Pumpkin Trellis

I decided that I wanted to try growing pumpkins on a trellis. Maybe I can save some space and also minimize the destruction from the infestation of squash bugs I get every year. Maybe getting the pumpkin leaves off the ground will help... I won't hold my breath though.

We got our supplies at Home Depot:

I figure the pictures are enough of an explanation:

We welded the mesh sheets together. You can also use trellis netting or a pricey roll of this metal mesh (also found at Home Depot).

Hope this inspires someone!

Garden Box Sprinkler System

Last year, our garden turned into a disaster. The boxes were great, but the plants did not do so well. Since I had to water the plants by hand, they ended up not getting enough water, so most of the plants died and the only thing I really got was a million cherry tomatoes. This year, I told Matt that I needed a watering system connected to our secondary water. He was kinda peeved because he suggested that we add a sprinkler/drip system way back when we built the garden, but I knew better and said, "I'll water by hand, its better for the plants..." Needless to say I was wrong and he was right.

Matt was a trooper. He dug trenches (he despises digging trenches, he still has PTSD from digging trenches for our sprinkers) and connected the PVC pipe into our existing secondary sprinkler system.

We based our system on this article Matt found on the USU Extension website. Go HERE to read it. Every four inches he drilled a 1/16 hole into the PVC pipe.

Every three feet, he drilled a drainage hole on the bottom of the pipe.

Matt glued some end caps on the end of the pipes. Or you could add another length of pipe and connect it by elbows to make a square. My mom did her system like that.

Using some pipe, elbows, tees, and a connecter thing (it allows us to be able to disconnect the pipe) he created our garden box sprinkler system.

Matt then glued all the pipes together. He wished he attached more connecter pieces instead of permanently attaching everything. This way the connecter pieces would allow us to adjust and twist the pipe to better aim the water.

This picture was taken before Matt added a valve that would allow us to turn the pressure down. When it waters now, the water doesn't shoot so high in the air.

I spent an afternoon planting corn, pumpkins, cucumbers, tomatoes, basil, watermelon, and pepper. I have one box dedicated for strawberries.

We still have a lot of work to do to finish the garden area. We need to finish a cement boarder, lay more weed guard down (the weed guard we laid last year pretty much disintegrated) and then add some pea gravel. I'm just glad we got this major part done so we can actually grow things!

Gardening Angel

For my mom's birthday, Matt and I made this garden angel for her yard. When I found the idea HERE I knew my mom would love it.

Garden Angel Supplies:

-old shutter or bi-fold door
-(4) 5.5"x6' cedar fence slats for wings and arms
-wood circle for the head
-screws

Directions:

First, cut the shutter to the length you want.

Next, cut three wings out of the cedar fence slats.

Once the wings were cut, we cut the ends so they had an angled look.

Next, make a pattern for the arm.

Cut two arms out of a cedar fence board.

Next, cut or find a circle for the head. In the end I hated how it looked, so I added something else.

Finally, screw the arms to the shutter, then flip it over and screw the wings and head to the back of the shutter.

Like I said above, I hated how the head looked, so I found a copper lid and glued it onto the wood head.

My mom loved it and found a great spot for it in her backyard.

My sister saw this "Grow, Damn ya." sign on Pinterest, so I made one for her and one for my mom for Mother's Day. They funny thing is that they both wanted it, but they both don't want neighbors to see it. All I can do is chuckle...

Garden Boxes

Last year we had our garden in the ground. By the middle of the summer, the weeds took over and the dirt turned into swamp land. At one point while I was weeding, I lost my shoe. It was horrible. This year I told Matt that we were moving the garden area to the other end of the yard and we were going to build boxes.

My neighbor friend and I got serious with this gardening stuff and even took a Square Foot Gardening class through Community Ed. We both learned a lot and decided that that was the way we wanted to set up our garden areas.

Matt and I came up with a layout for our garden area. We decided on (4) 4'x 4'x 12" (2) 4' x 11' x 12" and (1) 4' x 10' x 12" boxes. We went to Home Depot to buy our supplies.

Garden Box Supply List:
-pine Boards
-paint
-Lin Seed Oil
-weed guard fabric
-deck screws

First, Matt cut the boards to the sizes we needed. Next, I spent hours painting the front, sides and ends of each board. I chose to paint my garden boxes Behr's Teal Zeal.

In the gardening class, I learned that if you are going to use wood as your building material for the garden boxes, you need to seal the wood that the dirt is going to touch. The best thing to use that is natural and doesn't have chemicals in it is LinSeed Oil. So, after the paint was dry, we turned the boards over and and rubbed the oil on with a paper towel. Once the oil is applied you have to let the boards sit for about 24 hrs. Just a side note, LinSeed Oil smells yucky. You need to wear gloves if you dont want your hands saturated with this stuff.

Next, attach the boards together using deck screws.

Before we put the boxes outside, in our prepared garden spot, we laid down weed barrier fabric. I hate weeds, so this stuff is a must in my yard.

We rented a dump trailer at South Davis Rental and went to Evergreen Soils in Layton, Ut to get our garden soil mix. We ended up getting six yards of dirt to fill the boxes. We spent around $200. Not bad.

A few days later, I planted my crops. I planted tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins, corn, ghords, herbs, and cucumbers.

Two months ago, this is what our backyard looked like... covered in weeds.

Matt had to weed eat this whole backyard many times.

As it stands today, we have lawn and garden boxes. We even put in some gravel to make a place to park our trailer. Matt is working on cement curbing to divide our garden, trailer parking, and lawn areas. We have big plans for the old garden area. We hope to put in a pergola and fire pit. Hopefully we get to those things this year...

Lamp Birdbath

I wanted a bird bath for my yard, But I didn't want to pay an astronomical amount for it either. So I went to google and found a couple of random DIY birdbaths that I liked. Using those, I came up with my own birdbath.

Lamp Birdbath Tutorial:

Supplies:
-lamp
-bowl or wok
-Liquid Nails
-spraypaint

First, cut the cord off the lamp. I also took the long handle off the wok.

Next, spray-paint the lamp and bowl/wok. Let the paint dry before you handle it.

Once the paint is dry, dab some Liquid nails onto the brim of the lamp. Next, place the wok on the lamp so it is centered. Let it dry for 24 hours.

Lastly, find a nice place for the bird bath in your yard...

I put mine next to the bird feeder I hung up last week. Let me just say that I am the hit of the neighborhood with the birds...

This project cost me $12. I found the lamp and the wok at my local thrift store...

Flower Boxes

Flower Box Supplies: -cedar fence slats ($1.97 each at Home Depot) -paint -stencils for the words -dowels -14 gauge wire

First things first, make some boxes. My boxes measure 12" X 7.5".

Next, paint and once dried, distress.

Using my Cricut, I cut out some stencils...flowers, seeds, and herbs. Since I used vinyl, I was able to stick the stencil onto the front of each box without worrying about the stencil moving.

Next, dab on some paint.

This is what the boxes looked like after I removed the vinyl and let the paint dry.

Next, sand each box, so the lettering becomes faded.

If you want to add handles, drill two holes on each end of the box.

Cut the dowels so they measure 2.5" long. Next, drill a hole in the middle of each dowel. Each box will need (2) dowels.

Next, cut (2 per box) 12" pieces of wire and slide the dowel onto the wire until it is in the middle.

Now, stick each wire end into the holes you drilled previously.

Twist the wire as shown, so the handle is secure.

Add some flowers, stack and display!!!!

My flower boxes are based on some that I found HERE.