Garden Update

My garden is growing well.  We've already eaten lots of peas, green beans, raspberries, and strawberries; and are eagerly awaiting more yummy things.  Here are some pictures of the progress.

This pumpkin has already doubled in size since I took this picture. 

 Pumpkin vines growing on the fence.

 Beds going crazy.

 Hungarian wax pepper.

 Soo many tomatoes.

 And even more tomato flowers.

 Some sweet peppers.

 Peas are just about done.

 Strawberries.

First tomato is finally starting to change color.

 And some bonus flowers in the wildflower bed.

Destruction

Our house has (had) a big beautiful front porch.  And, once upon a time, it had a big beautiful balcony on top.  Unfortunately, when a previous owner decided to remove the balcony, they neglected to do anything else.  Leaving our big beautiful porch with a big, flat, mostly unsealed roof.  In an area that gets a lot of rain and snow, that's a bad thing.  We decided early on that we should replace the porch, though we're leaving off the balcony and just having a sloped roof.  Last week we finally started the process.

Peeling the metal off of the roof.

This board just disintegrated under Sam's knee.

 Working on peeling the layers off.

 All the layers pulled back.

 The roof under the metal.

 Figuring out how to dismantle the sides where they connect to the house.

 Removing the roof entirely.

Bye bye!

One third gone.

Two thirds gone.

Roof completely gone!

 Cleaning up the remains.

Removing the decking.

 All gone!

The old porch is now completely removed, and construction on the new one should begin next week.  I'll document that process as well, and post pictures when it's complete.

Backyard Edibles

Veggie garden progress, and all of the other edible things currently growing in my back yard.

Raised beds are filling in fairly well.  They've suffered a bit from the wind, though.

First tomato flowers.

Sweet peas on the fence are doing nicely.

Green bean flowers.

Pepper flowers.

On the patio are strawberries and herbs.

Strawberry flower.

Rhubarb.

One of 5 pumpkin vines.  

Doesn't look like much yet, but that little twig is going to grow up to be a cherry tree!

Mint in between the hostas.

Basil bed in front of raspberry bed.

Hard to pick out from all the weeds, but there's two little blueberry bushes in the middle of the raspberry bed.

Playing With Fire

It may not look like much, but that cane-like object is my garden blowtorch.  Sam bought it for me for my birthday.  Almost 6 months later, I'm finally starting to use it.

It's not something I can use in my flower and vegetable beds--there's too many plants in too small a space.  But it's perfect for my big rock garden where I have a few plants I want with lots of space in between.  Weeding that area by hand last year took forever, and killed my back.  The blowtorch is time consuming too, but I can stand up to use it.  The area in the following pictures took me about half an hour to do.

 Wide shot of the whole area, before torching.

 Close-up of a cluster of dandelions, before torching.

 Wide shot, immediately after torching.

 Dandelions, immediately after torching.

 Wide shot, 3 days later.  You can clearly see the places I missed.

Dandelions, 3 days later.

Safety notes.  I keep the hose turned on the whole time I'm working with the blowtorch.  As soon as I'm done with an area, I hose the whole thing down, even if there are no signs of smoke/embers.  If I'm working close to the foundation of the house, I have the blowtorch in one hand and the hose in the other!  

Overall, I'm quite happy with my torch.  I've thoroughly done about a third of the rock garden, and also have 2-3 other places I want to use it.