Helping out in Phil Campbell, AL.

Naughteebits, Carmen, Hazel, and Mary - welcome, and thanks for following my blog...

This morning I got up as early as usual, but instead of the gardening chores that usually take place on such a beautiful Saturday, I decided to go to the devastated town of Phil Campbell, AL. and lend a helping hand. Most of my tools were loaded into the truck and I arrived at the check-in point at around 7:30 am. We were given a map of the town, then assigned to groups that were responsible for certain areas. So, myself and 6 other males went to our destination, and began to do whatever we could to help out. I cut electrical wires, dragged limbs to the side of the road, and helped clear the way for a gentleman to back a utility trailer up to his house so his stuff could be relocated. Here's a few pictures of the devastation from the EF-4 tornado...

The piece of paper in the picture above was found in our yard on Friday evening, and is from the town of Smithville, Mississippi (50 miles away) where an EF-5 tornado hit on the same day.
Anyway, i'm tired, hot, have an enormous headache - but I did my part to help with the cleanup and feel extremely fortunate after seeing the destruction first-hand.....Needless to say, it was a very humbling experience.....

Take care

EG

Devastation

I'm currently using the WiFi connection at McDonald's to post this, because communications in my area are spotty at best. The family and I are ok - and of course Jude, too. A town 15 miles south of me was completely devastated, where 28 people so far were killed by a pretty strong twister -although not much coverage has been shown about it. People are having to drive 75 miles for the fuel to run generators with, and also basic necessities such as water and non-perishable items. Needless to say, it's complete chaos around here....Anyway, I just wanted to let my readers know that we're ok......

EG

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Tomatoes and beans

Katrina - welcome, and thanks for following my blog....

Remember the Paul Robeson plant that was looking sickly? Well, it's made lots of improvements over the last week, and expectations are that it will grow into a beautiful plant later....Whew, that's a relief.... Speaking of which - it's the one in the middle in the photo below....

Photo below - the Stupice and Red Siberian tomatoes growing in the yellow-colored swp's in the picture below are growing substantially now, and one Stupice plant even has a tiny tomato already forming....

Photo below - the pole beans are still sprouting like crazy, and within only a couple more weeks should completely engulf this little area of space provided for them. I just hope a good yield comes from them before the summer heat arrives, because once that happens - they don't do squat until things cool back down again.

In other news, it's gonna be extremely stormy in my area today, and Dr. Greg Forbes has given the area a TorCon value of "9" on the Weather Channel. That's not good....the garden can fend for itself, but I really worry about Jude.....After work, she'll likely spend the night indoors with me, because I just can't stand the thought of her being out there scared and alone....

Take care, and happy gardening

EG

The garden on Easter

The long weekend away from work sure was a relaxing one, and family members came by to visit and pick up the plants I had for them, too. My sisters took all of my big tomato plants, and I was sure glad to get rid of them finally. Of course there's still around 20 Early Girl tomatoes that were wintersown, and I hope to give them away over the next week.
Anyway, I wanted to give a progress report of the garden - so here's a few pictures...

Photo below - the corn is way ahead of everyone else's in the community, and I really like growing it in these homemade swc's....

Photo below - tomatoes are doing well too, although i've had to pull about three plants and replace them with ones that were more healthy. That's just the thing - there are gonna be a few failures, so backup plants are a real lifesaver.

Photo below - the squash are getting bigger by the day, and extras have been culled since this picture was taken...The upside-down tomato cages have been put into place also...

Photo below - heavy applications of nitrogen are being administered to the onions every couple of days in hopes that nice bulbs will form before they go to seed, and for the record - i'm using an organic fertilizer that has only nitrogen in it..

In other news, since the daughter and her boyfriend were coming up for a visit, I decided to make them a swp from 4 cat litter buckets put together. They had inquired about growing some tomatoes at their home in Birmingham, but really didn't have the ideal spot for doing so...With a 2 gallon water reservoir and around 6 gallons of soil to grow in, the Cherokee Purple tomato plant given to them should do very well. Here's a photo of it....

