The Container Garden - May 21

The pear tree is starting to grow pears.

The lettuce and arugula really need to get transplanted!

The herbs are still growing nicely.

And we have strawberries!

So far one flower on the red patio tomato plant.

No flowers yet on the yellow tomato.

We have peas! Already!

The cucumber plants are growing some new leaves.

The beets are corn are getting bigger.

So far nothing happening with the avocado seed.

Here's the chiminea we picked up from Freecycle. Can you believe I crammed that thing into my little, two door Cavalier with my daughter and best friend in the back?

I finally have enough rock to level the base of the shed. Hopefully, once my hands get better and the weather is nice for more than two days in a row, I'll be able to get that shed up.

The Container Garden - May 14

Lots of flowers on our strawberry plants.

The lettuce and arugala are getting bigger everyday.

The beet seeds from the Expired Seed Experiment are growing!

As is the corn.

I even decided to try to grow an avacado tree. If it takes, I'll move it into a pot that I can bring indoors during the winter.

The Container Garden - May 7

I am very behind on my blogging, so I'm playing catch up with the garden photos. So far the patio tomato plant is looking good.

As is the yellow pear tomato plant.

The patio wonder peas are kind of unruly and I'm having a hard time getting them to climb instead of laying down.


The cucumbers are also doing well in their new roomier pot.

This pear tree was suppose to be a dwarf...it grew well over ten feet tall. I read up on the proper shape and pruning of fruit trees and decided to lop off the top. I wound up cutting off a lot of flowers, but I think the tree will be better for it, especially since the bigger it got the fewer pears seemed to grow.

I've never had much luck with regular basil. Usually it would grow really great, then die a week later. So I've decided to give the spicy globe basil a try.

I was going to do a rosemary topiary, but decided to go with a regular lower-maintenance option.

Never tried sage before, let's see how it does.

I've never used summer savory in anything, but the description on the label looked like it would be a great addition to our herb garden.

I can never find Thai basil anywhere, so why not grow it myself?

I use a lot of thyme, hopefully this one plant will be enough.

Look at the pretty flowers on my strawberry plants!

The Expired Seed Experiment is way more successful than I ever expected. I have several hundred lettuce and arugula plants growing...that should be interesting...

And the beets are starting to sprout.

Still nothing going on with the corn, carrots or spinach, but it's still early.

Tiling is Almost Complete!

May 6, the contractor laid down the HardiBacker and sealed the joints with tape and thinset.

May 8, my dear friend Linda came by and started laying down the 18" x 18" Dal-Tile Passagio Sarano Brown porcelain tile.

May 19, Linda stood in the rain and cut the tiles with the tile saw I rented from Home Depot that had a dull blade while Carol and I laid the tiles down. Apparently, they had a brand new machine there, but gave me the old crappy one instead. One of the many, many reasons I hate Home Depot. Anyway, they threw in the towel around 6pm, and I stayed up till 2am finishing up.

Last night, I stayed up until 2am again grouting the floor.


There's still a little hazing, so I'm going to mop it down with a vinegar water solution (I've read over at The John Bridge Forums...def the place to go for tile help...to use anything from straight vinegar to a 1:1 mix depending on how bad the haze is. Also, don't let the vinegar sit around on the tile b/c it'll eat away at the grout. If you've used straight vinegar, it's a good idea to follow with a 1:10 ammonia to water mix afterwards to neutralize).

Then in three days I can seal the grout and we'll be done! Well, with the floor anyway.

My one tip to DIY tilers is to make sure you have tons of buckets. Hosing down buckets of thinset and grout isn't fun.

Our Container Garden Begins

I haven't been blogging lately. Too busy. I'm getting old. I was laying tiles yesterday, and now my whole body aches. Yeeesh. Anyway, now I'm playing catch up.

April 25, our Container Garden begins. Last year I bought these huge terra cotta planters from IKEA for $5. I wish I had bought more! I didn't realize they were $20+ at regular stores. Oh well.

We planted Red Patio Tomotoes.

Little Yellow Bell Tomotoes



Patio Wonder Peas



We also had a ton of expired seed packets. Half from 1998 and the other half from 2001. So, on my mother with the most unbelieveable green thumbs suggestion, I dumped them all into various pots to see what would grow. (Did you notice how nicely the strawberry plants in the blue pot are growing!)