Greenhouse turned Shadehouse

We planted Morning Glories along one side of the greenhouse and tied bailer twine from ground anchors to the top of the greenhouse roof.  The plants just found their way - and once they reached the top, they grew downwards.

Bathtub "Upcycling"

Here is a relatively quick garden project - literally done in one afternoon - with just minimal help from some strong guys:  create a small pond from an old discarded cast iron bathtub.

We did have all the necessary supplies:

• cast iron bathtub
• fiberglass resin and reinforcement cloth
• left over spray paint in shades of black, brown or dark green
• pond pump and access to electricity 
• spade shovel and digging iron
• slate or other larger stones
• water hose
• optional: fountain and goldfish

Our project was not planned at all.  It started out with us cleaning up all the junk metal to be taken for recycling.  Among those metal pieces was our old bathtub, which we had taken out when we installed the whirlpool tub. Later that day, as I was weeding a flower bed, I was bothered once again by the fact that our pretty "pouring-lady" fountain really should be put back to use, rather than just leaning against a tree stump.  I mentioned this frustration to Jeff, who suggested re-using the old bathtub.

We had a perfect spot already, in the extended herb garden on the side of the house.  I carried the "lady" fountain to this area and we experimented with the perfect position.  Once we determined where the pond should be, I started digging a hole that looked suspiciously like a grave, while the guys (Jeff, Jens and Lars) where doing manly things, fortunately involving the tractor.  

They brought the tub over (with the tractor) and used fiberglass to close the drain and the hole for the faucet. It did not take that long to dig down 30 inches for a 3ft by 5ft hole and as soon as I had this done, the fiberglass had dried.  The guys brought the tractor back and we used it to lift the the bathtub, which Jens helped guide into the hole.  

We leveled the tub, which just took a few smaller rocks, and then I back-filled around the tub with the help of a digging bar to get the dirt into all the cracks.  I used the other end of the bar to pound the dirt tight around the tub.  

I found several nearly empty cans of spray-paint, all conveniently in shades of camouflage, and spray- painted the tub in a muddled pattern.  I was careful to keep the top edge very solid dark, so that no white would show once it is filled with water. 

While the paint was drying, I gathered a stack of slates (we have a rather large rock pile, including slate from my previous pond at our old house). It took a while to arrange the slates and smaller rocks around the tub, to disguise it's shape, and make it look more like a pond...it's kind of like a puzzle - to make odd shaped rocks fit together.

Jeff helped connect the pump to the fountain (which took some finesse), and then I filled the pond and planted more herbs and some flowers around it.  By Sunday evening, the "lady" was pouring water into the little pond and it looked like it had always been there! 

Backyard Spring Cleaning

We transformed the back porch from its winter purpose of covered fire-wood storage back to our summer sitting area - complete with flowers and mulch. That took some serious muscle, as left-over firewood had to be moved back to the wood pile and re-stacked. We scrubbed and swept until it was "back to normal" and then brought out the patio furniture.

This weekend was also perfect for cleaning the backyard flower beds and doing some serious lawn-mowing.  Though it was pretty cold:  by Sunday afternoon I needed two seatshirts and a travel mug with hot coffee to stay warm on the riding mower.

Getting Ready for Springflowers

Today I filled up the first wheelbarrow load of weeds for 2013! After the snowy weather on Saturday, I felt like cleaning up the herb garden and planting some pansies.  A lot of the herbs needed to be trimmed back, which generated the bulk of my wheelbarrow load.  A surprising number of daffodils were already poking through in between the herbs. It will look pretty in just a few weeks when they bloom!

I also moved the overwintered geraniums from their make-shift shelter in the barn.  We had pulled out all the geraniums in the fall and put them into pots on a large table at the back corner of the barn. The downstairs of the barn stays relatively warm with all the thick stone walls.  We covered the table with plastic sheeting and then placed two lamps, with the light bulbs pointing upward, underneath the table.  The two light bulbs supplied the only heat throughout the winter, but it must have worked, as only 2 out of 32 plants did not survive, though some of the plants looked pretty rough.  I trimmed all the dead leaves off the plants, watered them thoroughly and placed them on a table by the large window in the barn.

