21 April 2008

Spring has truly arrived, and with it, we've got mushrooms!



I love mushrooms, for some reason.

This weekend was another busy one. On Saturday, my sister came in to town to pick up the rest of her things from our basement. We enlisted her help in getting the last load of concrete block for our raised beds, and Aaron also grabbed another load of compost. We've figured out that we need approximately two more truck loads and we'll be done building the raised beds.



As you can see, there are now two levels of block on the beds. The front three and the back left bed still need more compost, while the back two that are covered with plastic are full of compost and have been planted (seeded?). They are currently covered with some plastic which will be going up on those hoops to create mini-greenhouses. All of the parts are reusable so we can use them next spring, and the one after, and the one after.



The pipe goes into wooden blocks cut to fit into the concrete blocks (go Aaron!) in order to make them more sturdy. The wood was scrap lumber, but the pipes had to be bought new. They will be used again (as I mentioned), so at least it isn't a complete waste. We need to buy some sort of t-fitting and stick some rigid pipe in between the two hoops and then place that plastic over the top.

I'm hoping when I design the rabbit hutch, I will be able to utilize round poles or dowels that will go into those blocks in order to keep the hutch steady. Unfortunately, I think the size difference from bed to bed in the way the holes were cut will make that impossible. I'm still trying to come up with a good flexible system.

Oh, I've companion planting planned all of the beds and the holes around the beds will be host to marigolds, nastartium, herbs, and other great companion plants.

Fortunately, the weekend wasn't all work (although I did lose two pounds just from all the shoveling of that compost).



Aaron and I enjoyed some time in our hammock. Aaron & Jen trivia - I bought Aaron this hammock for father's day last year, and it is where he proposed to me.



Nate also got his first ever bike ride. He was extremely excited and refused to get off. Unfortunately, we don't have training wheels, so it meant that Aaron had to wheel him around for quite a bit of time. They both had a blast!

How was your weekend?

Labels: gardening, mommy blogging, outdoors, random