Water the Garden

 

I told my wife about this guy I saw on Facebook watering his garden. He put the hose in the top of the water can and just walked around with it, watering the plants, not having to go back and fill the can. My wife said, "Why doesn't he just use the sprayer on the hose?"

To Do List

So, this week is work on the 'To Do' list. My way to do it is to do the hardest one first. This year it's a drain pipe in the back yard. The rain collects in that area so I dug a drain, put a pipe in filled around it with gravel. I put a screen on the pipe and a hole in that area filed with gravel. I'm hoping the rain will run to the gravel as the easiest way out.
That done, the next chore was fix the garden. The boards around it were rotten and needed replacing. Also, I made the garden a little smaller. My wife says it's enough. Adding a picture of the garden. It's pleasing to the eye, like the rest of the yard.

The Bamboo Bicycle and You

Read this article and found it a bit hard to get my head around. "Veggies for sale at Yarmouth hospital." What they are doing is holding a farmers market in the cafeteria. I know the health care system is having a hard time but I don't think this will generate much cash. What they say they are doing is supplying fresh vegetables to the staff but other people can come and shop there too. It looks like a lot of "green thumbs" had a very good growing season. Now what to do with it? Still think it's a bit over the top, it being a hospital and all.  Must have been a slow news day. Good luck to them all.
"The Expendables" is I suppose the ultimate in action films. Read an article from a critic last week. He thought the movie was going to be a comedy. So going to see it with this preconceived idea, he had a letdown. I don't think his criticism was justified because the movie was not what he expected to see. An action movie, it is what it is. It's for entertainment, not anything for deep thought.

Stallone has certainlly been busy writing the last few years. First "Rocky" which he brought to a close. Then "Rambo" which he brought to a close. Now this new film which could be the start of a series of films to keep the old guys in work. Negative ctitics or not, the film got 35 million the first day. If you like action films, there you are. Lots of boom and bang.

Looking to invest your money in something? I have the perfect plan for you. An uptrending market. Bamboo. Did you know that bamboo grows about a meter a day and has a strength to weight ratio similar to that of steel?  So what's the big deal with bamboo? Bicycles. Startups for bamboo bicycle shops are taking off like crazy in the U.S. and internet business for bamboo bicycle kits are booming. Another point for green freaks is that the frame can be disposed of in your compose bin.

To Rooftop Garden Or Not

♫ Coffee. I've had my first coffee. ♫
I stole that song from a Twitter friend. I'll have to fess up. Don't want to be known as a Twitter Thief. Finally broke that bagel and coffee rut I was in. Today it was toasted rye bread, banana and ♫ coffee ♫. Read the newspaper and there is no Dagwood on Sunday, so that sets the tone for the day. Dagwood will be back tomorrow, I can muddle thru till then.

An article the other day, about half a page, gushed with the benefits of a rooftop garden. I look at this as blatant irresponsibility staring down at me with the fangs of T.Rex. All the Green, Tree Hugging, apt. dwellers will look at this and think. Yes! That could be me. Their eyes become glazed over with visions of rooftop fields of Lettuce, Tomatoes and Bok Choy. Trees for Christmas and two Maple Leaf trees to get Maple Syrup from and hold their hammock. In actual fact, what they will probably plant is radishes. Everyone seems to plant radishes.

Lets get back to the garden on the roof. Get serious.You can't just go out and get a ton of dirt and dump it on your roof. These gardens are for buildings that are especially designed for this purpose. If your garden isn't sitting atop a drainage system, where is the water going to go. (Now speak like a 5 yr.old.) "That's ok, the plants will drink all the water and be really healthy and we will have lots of Bok Choy." Now on to the Christmas and Maple Tree. Ever hear of roots. No, not the TV show. The things a tree has instead of feet. On TV they can walk around with them but in real life they are stuck in one place. And like most peoples waistline the roots keep growing. They grow down, into any crack in the cement they can find. The result. You will be infested with birds nests and squirrels.

Years ago, a friend of mine told me about his brother who managed an apt. building in Toronto. A tenant complained that there was water leaking from his ceiling. The mgr. figured he better go look. Sure enough, the whole ceiling was leaking water. Upstaires was a family from Pakistan so he went up to check. He knocked on the door and when it opened he noticed that the whole living room was a garden and the man was there with a hose watering it.

Saw this photo in the paper this morning. At first glance it was, "Oh my God, Alien right here in Halifax." But after a mouthfull of ♫ coffee ♫ I saw that it was just a guy living hand to mouth.

Yardworks

May 5, 2010
I picked up a small kids bike from someone’s trash the other day. Just what I needed. Took off the two wheels and was able to put them on my lawnmower. Took a little effort and extra parts, but it turned out well. Last year when I used my neighbour’s lawnmower, I found it easier to push when the back two wheels were large. After that I did my lawn, front and back.

My wife’s garden plot is 24″ x 4″, with wood all around. She wanted the wood 4″ higher. I had some old planks behind the shed, so I got out my table saw and cut them to the right size. Two hrs. later, job done. Now I need some dirt to fill it up. Was going to do that today. But now it is raining. If your plan goes down the storm drain, make a new plan.

So now the plans are, go to church, then Canadian Tire. Need something for the lawn and I want to buy a couple of fuses. The new ones that you just reset. We rarely blow a fuse but when we do, these will be the replacements. Then its off to building supplies for some bricks. Ornamental use. You can pick up bricks in the rain.