Garden Preperations from 2011

Last year, in 2011, we bought our first home.  I wanted a garden, especially after living in apartments for several years and I had read up on Square Foot Gardening.  I was going to review it this year and discovered I had never posted the pics!  Oh well, this is what I built.

I built 2 boxes, covering the bottom in weed-cloth.

Supplies, including weed-cloth and ceder.

Stapling in the weed-cloth

Thankfully, the screws did not require pre-drilling.

Finished box

Two finished boxes.

Unfortunately, you might notice that I did not clear the grass underneath the boxes.  I layered three layers of weed-cloth in the bottom of each box and I thought that would be enough.  Wrong!

I also mixed my own soil from these ingredients.

Different bags, different colors

Spread them on a tarp and fold them together

Perfect dirt!

Water it in and add pepper plants!

Drag it over and fill the boxes

We got bunches of peppers off of these two plants.  They grew to about waist high and produced lots of peppers, especially in the fall, when the temp's were not so high.  They also grew grass like crazy.  It was very disappointing and very frustrating. 

ONE YEAR LATER

I pulled the pepper plants from the box in the right. The left box grew grass.  However, this January, the seeds I planted for lettuce and spinach finally sprouted.  Along with more grass.

Garden for 2012

Reused plastic bins, weed cloth, & new premixed  soil.

Drilling out drainage with wood brace to prevent cracking.

I stacked them on top of cinder blocks.

Duct tape the weed cloth inside tub.

Lettuce Sprouts!

Spinach Sprouts

I have not had any weeds yet and I can use the full strength fire-ant killer on the ground below the containers.

A new Strawberry plant and the ever faithful, ever returning chives.

Hopefully, the growing season will be better for veggies and the grass will stay where it is supposed to.  We will see how it goes!

What's New

Two little pepper plants and the hope of lettuce.

In the past four months, I have:

• Received a promotion at work
• Had a house built
• Moved into said house
• Gotten married!
• Planted a new summer garden
• Turned 33
• Been asked to GM a DnD group with 4 brand new players.  The link for the new group is DnD 101 at Obsidian Portal
• Been asked to write a leadership curriculum for small groups
• and Painted 0 miniatures.  I can't even dig my way to my desk right now!

Anyway, life is crazy, fun and exciting.  Until next time!

My Patio

When I arrived home from work the other night, I was met with a wonderful surprise! My significant other had been busy at the local home and garden store.

Originally, I only had the little herb garden but now we have a great little area. I find that we naturally gravitate here, often taking our dinners out side =)

This is my palm tree! There are also little flowery plants at the base to add color. I am not really into plants that aren't edible but the palm tree is kind of fun =)

This is my other non-edible plant. It is a Lamb's Ear and that is exactly what the leaves feel like. I had to leave my last one in Kentucky and this was a beautiful surprise.

Finally, these are my herbs. Oregano was the first to pop up but is still very small. The Cilantro was last to sprout but is growing like crazy. I can't wait to try my hand at salsa!

(above is the little "posted by Picasa" Symbol)

This is my Basil and the Chives are on the right. Thanks for reading and the there will be miniatures in the next post =)

Finishing the Gun Mages

We have finally gotten moved in here in Austin and I am enjoying my new job with Best Buy. I also finally got my paints unpacked and I am almost finished with my Gun Mages. I busted out the basing kit I won from Santa Cruz Warhammer and got to it. Here is the mostly painted Gun Mages, Gun Mage Solo, and 3 Stormsmiths.


Below is the chipped slate included in the kit. There is a nice selection of large and small pieces. The flat sides are great for gluing them to the base.


Here I have glued down the pieces of slate. I am also getting ready to glue the washers underneath.


Here is the sand included in the kit. The sand has good texture and, like the slate, there will be plenty for a ton of minis.


A few of the bases already had washers, but I waited to glue down the rest until after the sand. This way, I avoid getting sand stuck under the base. I have roughed up the washers with my file for a better bond.


After the sand is glued down, I mix Black paint and Elmer's 1:1 and paint the sand. It locks in the sand and provides a base coat.


All lined up with a heavy overbrush of FA's Burnt Umber.


A close up of the basing. Finished pics should be up tomorrow.



Finally, I wanted to show off my herb garden. It is much smaller than my garden last year but it is much more manageable in an apartment space. Basil, Cilantro, Oregano, and Chives.

Zucchini Pics!

These are the four zucchini I picked after my long weekend away. 

hey are close to being too big but they are still good. So far, we have harvested about 12 zucchini from 3 plants. Unfortunately, they also developed "powdery mildew" while I was away. I checked it out online and I will probably lose all of my plants =( The remedy, if I caught it in time, is to spray the leaves with a mixture of 2% or skim milk and water, 1:9 ratio. We will see how it works out.

Catching up

First of all, thanks to Mik for the nice words and welcome to the new followers! I spent a week in West Texas and the high ever day was over 100! When I got back, I wasn't real happy with the way my Tharn Ravagers were going (you can check out their progress by clicking on the Tharn label to the right). I love the models but I had gotten a little carried away with the highlights on the flesh. I am only looking for table top quality but I wasn't happy. As a result, I let them sit for about a week. I just wasn't quite sure how to fix them. After Mik posted about my site, I knew I was ready to tackle them again. I went over the flesh with a wash of the old GW Brown ink. It toned down the highlights and I can live with them now. Then I moved to the leather bits and bracers. They are based with a mix of Folk Arts Burnt Umber and Black, about 3 or 4:1. They are still in progress, but I feel like I am over the hump somehow. Tharn Ravagers = 63%

  

 My garden: While I was in Texas, it went crazy. My room mate watered it and we have harvested about 6 zucchini so far. I grilled them up and they have gone in omelets, pasta salads, and stew. Just for fun: 

I have a fat, pissy cat named Callie (think Garfield). I tell people she bites and they say, "Oh animals love me." 5 minutes later, they are complaining that she bit them!? Anyway, I like her. We get along just fine. Last night, my room mate bought new work shoes. I have no idea how Callie was able to fit her big ___ in here but I took a picture of it.

 She got back at me later for taking her picture by jumping up on my painting table. Luckily, she didn't step in the paint (this time).

My First Zucchini

Just wanted to throw this picture in. This is my first zucchini! Couple of more days and it will be ready to harvest. 

Garden Flowers

Just a few update photos of my garden. The zucchini have really gotten big! 

Here are the flowers from the zucchini. These flowers will eventually be where the vegetables form. 

 On the other side of the zucchini, which are pinned back, is the herb garden. The basil, cilantro, and chives are all doing good. The banana peppers are in the back right corner. 

Garden Update

I wanted to post some new pics of my garden, first shown here. My zucchini have taken off and there are small buds forming. They will bear fruit soon. 

My cilantro, basil, and chives are doing well, if I can just keep the zucchini out of the way. I also added 3 little banana pepper plants. (Sorry this one is a little fuzzy). 

 I am not all that into flowery stuff but the basket out front looks great. 

 I also added a Lamb's Ear or Stachys byzantina. The leaves feel like a lambs ear or even a floppy dog's ear. It rarely flowers but I just think it's cool. 

 None of the little seed starters made but the ones I just stuck in the dirt did. Go figure.