The handles were also affixed so that the handle on top lifts the bottom bucket when picked up by it. Just one of my little improvements made to the design recently....You know how I like to tinker with things...

Take care, and happy gardening

EG

Building something from my heart

Christy, waddill, and Mr. J. - welcome, and thanks for following my blog....

Quite frankly, most things constructed around here are obviously for my own use - but occasionally i'll build something to enhance someone else's life...I'd recently been thinking about constructing some type of centerpiece or focal point for the large flowerbed, and decided to put everything I had into it for the love of my life, Jenette....Afterall, she's put up with my OCPD for 7 years now, and somehow tolerated the difficulty that it brings with it...So, this is what I have poured my heart and soul into - utilizing every bit of knowledge and carpentry skills within me to create this beautiful planter for her....

When creating a circle from pieces of wood cut at an angle, the cut angle in degrees is determined by how many pieces make up the circle...Anyway, I decided that 12 pieces would be much better looking than 8, so that's what I went with...
These first pieces below were cut from 4 really straight landscaping timbers, and at an angle of 15 degrees. Length of each piece determines the overall diameter of the circle (obviously), and this planter needed to be about 30-32", for perspective.....A mixture of various colored timbers gives the finished product alot of character, so some old scrap pieces that have laid around here for a couple of years were incorporated into it to increase aesthetics....

Photo below - although this doesn't look like a jig for cutting the right angle, it actually is....you had to be here to see it. Forming a jig of some kind allows you to get repetitive cuts - making things go much faster...

Photo below - 12 pieces were pre-drilled and screwed together to form a circle, and the only place available for doing this was on the deck, unfortunately. Anyway, just simply use all 48 pieces to create 4 circles with, then stack the "rings" on top of one another - with connecting corners staggered, of course...

Photo below - as each "ring" is placed on top of another, simply pre-drill holes and drive 4" deck screws all the way through one, and into the one below it.

Photo below - once into place, landscaping fabric was stapled to the bottom of the planter, then filled with a soil mixture of compost, peat moss, vermiculite, and shredded pine bark......i'd say the pine bark was added as at least 30% of the total composition - creating lots of airspace within the planter for plant roots to get oxygen..Some Celosia and Gerbera Daisy were planted, making a pretty good combination....

Photo below - after a scrap piece of 4x4 post was fastened to the back, a finished ledge was added by cutting some treated 2x4's to the same angle of 15 degrees - but just a tad longer, so that this particular circle is somewhat bigger than the other 4. If not made bigger, there will be no overhang.....

Photo below - this little homemade spout was created from some pieces of 1x6 treated lumber, and basically just cut free-hand to suit the desired look I wanted....After assembly, it was sanded very well to give it a smooth finish....

Photo below - Then, a square piece of 1x6 was cutout perfectly square, and a small length of 2x4 fastened to it from the backside. The end was rounded off, then sanded as well, and a 3/4" hole drilled into the end to accomodate the 3/4" wooden button that makes it look as though there's actually a pivot point for the pump handle...

Photo below - the handle was cutout and attached to the backside by 2 deck screws - completing the water pump planter...It's a good addition to the large flowerbed beside the driveway, and definitely the first thing you notice when driving by...

I'm very pleased with the finished product - although I can tell you that it was alot of work.....Sheesh, anyone driving by that wants one built for themselves better have a fat checkbook, because it took probably 12 hours to construct.....Still, it felt good to build this for my wife, and i'm really glad that I did it....

I hope you like it, too......

Take care, and happy building

EG

Things are looking pretty good

With everything but the sweet potatoes planted in the garden finally, time can be spent addressing the plants' needs, and pulling the occasional weed that has germinated in the garden. On average, i'd say only 2 or 3 show up each day - and really stick out like a sore thumb amongst the flawless soil surface. That's probably the best thing about my garden - as it's a pleasure to keep maintained.
Anyway, I wanted to show you some progress photos of things in the garden - but first is the tomato transplants that'll be sold to friends at work....Not too bad, I guess - but could really use another potting up.

