Photos: House Yard and South Lot
Mar. 3rd, 2025 03:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThese pictures are from Sunday, but it's after midnight so the timestamp will say Monday. See the savanna and house yard.
( Walk with me ... )
( Walk with me ... )
ysabetwordsmith
Photos: Testing Pens on Plant Labels
Jan. 3rd, 2025 08:10 pmysabetwordsmithThis set of photos begins documenting an experiment to see which type of pen will prove most durable for outdoor plant labels. I also took a few pictures around the yard, as long as I was out there with the camera.
( Walk with me ... )
( Walk with me ... )
Winter Seed Starting
Feb. 16th, 2023 02:27 pmdarkcedarsI am trying out a winter seed starting idea - milk jugs to winter start hardier seeds outside. The seeds should start growing when it's time but be protected from the worst swings. Details here: Penn State Extension.
Tried with: magnolia tendril peas, parsley, purple coneflower, calendula, sunflower.
The last two I'm more uncertain about but the first three should be fine. The coneflower is native and I planted others in fall, both the parsley and peas said to plant well before end of frost.
I always have sown in place, but last year spring was so cold and late I had a lot of failures. I have a little indoor seed starting kit as well.
Tried with: magnolia tendril peas, parsley, purple coneflower, calendula, sunflower.
The last two I'm more uncertain about but the first three should be fine. The coneflower is native and I planted others in fall, both the parsley and peas said to plant well before end of frost.
I always have sown in place, but last year spring was so cold and late I had a lot of failures. I have a little indoor seed starting kit as well.
Operation Graywater
May. 11th, 2011 10:22 pmdaidoji_giseiCrossposted from my journal.
My clothes washer is one of those little jobbies that has one hose you hook up to your kitchen faucet to pour water in and another you put in the sink for the water to drain out of. The water that drains out is graywater, water that has been used for something and is no longer drinkable. I have never given it much thought, but over the winter I came across a mention of someone using it to water her garden with. This got me thinking about the water I was pouring down the drain from my laundry, and the fact that I was already hand-carrying my water, one watering can at a time, to water my own garden. (When I do water my garden, that is. Not having a hose and sprinkler has made me a big fan of dryland agriculture.)
My bakery gets oil in 35# jugs, which holds about 30 pounds of water. I rounded up 4 of them and tonight I started my experiment in irrigation. After two loads of laundry I have determined that at its maximum fill my washing machine holds about 90# of water, or approximately 11 gallons. This completely fills 3 jugs, though partially filling 4 jugs works a little better because they are easier to carry. (I guess I should mention here that I am on the second floor, so I need to carry the jugs out of my kitchen, down the stairs, and out to the garden.) If I continue with this I expect that I will build up those muscles even more, allowing me to carry the full ones with less strain.
It will be interesting to see if I stick with this. Using my graywater will allow me to water my garden more often and more deeply without increasing my water usage, surely a win-win. Also, I am pretty sure hauling around 30# of water counts as a core-strengthening exercise: another benefit.
My clothes washer is one of those little jobbies that has one hose you hook up to your kitchen faucet to pour water in and another you put in the sink for the water to drain out of. The water that drains out is graywater, water that has been used for something and is no longer drinkable. I have never given it much thought, but over the winter I came across a mention of someone using it to water her garden with. This got me thinking about the water I was pouring down the drain from my laundry, and the fact that I was already hand-carrying my water, one watering can at a time, to water my own garden. (When I do water my garden, that is. Not having a hose and sprinkler has made me a big fan of dryland agriculture.)
My bakery gets oil in 35# jugs, which holds about 30 pounds of water. I rounded up 4 of them and tonight I started my experiment in irrigation. After two loads of laundry I have determined that at its maximum fill my washing machine holds about 90# of water, or approximately 11 gallons. This completely fills 3 jugs, though partially filling 4 jugs works a little better because they are easier to carry. (I guess I should mention here that I am on the second floor, so I need to carry the jugs out of my kitchen, down the stairs, and out to the garden.) If I continue with this I expect that I will build up those muscles even more, allowing me to carry the full ones with less strain.
It will be interesting to see if I stick with this. Using my graywater will allow me to water my garden more often and more deeply without increasing my water usage, surely a win-win. Also, I am pretty sure hauling around 30# of water counts as a core-strengthening exercise: another benefit.
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My latest gardening experiment
Apr. 13th, 2010 10:52 amkatemonkey
I knitted a small hanging planter to go on my fence.
Because most of my back garden is concrete, I need to use a lot of nontraditional concepts for gardening. I could do the traditional hanging baskets, but I can knit, and I had twine, and I wanted to see what was possible.
It had a plastic bag as the liner, with a hole in the bottom for drainage.
I don't know how long it'll last. I'm assuming it won't last through a harsh winter, but, to be fair, I doubt the plant will last past the first frost either.
So, if it works, I'll write it up as a knitting pattern. And I'll make a bunch for all over my fence and plant a lot of long trailing basket-based flowers. Or strawberries - I'm thinking strawberries could be a really interesting thing to put into something like this.
(I also love the fact that I can cross-post this in
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knitting as well as gardening...)Edit: You can find the pattern on my site now.
