Saturday, September 22nd, 2007
Hopefully. No, I mean it.
You knew I was going to get some more mulch by the way I was writing, right? I mean, I mentioned it here and here. I just had one last part of the backyard to smooth over. I also wanted to mulch around all the trees I planted. The dirt (I say dirt, because it is no where near soil) was getting rather crispy. I checked under the mulch that I previously put down this year and the dirt is nice and moist. I knew what I had to do.
I am not sure how many of these pictures you can take.
When the mulch dude called me back this morning, I asked him for a “big” ten yards, instead of the “not so big” ten yards he delivered last time. I know the pile doesn’t look any bigger, but it is. After he dumped it, the whole pile was steaming like a big cow pie.
Here is the area in the back yard that I am fixing up. I forgot to take a picture before I started, so you can see some of the fresh stuff towards the top of the hill. The whole area is really crappy and dry. It also has a bunch of stone mixed in with the dusty dirt. I say, cover the whole damn thing up. I have a few trees planted in there, so they should appreciate that.
I will take an “after” photo tomorrow when I finish up. I hope it looks beautiful.
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Thursday, August 9th, 2007
This is just a little update post to my previous “Spreading the Mulch” post.
I was a little worried that a good hard rain was going to cause all of my newly spread mulch to slide down the backyard. Well, I have some good news. There was a heavy rain storm the other night and I woke up to see my mulch in exactly the same spot as I put it. That is good news indeed. I even found an article online that backs up my plan to stop topsoil erosion by using mulch. Pretty cool, huh?
I think I am going to order five more yards to finish up the back yard.
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Monday, August 6th, 2007
I had to write this post. Along with my three reasons for living (fiber, vinegar and mulch), I love beer. I am not a huge beer drinker, but I do love a nice, rich, creamy beer. The darker and richer, the better. With that said…
…I had the best beer of my life yesterday. After Laura and I went hiking up at Sam’s Point, we drove up to Emmanual’s in Stone Ridge. We did some shopping for our Harry Potter date later in the evening. We haven’t seen any of the Harry Potter movies and thought it would be cool to jump on the band wagon, or off the wagon, whatever. While we were shopping for very expensive food (everything is expensive in that store), I decided to refill my beer stash in the fridge. I ran out last week and have been feeling the loss. I decided to pick up some Sam Adams Double Bock along with some Honey Brown.
I was so excited to get home to open the bottle of Double Bock. I have never tried it. I got home and popped the top off. I took my first sip and said, “WOW.” I handed the bottle to Laura and had her try it. I have to say, it is the richest, creamiest beer I have ever had. I like creamy beers and this topped the cake. I just had to write about it because I was kind of excited. Give it a try.
I am going to have a bottle of Honey Brown tonight so I don’t spoil a good thing, but tommorow, I will be back to the Sam Adams.
This is a little addition to the original post - What the heck is it with these stupid age verifications on these beer websites? Heaven forbid someone under the age of eighteen read about beer. Yes, that’s it, let’s keep them so sheltered that the minute they turn twenty one, they get totally blitzed. Like they aren’t going to put in a fake date anyway.
I remember one time, back when I was seventeen, I read about a beer in a magazine. I was so inspired that I went out and bought a keg. Yeah right.
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Saturday, August 4th, 2007
If you know me, if you know who I really am at the core, you would know that I love mulch. I think I may have described my love for mulch in a few past posts, but let’s say it again…I love mulch.
Ok, now that the tender intro is out of the way, I will tell you a little story. When we moved in, I noticed a little problem with the back yard. It seems as though there has been a bit of erosion over the years. Every time there is a hard rain, more and more of the dirt, or topsoil, if that’s what you want to call it, finds its way down to the bottom of the hill that makes up the yard. I think the poor schlub who lived here before us tried to spread a bunch of topsoil out over the area and plant grass seed, but before he knew it, that rolled down the hill as well. It’s not really that big of a slope, it’s just that the soil around here doesn’t have much organic content in it. If there isn’t grass growing on it, it turns in to dust and is gone with the wind. What’s left is a nice layer of crappy dirt and rocks. This isn’t much to look at and really causes problems when I try to mow the lawn. If there is grass growing, it tends to be thick and green. Strange, I know. The trick is to get the grass to grow.