Photo below - here's the main raised bed with most things doing quite well. That 4x4 section to the right is where the sweet potatoes will be grown, and it's certainly gonna be a change from the containers used over the past 2 years. Things look pretty naked right now, but will become a jungle of growth in less than 2 months...

Photo below - most of the onions are producing bulbs, but a couple have already begun to go to seed....In hopes of getting some adequate bulbs this time, i've been fertilizing them like crazy.....

Photo below - here's the swc/swp section planted with corn and tomatoes, and I need to remember to remove the pieces of cloth from that front trellis that are leftover from last year....sheeh....Due to improving the drainage characteristics of the soil mixture in each, i'm gonna go without plastic mulch this time around...

In other news, I hope to have the centerpiece for the flowerbed completed by the weekend. Talk about a complex project...whew..It's gonna be beautiful, but definitely one of the most challenging things ever constructed by myself...

Also, i'm still waiting for the okra to germinate. Hopefully it will soon, because it takes quite some time before pods begin forming...

Take care, and happy gardening

EG

Peppers are planted

As most of my readers know, the containers commonly used for growing sweet potatoes in the garden were relocated to a different area, with intentions of growing something that the squirrels wouldn't damage in this problematic location...Peppers were chosen to go there, because it's the most likely thing that came to mind...Anyway, i'd planned on growing 8 plants total, but only 7 made it through the propagation period. For the record, peppers are the most difficult thing for me to grow from seed....

Photo below - the cauliflower in the 4 gallon swp has grown alot in recent weeks, but sadly hasn't began to form the edible part yet....I sure wish it would hurry up, because warmer temps are just around the corner..

Photo below - here's some plants that were put into the large flowerbed beside the driveway the other day. Because of the mature size of each, they'll have to be pruned aggressively each year.

Photo below - here's some things planted at the other end, which include zinnia and also some sun-loving impatiens....well, at least that's what the tag on them said - "full sun exposure".....I'm not sure about that, because they don't look too good to me right now. To the left is a dwarf japanese maple tree, and is one of two planted in the big flowerbed....

Lastly, here's a photo for my good friend Chandramouli_S from on the other side of the world....I just had to purchase another Gerbera Daisy, so the other two wouldn't be lonely....

In other news, the centerpiece for the big flowerbed is almost complete, and i'll do a stand-alone post on it toward the end of the week. With all of the planters being constructed for the landscape, i'm just hoping that people won't begin to stop by and ask me to build one for them...It's alot of work..whew!

Take care, and happy gardening

EG

The garden after the rain

Good lord.......it rained alot on Friday, and I took these pictures during a break in the severe weather pattern. Although most things really appreciate it, the squash and tomatoes could use a little dry spell for a while...
Photo below - here's the section where the little 4x4 greenhouse was located, and is now planted with okra. There was just enough compost to fill the section to the brim - although it'll still settle at least an inch or two, I figure...

Photo below - here's the squash section, which includes butternut squash to the far left (barely visible), then 5 zucchini and yellow crookneck squash to the right of that. Since some backup plantings were started a couple of weeks ago beside the others, I went ahead and transplanted one of the little seedlings at the far right. You can see some damage due to the abundance of rainfall, but hopefully they'll make it thru this wet month....

Photo below - here's the corn growing in swc's - which really likes the frequent rainfall as of late. In all, there are around 60 plants total - which should be more than enough to satisfy our needs around here...

Photo below - Since I decided to not grow any cucumbers this year, i'm gonna try 3 tomato plants in the 34 gallon swc.....The one in the center has really yellow leaves from the rain, and will be allowed to grow up the backside of the trellis if it survives....I hope it does, because it's my only Paul Robeson planted.

Photo below - instead of trying 2 plants in each of these four 18 gallon swc's, I opted to planting only one in each. Besides - there's already like....19 plants in the garden, and that should be more than enough to make salsa with, and also freeze for other uses later...These plants should be really happy later.