Visit to PA Garden Expo

Had a great time visiting the Garden Expo at the Farm Show Building this evening with Gracie. We met after work (for me it was just a stop on my way home) - and they offered a reduced $5 after 5 rate, which is pretty reasonable :)

Some of the landscape exhibits were remarkably elaborate, considering they were all set up inside just for this event.  All of them featured outdoor kitchens, and outdoor fire pits or fireplaces.  Some had extensive stonework - and most had water features. Ponds, streams and lots of artsy light and water focal points.  Definitely got some great ideas.

The expo did not have quite as many garden related merchandise, like seeds, shovels, food processing type of things, which was a bit disappointing.  But they had PA wineries, one meadery, and several other PA specialty food companies - all with tasty samples.  There also was a fair amount of yard art, and some very pretty pottery and tons of jewelry.



Gracie's Favorite

Tina's Aspiration

Grace and I each bought a "starter bonsai" - with instruction and lots of good advice from "Nature's Way Nursery" .  I also bought these Peruvian Wonderflowers - these bulbs, which basically look like black carrots,  are supposed to bloom profusely, all through the summer, and the bulbs are winter hardy.  It almost sounds too good to be true - we'll see...



Overwintering Geraniums

This year, I am digging up as many of the geraniums as I can fit onto two large tables in the barn and I will let them overwinter there.  So far, I dug out about 50 plants, carefully getting as many roots as possible.  Each plant is trimmed back so that only a few stems with leaves remain, and then placed in a flowerpot with potting soil.  Our barn will be rather cold, but I hope they will make it.  I have kept potted geraniums in my cellar before (which also gets rather cold), but it has very little light and I ended up with very spindly looking plants.  I also tried shaking off all the soil from the plant and placing them in brown paper bags to overwinter in the cellar - letting the plant go completely dormant.  Some of those actually do come back to life, if I remember to plant them early enough. I found that keeping potted geraniums in a cool spot with light seems to work best for me.

Easter at the Long Shot Farm

Easter Breakfast

Tulips by the Fence

Flowerbed with Old Plow

More Tulips, Different Fence

Snowtober Weekend: Saturday

All  plans for landscaping and planting were delayed as we got hit with a real snow storm in October this Saturday:

Marigolds: after first hour of snow

Marigolds:  3 hours later

My "late blooming" rose

Blackberries - with leaves - in the snow

Grape vines in the snow

Stone Wall Progress

Well, it's not much progress... but I took some time this evening while everyone was at the movies, to work some more on my stone wall.  This wall is eventually supposed to be the border between the backyard and the blackberry patch - without being too obtrusive.  I build up a small section from the picket fence to where the walkway starts.  On the other side of the walkway is the spot where Duff and I had started the stone wall last summer.   I put my hibiscus trees on each side of the walkway, and planted one of the small cedar kind of bushes that were originally planted around the house when we bought it.  I had already started making a shady border in front of  the "pretend" stone wall last year, with all my transplanted hostas from the old house, a couple of ferns, bleeding hearts and some lily of the valley plants.  This week I added some more plants:

• 1 purplish rhododendron
• 2 dark pink azaleas
• several purple coral bells
• a transplanted hellebore (which made three separate plants)
• a flat of white and purple impatiens

Jeff helped earlier in the week to pull out one last stubborn tree root (with Zach's tractor), so there is no more barrier to continuing the stone wall building project - except finding the extra time.  Also weeded the flower beds alongside the house, where the lilies started blooming.

Japanese Dogwood?

We think this tree is a Japanese Dogwood - not 100% sure - but is is beautiful when it blooms.  Right now the air is heavy with the scents from honeysuckle and locust tree blossoms, and everything is so lush and green from all the rain we had.

Planting in the Drizzle

Took advantage of this evening's drizzling rain (which was a heck of a lot better than the downpours we have been having), to at least plant the flat of green peppers we had started.  Got all those into one row, plus the couple of vegetable plants we had bought over the weekend.  Sammy hoed half of row of onions while Tina planted - then it started pouring again.  (Rain, rain, go away....)  But, all this rain does wonders for the flowers, poppies are blooming and irises are just about to pop open:

Rainy May Day Makes Garden Thrive

A soft misty rain was falling most of the day, making the newly weeded flower beds and garden patches look great.  Potatoes are up, cherry trees are blooming and the newly planted chambourcin grapes definitely had bud-break:

Baby cherry tree in bloom

The blackberries are really starting to grow as well:

Apache berry planted last year



Recently planted Triple Crown berry



Flower beds are thriving in this weather, can't wait to get some annuals into the mix for some more color: