End of Summer

     Although it is suppose to be in the 80's here today in Seattle I am still acutely aware that fall is closing in fast. Soon the rain will come and it will be time for hot cocoa, rain pants and making plans for next spring. But before we get ahead of ourselves let's look back at what we did this last year.

     Matt's big project this year was the french drain which he made in the backyard to keep water from seeping into the crawl space under the house. It seems to be working but the true test will be this winter. I think it will be a big help even if it does not stay completely dry down there. And since the french drain is finished with paving blocks it gives the walkway a finished look. If we didn't tell you that it had a functional drain underneath you would think that it was just a nice border that we added to spruce up the place. Too bad that really is the border from the relatively nice and maintained part of the yard into the wild unknown of the backyard...but we will work on that next year.

     You can see the nice square pavers going around the edge of the cement and then the wild yard beyond. We have big dreams for this area but I'll talk about that later. And no, I don't pose Banjo in all of my shots. He just thinks he is super cute and everything is about him so why would I be taking photos that don't include him?

     This year will also turned the entire side yard into a garden. You can read about that process here garden and here garden fencing. It was a lot of work but in the end it was well worth it. Because we were so focused on getting the garden going and keeping the plants alive we didn't get to a lot of the other projects that we need to do like finish the closet. But to date we have gotten roughly 50lbs of tomatoes, 10lbs of cucumbers, 1lbs of tomatillos, 1lb of onions and a smattering of radishes, carrots, lettuce, beets and basil so I am super excited for next year. And the season isn't even over yet!

      Here is the side garden with its cute wood and twine fence. We also put black bark chips down the side between the garden and the cement path. That is so we have ample space to roll the yard waste bin around and Banjo prefers running on the bark chips.

     And here is the garden in full swing. Tomatoes at the far end with lettuce down in the lower right hand corner. It really did amaze me how much food we could grow in such as small area. And having learned a few good life lessons we will be even more productive next year. For example, I am going to move the cucumbers to the front yard where they can grow onto the fence and not take up as much precious real estate. Then the tomatoes will be spread out more as it is really hard to get to the ones in the middle of that forest.
     We have also found that although we love cauliflower, broccoli and brussel sprouts they all just take up too much space and don't yield as much as we would like. Growing more fava beans, butter lettuce and strawberries might be more useful. We also want to extend the red runner beans to the entire side of the house and create a more effective trellising system. You can read all the gardening books and blogs in the world but actually trying it at home in your own space is the only way to know what will work for sure.
     The rest of this year was filled with small projects such as my video about how to make a living succulent centerpiece or tutorial on decorating with air plants. I am also trying to incorporate more informational and inspiring posts such as the ones on green roofs and grey water so that this blog will be interesting to more people. And with the front stairs breaking and costing $2,000 to fix, there went my bathroom remodel budget.
     So let us know what you think! Want more articles about environmental issues? Want tool reviews or more how-to videos? Add your voice to the comment section and let us know what interest you and then get out and soak of some much needed vitamin D. I hope you had a wonderful summer!