Persimmons

It is that time of year.  When it gets cold and grey out I look for a relatively warm, sunnier day and finding one,  take off into the woods. I keep my eyes peeled for bare branches with little balls hanging from them.  Finding that tree, my search takes to the ground.  The best persimmons have already fallen.  They are usually unattractive and  mushy which might scare off those who are used to perfect looking fruits and veggies offered at grocery stores.  That is fine with me because those folks grab the pretty looking persimmons on the tree, bite in and find a bitter tasting fruit that quickly gets spit out.  I won't have to worry about them taking my tasty treats.  I have been eating them and painting them throughout the last couple of weeks.  This is the latest one.

To bid

Creativity Bleeds into the Garden "Bed"

A couple of months ago we got rid of a single bed and were left with the problem of the wooden box springs.   I first used them to put on new plants with a glass window on top as a cold frame in the garden.  I have sense given it a new look and decided to use it for its original purpose.... kind of.... as a "bed"  What I decided to do is create a slightly raised bed in my vegetable garden .  Here is how I did it.

 Step one.... and now I wish I hadn't already taken off the cardboard... remove all the fabric covering.

 I had some old fencing and scrap lumber laying around and used them for nailing to the sides.

 Here is the spot where it will rest.  First I will remove the mulch and flatten bed.

 Next I took a bunch of newspapers and cardboard boxes and flattened them out and stuck them under the box.

Then I threw in a bunch of compost and a little garden topsoil, complete with some nice earth worms and hopefully void of cutworm eggs or other nasty beasts.  I will continue to fill the bed with top soil, composted material and perhaps a little cow manure and peat.  I plan on having my little girl dream come true with a canopy bed in the near future as I will start with some cool weather crops and root veggies and ease on into  the summer with squash.  I plan to use a row cover to keep out the evil moths who lay eggs for squash vine borer.  I will beat them yet.

 Dead of winter veggies starting... Lettuce.