Out with the Patio, In with the Garden

We're not exactly experienced landscape architects. And of the two of us, I have much more trouble feeling comfortable with a garden shovel in hand. But in learning to love our home again, we're making the most of our outdoor space this summer.

A few years ago, we had put in a "patio" of sorts.

We enjoyed it for a while, but it never totally looked great. As the years went on, more and more weeds started popping up -- exposing our we-had-NO-idea-how-to-build-a-patio-correctly reality.

So we decided to rip the whole thing up and make a garden with a walkway.

It took lots of digging (mostly on Stephen's part).


Lots of mulch.


And lots of time.


But we were able to use many plants from around the house and much of the stone we had purchased originally. Overall, we spent about $80 on some new perennials, mulch, a bit of stone, and other small supplies.


We just need to finish the walkway (we can't seem to find 12" stone similar to what we already have ANYWHERE) and use some terra cotta paint to spiff up the chiminea. Otherwise, we're loving the more-finished look.

Our next focus is on our vegetable garden. We're hoping to expand its size (to at least double what it is now) . . . and plant a variety of good stuff.


Like these herbs from my mother-in-law.


Any suggestions? Or do you have grand garden plans of your own this year? I'm thinking we started pretty late, but we had no other choice when our house was on the market. Just leave a comment or email us at neverhomemaker [at] gmail [dot] com.

Psssst: Don't forget to enter the Oikos Super Fruits Giveaway!

Like what you just read? You can subscribe to the feed of these posts or follow us on Twitter or Facebook to be the first to know what the (never home)makers are up to. And we’ll love you forever!

Read more...

Help Us! How Does Your Garden Grow?

My left hamstring has been incredibly tight since the race, so this weekend will likely not mean a long run for me. So, I'm trying to plan my days accordingly. Trying to fill them to the brim with production and relaxing activities. Tomorrow we're spending an "intimate evening" with Andy Samberg (really, that's what the poster says for the event). And I couldn't be more thrilled. If you've been living under a rock, Andy Samberg is on SNL. He's hilarious. Google him.

Anyway, Saturday's weather is supposed to be especially brilliant (yes, too much of Jaime Oliver's Food Revolution), so we're planning a 20-mile bike trek to a nearby river town. 40 miles in all. That is, if our bikes are in OK condition to make sure a voyage. I'm sure after a quick tune-up, we'll be good to go.


But another item on the agenda is to start planting a garden. We have a (very) small plot (probably 3 feet by 5 feet) in our backyard where we've grown anything from basil to pumpkins to peppers. We even grew that proud pumpkin you see below. But how that happened is an entirely different story. Basically, Stephen is the expert of the two of us in this particular area. I don't have a green thumb. Really, it's more out of choice than lack of talent. I just haven't gotten into the whole growing and gardening thing. But I'd like to try.




As I mentioned in my last Foodie Book Club post -- one of my goals is to make a meal using entirely locally grown ingredients. Of course, it's be cool if those ingredients could not only be grown in my zip code, but also at my own address. What do you think?

Here's the thing. We could totally use your help with this project. We have the time. We have a small budget. We even have some compost we could throw on there (more about that in another post). And we certainly have the desire to grow a little garden.

• But -- most importantly -- what should we grow? (Veggies, herbs, etc.?)
• Should we expand the plot to allow room for variety?
• What plants do well with little maintenance?
• What plants are the most rewarding, even if they're difficult to maintain?
• Should we go with seeds or small plants?
• How should we organize everything?
• How can we keep critters out? (We live in town, but still -- we get animals.)

Yeah. We could Google it. We could read books. We likely will do all those things. But we'd love to hear your thoughts and suggestions. Please, please, please leave us a comment or email us at neverhomemaker@gmail.com.

Like what you just read? You can subscribe to the feed of these posts or follow us on Twitter or Facebook to be the first to know what the (never home)makers are up to. And we’ll love you forever!

Read more...