Repurposing a Patio Table into a Bench

When the Hubby said he was going to repurpose the patio table that's been sitting in the back of the yard serving no purpose of any kind for over twenty years into a bench, I had no clue what he was talking about.  A bench?  Um, okay....  Have fun, honey...

Not only did he pull it off, but he used all but one piece of the table doing it.  All the pieces used are in their original condition.  Nothing had to be shortened down or resized in any way, so there was no waste.  He even reused the screws.  I can't believe how perfectly it fit on the deck.

 

The deck, by the way, was also made by my Hubby and his dad out of wood we picked up for free on Craigslist.  The boxes with the peas are made from the as-is wood from Home Depot...I think maybe $2 of wood there.  The bistro set, you can only kind of see, was my friend's grandparents set.  The metal trellis the peas are climbing was also an as-is find from Ikea for about 25 cents.

 

See, you can have a very usable patio (it'll be prettier when I paint it with the Deck Restore paint I picked up at Home Depot on clearance for $10) without having to break the bank, or use pallets.

 

Kudos to my Hubby on the amazing job!

Garden Tour - June 23, 2014

For Mother's Day, my little one with the help of the Hubby, made me this stepping stone for my garden

I know we've been harvesting peas, sugar snap peas and strawberries, 

but waiting on the rest is making me nuts.

Notice the blanket of honeysuckle on the back fence?

And on the left...that's a raspberry bush that turned into a tree.

There are currently morning doves nesting in there.

These are store bought scallions.  I had then in a jar of water for a while.

They started looking bleh, so I stuck them in this pot and voila!  Back to life!

These are the flowers my peanut bought me at the Mother's Day Sale.

We decided to try the trellises vertical instead of horizontal.

My dear, sweet husband patiently used twine to help train them to climb up and not out.

Notice behind them, those are the Roses of Sharon he transplanted, also upon my request.

I'd like to have a barrier between us and the neighbors.  They're nice, but I'd like more privacy.

These suckers grow tall and spread, out.  Nice, free, natural fence.  Much prettier than vinyl.

We already have some cucumbers growing.

I love how bright yellow cucumber flowers are.

We did the same thing with the cantaloupe.  

Ignore the blue barrel.  It was supposed to be a rain barrel, but now that we have two,

I'm not sure what to do with this just yet.

String beans.  I had issues starting them, so I threw some in the ground and simply hoped for the best.

I think I'm having some flea issue with the eggplant, thus the little holes.

I've read that coffee grounds deter them, so I've been saving them up.  

I used to just go to Starbucks, but they've been a pain about giving them out.

What's that I see?  A tomato?  Finally!

My little seedlings are now quite tall and flowering.  I grew a lot less tomatoes this year.

I'm hoping that was a good decision.  Time will tell.

You know I hate to use and/or buy commercial bug deterrents.  Unfortunately, it became clear that

I would lose all of my broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage seedlings if I did not use something.

Mother Earth Magazine, as well as a lot of organic gardening sites, recommended BT, so I caved and bought some.  I have to say, I was impressed at how quickly it stopped my poor seedlings from being eaten.

They say planting onions near them helps, but it didn't seem to help us at all.

I'm curious to see if growing my own savoy cabbage is worth the space it takes in the garden.

I didn't do it on purpose, but somehow my zucchini are growing in succession.

The one on the right is obviously the biggest, while the one furthest on the left is still tiny.

The bell pepper plants are still very small, but getting bigger everyday.

These four kale plants have produced so much kale I can't even explain.

For those of you that think of kale as tough and bitter...grow your own.  It's a whole different world.

The sugar snap peas are literally seven feet tall.  I need a step stool to pick them.

The corn is growing very.....slowly.......

See these pretty potato flowers?

Well, they vanished.  And the potatoes don't seem to be growing anymore.

The strawberries continue to grow steadily.  The Peanut picks a cup's worth everyday.

Harvest Time - June 5, 2014

We picked some strawberries today.  The Peanut ate all the big ones, but was nice enough to share the small ones.  Apparently, she felt entitled to the bigger ones because it's her strawberry patch.  You know, the one I planted, I weed, I water and I maintain.  Yeesh.

 

 

We have a lot more strawberries waiting to fully ripen and be picked. 

There are definitely more strawberries growing this season than ever before.

 

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We should've picked peas, but that can wait for the weekend.

 

 

This spinach started to bolt, so we had some at dinner.

 

The other ones haven't bolted yet, but I'll have to keep an eye on them.

 

I am a little concerned with what's going on with the weather.

Last year, June 16, 2013 the garden was doing a lot more.

Same with the garden on June 16, 2012.

June 28, 2011 wasn't that impressive, but slightly better than this year.

 

I think it's this weather.  It's been colder longer than usual.

Fingers crossed that this gardening season improves.