Garden Chronicles - Part 5

The husband and I were given a little piece of earth by our landlady to turn into a garden. We're doing our best at it. To catch up, look at Part One here, Part Two here, Part Three here, and Part Four here. 

So, when we left off last, I totally felt dejected by the garden. Then, I didn't touch it for about a month. 

On memorial day, we headed out to a friend's home and helped them plant their garden (which, by the way, is the size of our apartment) and then we came back to ours and they all helped us. Which, left us with an amazing garden. 

See? 

We planted:

Bee Balm

Peony

Phlox

Bell Peppers

Habeneros

Jalapeno's

Cabbage

Green Beans

Carrots

Onions

Strawberries

Blackberries

I'll have more photos later. Like the green beans that we grew!! Actually grew. And herbs. You'll love the herbs. 

Happy Weekend. Yes, it's Friday. No you don't have to think about Rebecca Black. Promise.

Garden Chronicles - Part 4

The husband and I were given a little piece of earth by our landlady to turn into a garden. We're doing our best at it. To catch up, look at Part One here, Part Two here, and Part Three here.

So. This weekend we were planning on planting a tree but that didn't really happen. Too much awesomeness to show the family around these parts. 

Instead, we talked to my parents about grass. (Don't go there)

Mainly I complained about the fact that we didn't have any yet and did-we-make-the-wrong-decision-about-seed-should-we-have-done-sod (I ramble when I'm whiny).

See, it had been two weeks since we put the seed down and I was frustrated that we didn't have *anything*. 

My dad trooped out to the garden to take a look. And he pointed this out:

See? Grass! Woo hoo! 

It's impressive (kind of) until you see this:

Not quite so impressive. The dandelions are growing beautifully though! They sure do love the compost. 

Ugh. So, now we're thinking about just putting down sod. We won't need that much, ultimately, and I'm not sure I want to try seed again. 

My mom votes trying seed again and waiting a few more weekends. She said (and my dad agrees) that it was probably just too cold for the grass to really take root. 

Boo. So far the tally is looking toward failing miserably.

Garden Chronicles - Part 3

Dude! 

Because the husband had to take up two, TWO! days of posts, I didn't get to tell you all about the cool stuff that went down in the garden. 

Which, honestly, wasn't a lot. 

Friday it snowed and rained, so it was gross. And Saturday, I spent the day doing statistics and then running to a friend's recital and then running to an awesome egg dyeing party. So, Saturday was a bust in the garden. 

But Sunday, we had a 2.5 hour window to pick up paving stones and put them down. I was up for the challenge... my mister? Not so much. But, because he loves me, he did it.

And that's how we got this:

What do you think?

 I need grass. Desperately. I also need a tree and we need to put in the raised beds. But, it is coming along, don't you think?

Total Cost (so far): $141.00 / $500.00

Renting a Tiller... 31.00

Grass seed... 68.00

Paving Stones... 42.00 ($.99 per stone!!)

Garden Part 2

When we last left the garden, we had tilled and planned the path.

So, this Saturday began with me waiting to wake up the husband because I felt bad that he was tired. So, we got about an hour late start. That's okay, though.

We made it out to the local dairy farm and picked up compost. For 40lbs, we paid $5.50. And the husband, who can make friends with a rock, snagged us a tour of the farm. They have an incredible system, and I would suggest seeing it anywhere.

 

Anyway, we made it back home, but I had to dash off to a study group. I left that study group frustrated and bitter, so I called the husband and asked him to meet me outside. He got sucked into spreading compost and planting seed before the sun went down.

And he was such a great sport about it :)

Since I couldn't handle the tiller last weekend, and I was bitter this, I wanted to really get dirty. So I grabbed the rake and mixed in the compost. I did that for the whole thing.

 

And then it was time to open the grass. We went back and forth between sod and grass seed. I wanted sod because I wanted the instant gratification. And I was worried that the birds would eat all the seed. But, when we were in the class on Thursday, the husband asked about it and the teacher told us to just rake the seed in and it would be just dandy.

