing them and am writing instructions for some of the designs that will either be used in my classes or become part of a "how to" book or video.

As always "my projects have projects"

Happy painting !

Granny Square Afghan

This is an old picture. By the time I finished it today I didn't have time to take a picture. I had put a wide white border around the edge after the blue rows. This one is on it's way to the Veteran's Home.
We make them all different sizes depending on the size and condition of the people we're making them for. (smaller one's for the amputees etc.)