SPRING!

     I love spring! Everything starts to warm up and I can start working on all this projects that I have been dreaming about all winter. Although, here in Seattle, the weather can change quickly so one day I might be out in shorts cutting the grass while the next it is pouring rain and all I can do is read and drink tea. But that is life. Luckily I do have a few little projects to share with you.

     The other day it was really nice out and I wanted to do something in the yard. But I didn't want to start a huge new project. So I found the prefect little forgotten triangle of yard to spruce up.

     This little triangle of space is at the corner of our house where the front and side yards meet. I was going to extend my planting bed into the area but then realized that there was cement under the dirt in the area and that I won't be able to grow anything there. So I decided I could still use the space to grow something but it would have to be in pots rather than in the ground.

     Here is the after shot. Once I got out all the dirt from the area I got a few bricks from Lowe's and made a simple wall just to keep the dirt out. Then I put down a thin layer of gravel which was left over from another project (more on that later). The simple terra cotta pots are also from Lowe's. I could have gotten bigger or fancier ones but I think I might paint these at some point. I could also add more to the area since I do have some space. Later in the spring I will fill these pots with strawberry plants and will try not to nibble on them every time I turn this corner. A fun little project for a warm afternoon.

The Muddy Pit

     We have had some trouble with water getting into our crawl space under the house this winter. A variety of things have been done to counteract this problem. One day I left Matt unsupervised and this is what I found when I got home...

     Matt had dug a french drain along the edge of the cement walk way in the back yard. I don't know what a french drain is or why it is french but it made one big mess that still has not been completely resolved.

     The trench starts out at about a foot deep and then slopes down so the water will flow with it rather than under the house.

     When Matt was done digging he lined the house side of the trench with plastic so it wouldn't seep in.

     Then he lined the trench with some special fabric and put in a perforated drainage pipe.

     After that he filled it with gravel. Why? I don't know. This was Matt's project and as an archaeologist I only want to dig holes if I think I will find something cool.

     But this project is not done yet. There is still a huge pit (now filled with rain water) that needs some kind of pump system and then everything will be finished off with paving stones which will make the ground even so I won't twist my ankle when I go to the back room to do laundry.

    Home improvements always seem to take longer than you think they will.  But you get to be super proud of yourself when you finish...until you start the next one. 

     Next Blog Post:
Homemade Kombucha and the garden finally gets going.