Photo below - here's 18 of my marigold seedlings that are still doing well, and will make their way into the garden when the month of May finally arrives. They'll be tucked into spots throughout the garden, and hopefully help repel some bad bugs later. The little tomato seedlings to the right are some of the Early Girl that were wintersown back in early March, and will be given out to friends and family when a bit bigger...

Photo below - the wheelbarrow planter was planted with creeping phlox to spill out the front and back when mature, and also other things like begonia were planted into the center. It's most likely too many plants for the space, but i'll just simply remove a few if they become a problem later...

The week on vacation was much deserved, and I feel recharged for dealing with the daily stress at work. It was good to be able to spend alot of time outside on various things, and couldn't have came at a better time.

Lastly, since the internet access through the new cell phone is working out well, the att.net email account has been deleted. So, if anyone needs to contact me with a question, etc, - please do so at engineeredgarden1@gmail.com

Take care, and happy gardening

EG

The HTC Thunderbolt phone

Completely off-topic for me, but I just purchased one of these highly touted phones, and it's incredible....No more carrying cam-corders and digital cameras out to the garden - because the quality of videos and pictures from the thunderbolt surpass the other 2.
I also use it exclusively to access the internet now, and just connect it to my home pc as a stand-alone modem...Here's what it looks like, and once you try one - you'll be hooked...

Rainy day

Jessica - welcome, and thanks for following my blog

All of the tomato plants were set out yesterday, and I sure hope no hail from the storms damages them....The confinements of the little greenhouse were pretty warm at times, and i'm sure they appreciated the ability to breathe just a little. Even though it helped alot, tons of improvements need to be made to it before next year's propagation cycle.
More flowers and trees were added to the landscape as well, and things are looking kinda pretty around here these days.
Tomorrow, i'll begin building the centerpiece planter for the large flowerbed beside the driveway, and i'm excited about starting on it.

Other things were also planted in the garden - especially since the little greenhouse was removed for storage. Compost was added to fill the section that was vacated, and okra was planted in 1 foot spacings. A total of 20 burgundy okra should provide more than enough for eating fresh and freezing, and that's typically the number of plants I have each year.
The green beans are also sprouting like crazy, and hopefully will produce a decent harvest before the peak of summer arrives.

I went fishing for the first time of the year on Wednesday, and it was a complete disaster....engine and livewell aerator issues caused me to load it back onto the trailer prematurely, and it'll have to be put in the shop for at least a week, I figure...However, at least 10 fish were still caught....

Anyway, that's about it for now - i'll get some pictures up in a few days.

EG

Getting the transplants ready for the garden

Kristy - welcome, and thanks for following my blog....

It's funny to think that just 10 weeks ago tomato and pepper seeds of all kinds were being germinated in the many little plastic containers used for this purpose, and now are nice-sized transplants just waiting to be placed into the garden. Most are around 8" tall, I figure - and will be planted by mid-week after getting fully acclimated to the new environment.
Photo below - here's a Rutgers tomato plant that's tall and skinny, but otherwise very healthy looking.

Photo below - those 2 plants in the black container are Giant Oxheart - which were grown by a friend of mine at work. Even without an adequate light setup for growing them, I have to admit...he did a pretty good job with them. They'll be separated later and somehow find their way into the garden - even if something else has to be left out.

Photo below - here's the plants available for selling to friends at work - of which most are either Rutgers or the Brandywine Red that are actually something else....Dangit, I wish those seeds hadn't been mixed up...Anyway, some of the leaves were burned from the sun when the greenhouse door blew open - exposing them to it before ready.

Photo below - here's mine.....several different varieties - of which were watered a little bit after taking this picture. Droopy leaves means that the plants are protecting themselves by minimizing the surface area that's exposed to the sun. They'll perk right up after a little water, though...

In other news, the hot temperatures are causing lots of things to sprout now - even the ones that i'd almost given up on, like the honeydew melons. I was beginning to think they weren't viable seeds, but thankfully they are. The frequency of rain allows me to just let them be for now, although lots of time will be needed satisfying their watering needs later.

