Saturday, May 27, 2006

A Budding Gardener


A Budding Gardener
Originally uploaded by cafn8.
OK, enough of the bad puns. Although we've been in this house for nearly 2 years, there always seems to be something that keeps us from planting things in the little strip of dirt running along the south side of the house. Well, no more. The month of May is drawing to a close, and this year, aided by a healthy supply of compost from my wife's father, we cultivated and planted that strip full of veggies. It looks nice, and everything really seems to be thriving. I'm looking forward to a nice crop of tomatoes, zucchini, strawberries, blueberries, hot cherry peppers and 11 herbs and spices (OK, well at least 7 or 8.) It's much more fun and rewarding than I had expected. While it's still early in the growing season, I've already taken the opportunity to start planning ahead for the fall when the weather turns cold and the growing stops for the year. I'm still in the research/ what-if stage, but when the fall comes, and the barbecue season is over, it seems entirely feasible to build ourselves a little greenhouse. On the patio. Of course, with my fascination with Buckminster Fuller's works, I can't see building anything other than a nice little Geodesic Dome. I built a study mock-up last night from rolled up strips of newspaper and staples. It's surprisingly stable for what it is: a sloppy collection of semi-rigid pieces. The frame for the real thing should be cheap, relatively easy and strong, when built from steel conduit, nuts and bolts. However, I still need to find an affordable material to cover it. The quest for garden-fresh veggies all winter and a 12 foot soccer ball on the back patio goes on.

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