New York Renovator

I have a narrow plot of land on one side of the house– it’s only about 20 feet wide, and it is the only thing between the house and the parking lot next door. So I’ve been developing this area for the past few years. I call it my Secret Garden because I have planted tall flowering shrubs that will eventually grow up and over the arbor I set there, making a hallway from the front yard to the back yard; it will look like a tunnel of flowering foliage. Right now, everything is still rather low, but it’s made great progress.

Because it is a narrow area, and because the children love to run around the house and chase each other in circles, I’ve been building a concrete walkway through this little garden. Last year I blogged about how the children gave me a Quikrete concrete form and some bags of concrete for my birthday. My husband and I installed about 5′ of the walkway. The children and I finished the walkway course up to the arbor. (We intend to extend the garden, and the walkway, beyond the arbor, in the future). It was the first time that the kids got to work with concrete, and they did a terrific job! I’m also very impressed with the ease and durability of the Quikrete walkway form. Although the walkway has shifted a little from last winter’s frost heave, the walkway remains in place and is still in perfect condition. I think we will continue using the Quikrete form method elsewhere in the yard. I love it!

We bought the regular concrete mix, but I added a third of a bag of mortar mix to the concrete mix, to make the mix more sticky.

The most laborious part of the entire project is making sure your concrete is thoroughly mixed well– no dry spots. We made sure the concrete has the consistency of mud pies. When you chop the wet mix with your hoe, it should leave “hills” that do not blop from too much moisture, or look too crusty and dry.

You set the walkway form on the ground and fill it up. It is best to chop the concrete into the sides and edges of each unit, to make sure there are no gaps or air bubbles.

We smooth it out with a trowel.

And carefully lift up the form.

Here we are, making progress. we used 5 bags of 80 pound concrete mix, with one full bag of mortar mix between them. This got us about 12 feet of walkway.

The crowning moment is signing your handiwork. And we pressed a few flowers into the concrete, too.

Tomorrow, weather permitting, we will lay some large field stones from the property along the pathway, to give the walkway added stability. Then I will sprinkle sand mix between the walkway cracks and wet the mix. This will fill the areas between the “stones” and stabilize them. This part of the yard will be completely done! Woooo!

I saw this video at Sustainable Backyard and just HAD to post it here. What a terrific idea! It’s called Eat The View, and it’s a “grassroots” (literally) campaign to get small vegetable gardens growing everywhere, and especially at the White House.

Oh July! I love this month because it’s when everything is glorious buzzing with activity! And my most favorite flower, the fragrant Oriental lily, is blooming. Click the photo for a very large view. You can almost smell them from here.

I clipped a few and have them in the house. Their scent fills the home with their sweet, heady fragrance. Mmmmm.

My son has a growing collection of grasshoppers. He wanted me to post a photo of them. I think they are ickky. But I remember how fascinated I was with bugs when I was his age.

The fruits and vegetables we’ve planted are really growing. We’ve had an unusually rainy July and the plants are enjoying it. My grapevine (Reliance Grape) which began its life three months ago as a little bareroot stick is absolutely thriving.

The cantaloupes are still babies. It hasn’t been blazingly hot, so their growth has been moderate. We’ll see what August holds for us. So far we have a lot of blooms but only three melons forming.

July is the best month for New York perennials. All my shrubs and flowers are finally blooming! My yard is a kalidescope of blues, pinks, yellows, and oranges.

More to come!

My firstfruits are in! I gave these to my church as a tithe. Look at how beautiful they are!

The potatoes are Adirondack Reds. It is my first year with them; it’s my first year with seed potatoes, actually. I bought these from Johnny’s Selected Seeds online. In years past, I just used store-bought eating potatoes, let them develop eyes, and plugged them in the ground. This year I just wanted to try seed potatoes. They are coming up beautifully.

The skins are very thin– even a moderate scrubbing will peel them off. I like eating potato skins, so I am careful when I scrub. These potatoes are also a little heavier– more dense– than the regular white potatoes I buy at the grocery store. I cannot wait to sink my teeth into them!

About potato growing– this year I was smart and made distinctive rows. I planted the potatoes closer together than recommended. After plugging in the potato quarters, I poured a layer of peat moss over the bed. I used peat as a mulch (it is very effective) for the growing season. Next year I will roto-till it in the soil, added with my compost. The plants just love this method.

I also heaped up mounds of soil around the potato plants when they grew to 8 inches. This encourages horizontal root growth and makes it much easier to dig for the potatoes. In times past, I had to basically uproot the plant and dig down into the hard ground to get my potatoes. Now, I just plunge my fingers into the peat and pluck what I need.

P.S. Is it true that rubbing a raw potato on one’s skin is as effective as a modern-day acne treatment?

I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been a little under the weather this week, or what. I’ve had all my days mixed up. I even missed an appointment Wednesday because I thought it was still Tuesday, and today is Friday but I keep thinking it’s Saturday! :-p

The kids and I have been spending a little time outside, trying to pull up weeds in between rainy downpours. It’s been the rainiest July that I can remember in a few years. It’s only been scorching hot for two spells this month. I like it cool, so I’m not complaining! Our dry June has kept the mosquitoes and black flies down a little, so I am grateful for that.

We visited the famous Nichols Pond Park yesterday. I plan to have the post on my travel blog by next week. What, you’ve never heard of Nichols Pond?? lol. That’s where Samuel de Champlain (French explorer and founder of Quebec) got the brainy idea to provoke the Oneida Indians, in their village that was here. Happened in 1615. It was the first time the Indians had heard a gun shot. Champlain and his buddies the Huron Indians from Canada killed a few Oneidas, too. The Oneidas never forgot, and it’s part of the reason why the New York Indians (the Iroquois, of which the Oneidas belonged) fought the French so fiercely during the French and Indian war in 1754.

We wandered the park quite a bit– it was a wonderful place to explore! There’s a large open grassy area, and there’s a deeply-wooded swampy area. This was the location of the large Oneida Indian village, 400 years ago.

July is the month that New York State hums in floral beauty. Everything is in bloom and is so lush and verdant. Walking in the cool woods is especially delightful.

Today, it’s a little bit of garden work. I’ve had to leave most of the gardening to the kids this year. It’s been so painful to bend over. I miss it– I love gardening so much that I even enjoy weeding! My new grape vine is growing so beautifully– I have to get a trellis built up around it or it will tear down the measly wire fencing it’s currently attached to.