Since I didn’t want to end up like the last guy, I decided to travel a tried and true route. I had ten yards of mulch delivered just this morning. Two things - First, I think I got a small ten yards. Either that, or I got a big five yards last time. Second, I thought it would be a real blast to get out there and shovel the mulch in to the wheelbarrow and wheel it to the back of the house for spreading. Well, it is 2:52PM and I am inside feeling a little heat on my neck. Sunburn. Not bad, but enough to make being outside annoying. I think I’ll wait until about 6PM before I pick up where I left off. I am just glad I have a project. I am not fun to be around when I am bored, just ask Laura.
Here are some photos of what I am talking about…
This is the pile of mulch before I tackled it with the shovel.
I put some mulch around the arborvitae and holly that I planted. I didn’t go crazy under the porch, because that will hopefully be covered up by the bushes soon.
You can see how I am spreading the mulch over the bad areas. I would say the layer is a few inches thick. I did this same technique on another area of the lawn last summer and the grass is nice and thick there now. All I ask for is a few nice rains to get the mulch packed down to stay. If we get a torrential downpour, I think I may have ten yards of mulch at the bottom of the hill. After one season, the mulch should be broken down enough to plant some grass seed. It is also good at holding the dirt and rocks bad from eroding even more. An additional bonus is that this mulch was recycled from a bunch of old stumps right down the road from me. I watched the guy do it last year, it’s really cool.
Unfortunately, I though ten yards would be enough, but I think I may need twenty to get where I want to be. Mmmmmm, that’s going to be fun.
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Sunday, October 1st, 2006
I can’t wait for Spring! I know that might sound a little weird, since it’s not even cold yet. The reason I can’t wait is that I am so excited to see what all the great plants and bulbs are going to look like when they start growing. I want to see the new growth of the shrubs and trees too.
Yesterday, I received a package from Holland. It had the 150 bulbs that I ordered back a few months ago. Apparently, they wait for it to get cold in Holland and then ship them out. It takes a few weeks for them to get from Holland to the U.S. I think from now on I am going to go to the local nursery for my bulbs. I really don’t have the patience to wait three months for these types of things. Anyway, here is what I got:
- Mountain Bells Mixture (deer resistant)
- Blue Grape Hyacinths
- Giant Crocus Mixture
- King Edward Tulip
- Economy Tulip Mixture
- Alpine Rosy Bells
- Beauty Dutch Iris Mixture
- Early Stardrift
- Giant Daffodils
I saved a spot in our front garden that was just screaming for these bulbs. There were 150 bulbs overall, so digging a separate hole for each one would have been crazy. I got a rake and pulled back about six inches of mulch.
I put the bulbs in according to height. The tallest ones went to the back and the shortest to the front. They have varying bloom times throughout the season, so I staggered them in with one another, so I wouldn’t have rows of flowers and rows of nothing.
After I placed all the bulbs in, point facing up, I covered the area with the mulch again. This garden area is only about 20′x10′, so in the Spring, it’s going to be bursting with color. Over time the area will grow, as I continue to edge around the border, pushing a few inches of soil in every time and adding more mulch in the Spring.
Next to the lamp post at the end of the driveway, there was Hosta that has been trying to grow all summer. I kept running it over with the lawnmower for some reason. I don’t know why, since I really like this plant. Yesterday, I got a bright idea (that happens every so often). I dug up the Hosta and separated all the small bulbs.
This photo is just a sample…there were about 20 bulbs. I decided that this plant would look great as a back row of lush green for the garden. I planted each bulb about a foot apart along the entire back row.
Hopefully these will grow nice and big. As I was planting, I had a little nightmare. I dreamt that the evil deer came and ate all my bulbs and Hosta. Right after I was done having my nightmare, I ran down into the basement and grabbed the Deer Scram and Liquid Fence. I spread the Deer Scram and erected the fence immediately. I covered the whole garden. I am also going to buy some of the real deer fencing today. You know, the black thin plastic stuff you see on people’s bushes.
One last note - we got another tree. This time, I went to the local tree farm near the airport I practice at and looked around for a 6′-7′ tree that I could fit in the car. I came across some Flowering Bradford Pear trees. There are some pros and cons to the Bradford Pear, but since this is a close-to-the-house tree, we needed something that would stay relatively small. If it is damaged on our watch, we will just get another one…no big deal.
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