Radishes!

We have our first crop ever!
June 5th we picked our first radishes and have been eating on them since. This is the first thing we have ever planted from seed that grew into something we could eat. I never knew radishes were so juicy.

Grass Removal - Xeriscape

Our next project was removing the small patch of grass in the front yard that was between the houses. It was such a waste of water and time trying to keep it alive - so it had to go.

Apparently, I never took a picture of this patch of grass at any point since we moved in, so I don't have a before picture. I suppose that everyone knows what grass looks like though.

Almost Done.

We removed it all just using a shovel and muscles!

Donnie supplied both the shovel and the muscles!

 

I rolled the sod.

 

Here is the patch after the grass was removed.

 

Here is the patch after we added some perennials, mulch, and flagstone.

What a difference!

Cabbage Bandit Struck Again!

We weren't too worried when all of the starter cabbage plants from the second batch disappeared, because we had started cabbage in the first set too and they were doing great. Unfortunately, it appears that home grown cabbage this year is not meant to be.

 

Before - taken 2 weeks ago

After - taken last night

The culprit's response: feigning innocence

She snuck off the patio while I was working in the front yard and again, didn't touch any other plant - only the cabbage!

Spring is Here

This week saw a lot of changes. 

We finally got all of our starters planted, sowed more seeds, and spread a truckload of mulch.

These are all the starters, peppers mostly, that didn't fit in our garden beds. I just can't bear the thought of throwing away the little plants and since I have all of the containers from when we were container gardening at the apartment, I might as well put them to good use. 

Our first radishes have come up! Weeding and thinning to come. . .

 The landscaping on the east side of the house is now complete!

 

Along the back fence is also done.

The apple trees are in bloom. 

We are pretty sure the April snows killed the blooms off the apricot trees and probably the cherry tree, but the apples don't appear to have been affected.

Our first honeybee of the year!

Cabbage Houdini

Our cabbage plants have disappeared . . .

One guess as to where they went:

This picture was taken the day before, so I am guessing this was when Lucy was scouting out her favorite treats. 

She is definitely a German dog: she didn't touch any of the other plants - just the cabbage.

Patio Update

We are Done! (...well almost)

Anticipating the last snowstorm we worked pretty much non-stop from Friday through Tuesday, finishing just in time for the snow. During the weekend though the weather was beautiful, so we couldn't ask for more.

Here are some pictures of the progress: 

Getting the road base compacted and level. 

The stone cutter we borrowed (up front) made cutting and fitting the stone a breeze.

Lucy making sure that the patio is aligned correctly for sun bathing.

We are now ready for sand and then we can finally start laying the brick.

Leveling and laying the brick. 

Getting the colors to flow how we wanted was half the battle.

Finished!

We still need to add the step and finish the corners, but other than that we are done. What a wonderful feeling. It was definitely worth the work! 

(May this last a very, very long time so that we don't have to do it again anytime soon.)

Backyard Hobby Farm: Spring 2013 - Patio

Colorado has seen a very warm spring this year, which has made it hard to stay indoors. We are antsy to start playing with plants and get to work on the backyard.

 Here is a current picture of what we have to work with:

 

As you can see, we have a lot of clay. It may not look like it from this picture, but we actually did quite a bit of work in the last year. We now have the framework set and are ready to see the visual transformations occur this year. 

The next big project on our list is getting the patio laid. 

Three weeks ago we were finally ready to start. We made sure we had time in our schedules, calculated what we needed, and ordered the brick. It was delivered a few days later and were ready to go. Until the bad weather set in. So we waited.

After a few sunny days, the snow melted and the mud dried. We were ready again! Two weekends ago we finally go our start. That Friday, Donnie dug the trench and completed the prep work. Saturday we worked all morning, took a break for lunch with family, and worked again all afternoon until after the sun went down. We were making progress! Sunday we woke up to chilly weather and up to 34mph winds. It was not a fun day to be working outside, but we kept at it. By that afternoon the retaining wall was finished and we were ready to add the layer of sand and lay the bricks. Then came the snow! So we waited, again.

This time the snow kept up for four days. There was no way we were going to work on the patio this weekend. It has now been warm for a couple of days, but it is still solid mud out back and we are expecting more snow tomorrow. So we continue to wait.

Here is what it looks as of last Sunday:

 

Hopefully we will be able to finish it next weekend, but mother nature may have other plans.