So I decided I need a new hobby, not just home renovation. Max has beer brewing which he loves. Surprisingly because I started him on it three years ago from buying him a Mr. Beer kit for his 26th birthday. And by the way, and he swears by this, don't buy Mr. Beer! He upgraded to a kit from a local store
Northern Brewer and it makes delicious, delicious beer fitting of the finest Wisconsinite. Anyways, this makes me want a new hobby.
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| Max's first beer kit |
I have always liked the "green" movement. I blame it on a book I got at our yearly elementary school library Scholastic book fair in the early 1990s.
50 Simple Things Kids Can Do To Save The Earth (and I'm happy they are still revising and printing it) was sort of a guide book for me. I'm sure I annoyed my Mom with their tips. Since we have started looking for houses, I have been in overdrive on how I want to green our home. I already recycle, use reusable grocery bags and try to reuse something before I throw it away (recycle, reduce, reuse). Things I want to start now are composting (Max and I are in a huge debate about it, he wants a trash compactor instead), a rain barrel and organic gardening (aka my new hobby). I got him on board with the rain barrel after a trip to
Stein's Garden and Gifts and showed him how attractive and functional they can actually be.
I decided to be a true hobby, you have to start the garden from seeds. So I get mostly organic seeds (couldn't find two organic ones), organic compost mulch (hmm is that where the composting comes in Max?) and some seedling trays. After reading each of packets and which ones need to be started before they are planted and which ones should go straight into the ground, I was in business. Below is the area I plan to take over for the garden. It is an odd spot behind the house and the garage. Luckily for the energy company, they read meters electronically now.
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| My perfect garden space |
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| Future edible goodness |
Here are some of the hostas my Mom identified this last weekend. From the looks of it, they are basically a wall of flowers and I'll have to fill some of them by breaking the plants up and adding other fillers (since all one plant type is super boring).
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| Hostas |
Another gardening project is to remove this behemouth that I like to call "The Monster". We aren't quite sure if it is a bush that is way overgrown or an Evergreen tree that was cut at the base. Either way, this thing has got to go. It is literally choking out the juniper bush next to it. Esh!
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| "The Monster" |
The third major project we have is regrading most of the lawn. We learned from the inspector that the sewer lines were recently replaced (yay us) but no one regraded and fixed the lawn (boo us). So that is a weekend in itself.
Turk is slowly trying to get used to his new dog lead. Each day he gets a little farther off the step into the lawn. He's even pooping on the lead! Sounds stupid but Turk can be kindof scared of the world sometimes.
Awesome "green"-ing, Mo! My mom would be thrilled that you're gardening AND growing your own organic veggies! Awesome! Hostas are shade plants so that's nice that you have so many to break up and spread about. Well done, girl--I'm excited to see how things turn out! Oh and tell Max: Compost pile is where it's at! It may be smelly, but it's so good for the environment and so rewarding. Plus, it saves space inside and you don't have to worry about spending money on it; just put stuff in a pile & there you go! :)
ReplyDeleteKalin- I read about doing a garbage can compost with a giant 30 gallon garbage can and you just drill little holes all over it. I plan on trying that and just stirring it with a pitch fork.
ReplyDeletePat and I enjoyed the discovery process this spring as new plants came out of the ground. I really just need to sit down and map out the yard so we remember what is out there. We also planted today in a community garden since we weren't sure about ripping up our yard for a garden yet.
ReplyDeleteI made a compost bin following directions from younghouselove. I got a rubbermaid container and had Sean drill some holes in it! Easy enough, and it's nice to have a cover that clips on (and stays on) to ward off the curious creatures in our backyard!
ReplyDeleteWont the meter reader stomp all over whatever you plant in your "perfect space?"
ReplyDeleteThe meters are set up to be read off-site. So no worries!
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