Second half of last week’s update, from MaryG and Higg’s Bosun’s Mate:
Higgs then moved on to making me some raised bed planters I can work in from my wheelchair or scooter. He had been a professional machinist for many years, but never worked in wood. He started out small, with a plant stand for my little lemon tree, made out of two cedar fence planks:
Then he moved on to the raised bed boxes. They are at exactly the right height for me to reach, and there are two six-foot boxes and two four-foot boxes:
The structural parts are made of redwood two-by-fours and the side slats and top aprons are made of one-by-four spruce-pine furring strips stained red. They are lined with 6 ml. plastic to hold the dirt in and keep any of the stain or other substances in the wood away from the soil. They are gorgeous!
I have planted the two bigger ones with seeds directly – a heirloom blue corn that is supposed to be good for containers, some zinnias, some sunflowers, some green beans, butterfly-friendly Queen Anne’s lace and monarda, because we are on the Monarch migration route. I have started some seeds which will be transplanted into the smaller ones, along with tomatoes, when it gets a little warmer at night.We also made a strawberry patch in bags in the driveway, with Evie everbearing, Seascape, Tristan, and Quinalt among the varieties already started from bare roots bought online and a six pack and a couple of 4-inch pots bought at Lowes:
Higgs built the little table the big bag is on so everything is right at my level. I’ve started some seeds for heirloom alpine strawberries and a couple of other exotic varieties, but they haven’t come up yet.The latest project HBM just completed is this potting bench for me:
I’ve been really worried about water, as we are in a town that didn’t join the California Aqueduct when it started, because of right-wingers. Until this weekend the rainfall total for the entire winter was two-tenths of an inch. Total. Very scary. The city manager says there should be no problem or rationing because they get water from somewhere and have enough if we all conserve. They keep raising the price of water, though. My bills used to be maybe $35 a month and last summer it was up to $150 for the same quantities. Pulling the grass out of the back yard got it down to $100 and I have now pulled the plug on the front grass. Once it dries out, we’ll get it dug out and put water-saving landscaping in there, with paths of the same decomposed granite that we used in the backyard. The wheelchair and mobility scooter go over it pretty well. HBM’s next woodworking projects are an arbor for growing vines between the two big planters, a water feature, and a cover for the pool equipment.
Here north of Boston, we have a semi-sunny (north facing) kitchen window again, because the backdoor ‘porch’ roof collapsed under the weight of this winter’s snow and had to be professionally removed. The Boston Flower Show starts later this week… I may, at least, try to acquire a couple pots of ready-to-bloom daffodils and see if they can survive our cats’ attentions.
What’s going on in your gardens (gardening plans/dreams) this week?
Sunday Garden Chat: Southern California DreamingPost + Comments (61)