I still wanted instant gratification. The thought of just putting it down and then BAM! we have grass... that is so lovely. But, I talked myself into seed. I argued that if the seed doesn't work then we can do the sod. And if the seed does work, well, it was cheaper then sod.

So, we spread it.

And then raked it.

I can't quite believe that we might actually get grass from this. I really can't. And, I think that gardening will either teach me patience or I'm just going to fail miserably.

Here's to patience!

And then watered it.

Now, the birds better stay away.

Next week, we will be planting our tree (oh the decisions!) and putting down paving stones for the path. Stay tuned!

Garden Part 1

I told y'all that we were going to work on the garden this weekend. 

And I actually didn't lie! I figured I was jinxing us by posting about it, but it was a beautiful sunny day. About 60 degrees. Perfect weather. 

Our friend, Anita, has a truck. And she brought herself and her truck to our apartment so that we could rent the tiller we would need. 

We went to our lovely local hardware store and rented it for two hours, since Anita said it would take 30 minutes to do the piece of "land." It's 20x24 and we needed to do the whole thing.

Anita totally rocked the tiller. I think she's done this before.

The husband and Anita were rocking this tilling project.

I could not control that thing. Though I did make an effort. I'm going to blame my height. Yup.

After we finished we bought tortillas and hamburgers and ate enchiladas. 

Then Anita went home and the husband and I laid out the path. 

Next weekend, join us as we pick out sod and a tree to plant. I'm so freaking excited!

Renting Convert

For a while, I wanted to own a home. I wanted to buy house so that the husband and I would have something which was ours. When we paid our monthly payment, it wasn't just going to a company. Nor would it feel like we were throwing money out because we would be paying a mortgage, which would mean that in the end we would own something rather than not keeping anything. It's kind of like the difference between leasing a car and buying a car - with one you own it and with the other you have to give it back.

The other reason I wanted to own a home was because I would be allowed to do things to said home and no one could tell me otherwise. I could paint, I could garden, I could put as many holes in the walls as I wanted because it was my own. I could try different things over and over because it's mine and I don't have to get clearance with a landlord.

I also want to say that I hate corporate apartments. They feel sterile. You can't add color and I've found that they are difficult to make them feel homey. No matter how many lamps I bought, I've never felt comfortable in a corporate owned place.

Last year, when we knew we had to find somewhere else to live otherwise we would be homeless, we started hunting Craigslist. That's where apartments are listed here, especially ones downtown. I wanted to find a house to rent, because by God, if I couldn't buy one we would rent one.

The one I wanted fell through. We could never get a hold of the company to show it to us and then it was rented. The next place we looked at I fell in love with. It was teeny apartment, maybe 500sqft, but it had a sense of home and a sense of community. The guy who managed the apartments lived on site and he was just awesome. You could tell he loved his tenants and he cared about the place. He would also allow you to paint and do whatever you wanted. Plus cable was free.

The husband wasn't a fan. It was a very small apartment with an unbelievably small kitchen. It had a mini-stove, and the husband was not going for it. We turned him down. Finally, we decided to contact this place that only ever listed studios hoping we would find something we liked.

The first apartment we saw in this complex was a gorgeous one bedroom, third floor walk up. It had a claw foot tub, stained glass windows, a beautiful murphy bed, a dressing area and best of all a farm sink.

The husband didn't like it.

The next apartment we looked at about a month later was a one bedroom under construction. The only redeeming quality it had was a gigantic kitchen with two sinks and built in booth seating. The husband didn't like that one either. That was okay because I wasn't sold either. As we were leaving, the owner said, "Well, I have another apartment that just opened up. It's a two bedroom first floor. The people who lived there before really didn't take care of it..." We thought, what the hell, and walked with her to go look at it.

Today, I paid month 12 of our rent and we're getting ready to sign a two year lease.

12 months later, I have made that apartment home. We've painted, and hung pictures, wine holders, hooks, and curtains. We've bought a dining room set, found a papasan chair, and built shelves. We've downsized and have learned to cook meals for 10+ people in a galley kitchen. We hung plastic to keep the cold out and used Window ACs to cool us down.

And this weekend, we're going to work on the coolest part yet. We're going to put in a garden.

I can't wait to show y'all.