Thanks to Grafixmuse, I also removed the flowering growth from the rhubarb the other day, and will harvest a few stalks for a pie in the very near future.

Lastly, the slips from the sweet potato in the kitchen window are almost ready, and i'll have to show ya a picture of it suspended in a glass of water. They'll be rooted in about another week - then make their way out into the garden shortly thereafter.

Take care, and happy gardening

EG

A post about the squash

Thanks to the little cloches that were put over them for protection from temperatures in the mid-thirties a while back, the squash are still kicking - and growing by the day. Setting the transplants out in the garden 3 weeks ago was certainly flirting with disaster, but it seems I got kinda lucky this time around.

Photo below - here's a yellow crookneck squash plant (1 of 4) that's thankful of the much drier weather as of late, and appreciative of the abundance of sunshine, too.

Photo below - the lone plant at the top of the picture is butternut squash, which will be allowed to run up the trellis adjacent to it. The two just below it are both zucchini - as indicated by the signature leaves. This area will become filled with growth later on, and of course upside-down tomato cages will be used to keep them in their alotted space.

Photo below - the little work table used as both potting bench and clamping wood to when cutting for the many construction projects around here had seen better days, and required an overhaul to provide continued use in the future. So, the top was removed and discarded.

Photo below - thin pieces of salvaged angle iron were then welded to the original frame with my little homemade welding machine - making it have a longer profile, and much sturdier too. Although not shown in the picture, a piece was also welded across the center of the frame - then scrap pieces of 2x4's screwed to all sides for giving me something to fasten the new top to.

In other news, some plants were added to the large flowerbed beside the driveway - although several more are needed before becoming fully planted. Some creeping phlox and colorful flowers were also added to the wheelbarrow planter, and in a few months should grow to really enhance it.

I also took advantage of  some whole fryers being on sale at 88 cents/lb. the other day, and loaded the smoker with them - along with some venison from the freezer. When finished, everything was wrapped and put back in the freezer, so they can be removed and allowed to thaw one chicken at a time...When smoking meat, I like to fill the thing up, because it takes just as much effort and time...

Take care, and happy gardening

EG

Wheelbarrow planter

ElsieMay - welcome, and thanks for following my blog.

Anytime there's adequate time to do so, I really enjoy building things that will enhance the landscape around here. Since a whole week was off from work due to vacation time, I decided to take care of a project that had been on the to do list for about 2 years now - construct a planter for an area at the end of the house for Jenette. Anyway, rather than build something kinda ordinary, I decided to go with a wheelbarrow planter made from the leftover landscaping timbers from the flowerbed project. It's my gift to her, although I wish it had been done sooner...

In all, 6 landscaping timbers were used to complete the planter - along with a small piece of 3/4" plywood, a 12" long 1/2" carriage bolt with washer and nut, and of course several 4" long #8 deck screws to tie everything together with. Completion time is about 2 hours - especially since several critical angles have to be cut exact.

Photo below - the wheel was probably the most difficult part , and strangely enough - it actually rolls on the makeshift axle made with the 1/2" carriage bolt. Still, this is only for aesthetic purposes - not practical use.

Photo below - using my refrigeration hand truck and alot of ingenuity, the planter was moved to it's final location, then filled with a mixture of  soil that previously was used to grow the carrots in over the winter. Some homemade compost was added as well, hopefully replenishing some of what was used up during the carrot grow cycle. Thankfully, it was a good fit for the area intended, and no modifications had to be made.

A mixture of colorful flowers and also something that can hang from the sides will be put in it after visiting the garden center at one of the big box stores - although nothing comes to mind just yet. I'm a vegetable gardener - not a flower gardener....BTW, this isn't the planter that was discussed in an earlier post. That one will hopefully look much better than this one....Anyway, it was a good way to spend some alone time in the beautiful sunshine, and take a few breaks along the way to tend to the garden a bit....

Take care, and happy building

EG