Because I'm obsessed with making crappy videos

Oooooh, sweeping shot!

A long sweep of the backyard from ChuckT on Vimeo.

What do you think, peanut gallery?

Is it shabby chic or yard trash?  This drawer was from the old vanity in the bathroom.  I threw some cheap dowels on it, thinking I'd seen enough salvage DIY on Design Sponge to make it work.  I decided it looked stupid, then temporarily moved it to the side yard where it magically adopted the perfect leaning angle to look awesome.  

But then I moved it to plant sedums in it and it looks not-awesome again. 

Yes? No? Would it look great if I just had a stone statue of frogs playing checkers?

My crazy is showing

Summer was incredibly short this year.  I had to really hustle to get some of my outdoor projects done.  I have a couple of projects that have been weighing heavily on my mind.  I don't know if other people do this, but I worry that something will happen to me and my family will get stuck trying to sell my house and they won't be able to because the back of my garage looks like this.

It's fun being tightly wound.  It's also fun realizing you left a trowel on the roof when you were cleaning your gutters. *Sigh.*

The back of the garage was really dirty so I had to scrub it down with a brush and some TSP.  That part sucked but painting the cedar shake with a brush was so meditative I *almost* stopped crying over the fact that I'm having to evict my housemate.  It's a long story.

After washing it down I slapped on the only neutral paint I had in a flat finish.  This is my kitchen color.  It really doesn't go well with the mint green.

But! The back of my garage is ONE color that doesn't go with the mint green.  And some day I'll replace that light fixture that's hanging by the wires.  Baby steps.

We'll call it shabby chic.

Time lapse!

The yard from March 23rd until now:


Long shot of the yard on Vimeo.



The slab, March to August on Vimeo.

Quick updates

I planted swiss chard.

The beans are flowering and growing . . .

Cranberry bush beans are almost ready to be picked . . .

If the weather behaves (come on, indian summer!) there will be tomatoes . . .

This crazy feral monstrosity is a tomatillo plant.  Mmmm, tomatillos . . .

I planted what said radicchio, though it looks like leaf lettuce to me.  Leaf lettuce that wilted in the 92 degree heat . . .

Bleeding hearts will self-seed prodigiously, if given enough water . . .

Since my clematis never took off on The Weird Fence . . . 

Me and my boy planted hop plants that he can use in his homebrewing.

Brussels sprouts are chugging right along . . .

What a difference a couple of months make!

Finally. Jeez.

So. That big pile of soil. Someone drove through part of it last week. It was time to finally get it moved.

I decided to just move it to the backyard, even if I don't exactly have a use for it yet.

Another mound?

Sounds good!

I also filled in some areas on the lawn that were really uneven.  I might put down some grass seed or just wait for winter to do the filling in for me.  It looks awesome, I know. I'm thinking about changing the name of this blog to The Lazy Gardener.  I could include tips for ordering the wrong amount of supplies and neglecting projects. Wouldn't you read that?

Just some photos from the garden

Remember when I planted the lower part of the raised bed and was like, "Woo! I planted these Brussels sprouts too close together! I'll just move them later." 

I never got around to moving them when they were small.

When I moved some of them to the upper bed they made giant sad faces the next day.

They are slowly starting to spring back but BE YE NOT SO DUMB.  Learn from my mistakes and just plant them two feet apart from the get-go.

Things grow.  A lot.  Sometimes I forget that.  Remember this area?

It's really filled in.

I really like it when things start to look a little feral (and apparently birds like it too) so this makes me really happy. My pole beans are starting to climb and flower now that the rain has finally stopped.

This tiny six inch bush bean plant is producing already.  Who's hungry for five beans?

FREAKING PENSTEMON, I want to marry you and have a million of your babies.  How gorgeous are they?

Other things that are making me happy: dahlias!  The Mae West of the garden world. 

My Japanese painted fern.  The Japanese do everything better.  They probably never plant their Brussels sprouts too close together and they never forget their parents' anniversary.

The hot coral bells peeking out from my heuchera.

SWOON.