Posted by Kimmer on May 29, 2009 – 10:59 am
Filed under DIY, Garden, Home
With all the talk of recession and making do with what you have, having your own little garden makes sense. It doesn’t take a lot of space. Even a container or two of your favorite herbs and a vegetable or two will suffice. This year my goal is to plant lots of herbs (I use them everyday) and my favorite vegetables. Here’s the list so far:
- oregano
- thyme
- tarragon
- sage
- basil
- arugula
- chives
- dinosaur Kale
- scarlet brussel sprouts
- alpine strawberries
- lemon cucumber
- sweet peas
- garlic
- fennel
- lovage
- san marzano tomatoes
- bay Leaf shrub
Scarlet Brussel Sprouts
The Pacific NW weather is slowly beginning to warm up. Made the mistake of planting cucumbers too early this month (they died).Other than that the garden is coming along nicely.
Alpine Strawberries
This has all been planted in less than 100 square feet, using my own compost and raised beds that I built myself. It’s a work in progress, and am learning as I go. Hope you decide to give it a try as well.
Posted by Kimmer on May 29, 2009 – 10:38 am
Filed under DIY, Garden, Home
The Memorial Day weekend provided three days of DIY for me. The pergola attached to the back of my house was in need of repairs. The posts were rotting through at the bottom, the white paint was peeling, and the clear corrugated roofing was growing more opaque and covered with moss and debris.
Removing old posts
One Zipcar truck and several trips to the lumber and hardware store provided the needed supplies to restore the pergola back to it’s former beauty. Here’s what was done:
- remove old polycarbonate roofing
- clean and scrape away peeling paint
- replace 2 posts with pressure treated lumber
- improve structure reinforcement using StrongTie post-to-floor, and post-to-beam brackets
- repaint entire pergola a new darker color
- install new Palruf polycarbonate clear roofing
New bracket and post
The process was fairly straightforward, but as with all DIY projects on an old house, there were a few snags along the way. Removing the old bolts from the posts was difficult (one bolt proved immovable and still remains). Also I underestimated the amount of roofing sheets needed by 3 and had to wait for a new shipment in order to finish the job.
Painting the entire structure took longer than expected, but the results were well worth the time. All in all, it looks new and improved the appearance in the backyard.
Before
After