Poor Vince. There’s always something I need for him to do. This afternoon we were outside and I walked around to the side of the house where I don’t usually go and he said “Don’t go there!” I asked why and he said “That’s an area you haven’t had me dig up or build anything yet and I know you will come up with something for me to do if you think about it long enough.” I didn’t say anything but that’s where I’m thinking would be a perfect spot for a chicken coop! 🙂
Today he was going to build two more raised beds. See the landscape timbers up against the fence? The timbers are 8′ and that’s the distance between the fence posts so he’s going to line them up with the fence posts and leave an extra section of fence empty between each raised bed .. like this: Posts #1 and 2 will have a raised bed in front of them, then he’ll leave the space between 2 and 3 open and put another raised bed in between 3 and 4. Otherwise, the raised beds would be almost continuous and we couldn’t walk between them. I may end up putting two straw bales back to back in between the raised beds.
I wanted a “trellis” on one long side of one bed. I want to grow loofah, though I’ll have to get a good start inside because they need a longer growing season than we have; I’d like to grow Seminole pumpkins . Those both need a strong trellis.
Vince started digging holes so he could put the posts for the trellis in concrete and this is how many rocks he got out of one small hole!
I came outside to tell him it was time to eat and thought he’d be over by the fence and he wasn’t there. He wasn’t near his tools and then I saw him.
Then I found him . . taking a break in the shade. Busting up those rocks is hard work. I’m sure glad he’s happy to build all my crazy projects.
Kathleen -Robin says
Boy oh boy is he ever a worker you lucked out finding him for sure.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
He is and, for the most part, he’s happy to do/make all the crazy ideas I come up with. I think his preference would be for me to sit in my corner and cross stitch and not continue to make work for him but he’s a good sport.
Cilla says
Have you tried eating loofa? OMG so good pan fried.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
Yes,it was easy to grow in Texas since I had a long growing season. Here, I’ll probably harvest more young, tender pieces than I will full grown pieces. My favorite way to eat it is stir fried with shrimp or chicken.
Margie Crewse says
Judy, some time ago you were talking about elderberries. They are almost ready to harvest here ( wild ones) and I was interested in what all you do with them. Last year I dehydrated some and also made elderberry surup. Would love to see if I could start some and grow them in pots.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I can’t give you answers on growing them in pots. They have pretty massive roots that like to spread all over the area and produce more elderberry plants but I’ve never tried growing them in containers so I just can’t say. They get awfully big awfully fast. Mine have been in the ground less than two years and they are about 7′ tall and about 8′ wide. There may be smaller varieties that are better suited to containers. You might google it or talk to someone who knows more about them than I do.
I don’t like to keep the syrup for more than about four months in the fridge so I either freeze or freeze dry the fresh berries and then, when I need more syrup, I’ll make from the frozen or freeze dried berries. I also am making elderberry jelly. I’ve recently read of people making elderberry pies. I don’t think I’ll try that this year but may try it next year.
This website has a lot of recipes, though most are syrup and jelly.
Kristie says
Looks like he found the perfect (and only) shady spot ?
judy.blog@gmail.com says
He probably found the best shady spot but depending on the time of day, there are too many shady spots when trying to figure out where to place a garden and a few flower beds.