A Fresh Start

Trial gardens at Dallas Arboretum

Time sure flies! Its hard to believe that two years have passed since I last posted anything here. Life does what it usually does...move on.  Its been a busy season in our family going from full time home schooling to having graduated our last child. What in the world will I do with myself now? --- Oh yes, gardening and blogging again!

I am really looking forward to start a new season of life when I examine all I have to work on that I never could before. I have plenty of projects to finish and lists to check off. Focusing on what has worked over the years and tweaking it to run more efficiently is the plan.

Last fall, my gardening friends and I took a trip to visit the Dallas Arboretum. Talk about inspiration to try new things! Since its local for us, I can take good information away from there about what plants will grow in my area. It saves both time and money when you consider this. Sometimes its not that you are a bad gardener, but you have chosen plants that are not suited for your climate. Even the arboretums have trial gardens for this very purpose. They test plants to see what will thrive and what will not. 

I like to look at my own garden experience through that same lens. I run my own trials per say. Choosing the right plants under ideal conditions can vary from yard to yard. Micro-climates, pests, flooding, wind etc can make a difference. I will get into the details of my own experiences and changes here soon. Good times are ahead and I am looking forward to a "fresh start."

Keyhole Gardening

With world hunger and a need for local food production, teaching gardening skills to starving people is a must. I try to envision trying to garden with what I have around me only in the process. In the U.S. we have the luxury of garden centers, nurseries and basic clean running water. Keyhole gardening offers plain smart design. Using a composting basket in the center allows for a constant feeding of nutrients and water to the garden. Grey water can be recycled from household daily use and poured straight into the center creating zero waste of drinking water. With the nutrient dense soil more food can be planted in a smaller space and not waste water and resources. The design seems simple enough that a garden  could easily be constructed by most households and communities. I would like to build one of these myself. This video is one being built in Uganda. This design can be adapted to whatever area you live in. Rocks and boulders may be used instead of brick. Freecycled material may also be an option for those of us in the U.S. for material. It would be great not only to be able to use this to grow our own food, but learn the skills so that we may be able to help others no matter where they live.

Backyard Makeover

In case you haven't learned this about me, I am not a fan of mowing a lot of grass. Some yes, but if its a problem area I say its time for it to leave. This is the entrance into my backyard. Its narrow and is basically a pass through to the bigger part of our backyard. With some sweat and a strong back I now have an entrance into my backyard that I am pleased to walk through. No more dragging the weed eater and push mower through here.

BEFORE:

This is from an angle looking from upper deck straight at the entrance

AFTER:

Looking from lower deck toward grill area

Looking back towards entrance

Its been fun creating a garden pathway. I've been dividing perennials and filling in around the path. I can't wait to see it as it matures. I love cottage gardening.

Sustainability At Work

Sometimes I do things because it just makes sense to me at that time. When we moved out to the country the thing I wanted most was a clothes line. I resented the fact that living in town with restrictions against them really bothered me. I can understand it aesthetically, but with wood privacy fences galore, I couldn't reason out in my head about, "What's the big deal?". I LIKE hanging clothes outside. Its good for the environment, my clothes and my wallet. Running the A/C in 100 degree weather June-August here and Texas is necessary if you don't live in the woods. Add running a clothes dryer in the house and the poor A/C system struggles to keep up with the added heat. Thus, my rant.

When we installed the clothes line here, we used 4x4 wood post framework and strung 3 lines of vinyl coated wire in between. Our backyard is fenced in so the neighbors don't have to bear the view of unsightly laundry blowing in the wind. It has worked beautifully and actually dries faster than my indoor dryer.

When we started getting rabbits we realized me needed shade. It was then we built the animal enclosure which encompasses the end of the clothesline frame into its structure. Not long afterwards we added grape vines to grow over the animal enclosure. Its worked wonderfully also.

As I hung a load of jeans out to dry this morning, I looked at the grapes hanging from the clothesline and just smiled. I never thought I would see so many sustainability systems converge at our house.

Can you see the rabbit hutches through the grape vines?

This has provided:

• solar clothes dryer - saves life of dryer
• food to eat - both leaves and grapes
• shade for the rabbits - much cooler and safe for them to eat
• energy savings - fans for rabbit area reduced, not using dryer, and not adding to the heat level of our house in the summer
• our clothes last longer because the dryer does damage them over time
• needed exercise and a chance to soak up some much needed vitamin D for my health

We keep our animals well taken care of so hygiene and odor issues are kept to a minimum. Because I like efficiency, this works for us very well and has for the 2 years that the grapes have flourished.