Living La Vida Local

Yesterday was HOT!!  Today will be hotter.  I'll be outside as soon as it's light because my window of work is short.  By the time I've made sure that everything is hydrated, harvested and deadheaded, it'll be time for me and my girls to head indoors and into cooler temperatures.

Della and Maryah

Hot days and rainy days were made for housecleaning so maybe I'll finally get my floors washed.
Yesterday was "Meatless Monday" and I harvested artichokes, berries, citrus, figs, kale and tomatoes to include in my vegetarian menu.
The heat has finished off the last of the sweet peas, and I cut the vines off just above the soil line, leaving the roots in the ground to decompose.  I've been shelling the pods and I've added these bi-colored seeds to my Etsy garden store "yougrowgardens".

I'm also harvesting seeds from Dinosaur Kale and Larkspur, and I'll be adding them to my garden store soon.

We had a warm winter, and two of my tomato plants overwintered.  I've harvested more tomatoes than I could possibly eat so we've had plenty to share with friends and family.  I've started sun drying tomatoes in my car this year.  With the windows rolled up, my car dries the sliced tomatoes pretty quickly.  Of course, my car smells like tomato for a bit when I get in, but it's a small price to pay for delicious, healthy and free "heat dried" tomatoes.

Tomato Time

The compost bins are close to being maxed out with all of the extra summer growth filling them up.  We often mulch the grass clippings and leave them to decompose in place, but kitchen scraps, leaves, deadheaded plants, etc. can fill a bin pretty quickly.  I like to reuse some of the bins as extra growing space.  During the summer it can grow squash or green beans (just add a Christmas tree for a trellis), and during the winter it provides excellent bottom heat for seed starting.

Seedlings started in a compost bin

"Spanish Musica" pole beans 

growing on last years

Christmas tree

I've been trying to get a jump on handmade holiday gifts, upcycling driftwood, cans, beads etc. into garden chimes and plant pots.  Hopefully today's heat will inspire me to be productive in the craft department, and December won't hit me with such a frenzy of crafting and shopping.

Be Well and Happy Gardening

SHE HAS A SHE SHED BY THE VEGGIE GARDEN

A few weeks ago  I did something crazy, and I don't say that very often. After all, I grow food in my front yard raised beds and used wine bottles to make the borders around my fruit trees

My home "farmers market"

Nine compost bins, 2 tumblers, and 2 worm

bins keep me in free "black gold"

Front yard composting

Along with using my Christmas tree as a trellis

 Bean and pea trellis

Clearly, I don't mind being unique!

There's been something that I've been wanting to do in my back yard for a long time. For the last 15 years I've envisioned an outdoor shower in the back corner of my yard.  It seemed like a perfect spot.  Cool, quiet and fairly private. 

I call this my "Woodland Garden" area

In 2016 I attended a permaculture design course at Quail Springs in Ventura County, California.  Permaculture (permanent agriculture) is working with nature and imitating it's multifunctional capabilities.  It's sustainable, renewable, and regenerative, which fits my lifestyle to a T.
After I returned home from Quail Springs, my desire for an outdoor shower now included a composting toilet, and chickens.  I returned to that "ideal" spot, trying to figure out how to make the corner work for everything.  I added a wooden cage that my son found on the curb to house chickens.  I acquired chicken wire for a chicken run, even cleaned out the entire area, but despite hours of contemplation and months of pondering "what's next", I've never pulled the trigger or moved on.  This month, it was time to move on.  SO..... here's what happened.

I had an AH HA moment.  I was looking at the wrong spot for my shower and composting toilet.  The wheels were turning and I was now envisioning this garden area with a small above ground pool.  The pool could cool us off during the summer and catch rainwater during the off season.  My husband pulled out an underperforming grape vine against our fence (top left).  We placed our 2 grape trellises next to each other, wiring them together for stability.

Grapevine trellis against the fence

The hole in the ground that remained after the grapevine was removed was enlarged and topped with a wooden frame to keep the soil from falling back into the hole. The "she shed" back wall is a recycled piece of wood from an old bookcase

Everything but the toilet

To the right I used my camping shower bag (from my permaculture class) as an outdoor shower.  River rocks were brought in from another area in the yard and the shower curtain was an old one that I had already been using as a tarp.  I added a bar of goat milk soap, and a towel.

Fast forward 3 months and I have my above ground pool.  Thank goodness for a chance to cool off during the hot days of summer.

Small but gets the job done

Despite having my pool up in record time, my "she shed" remains unfinished as a "pee shed".  We have stalled with a hole in the ground. At least the pool worked well over the summer to cool us off, and during the winter I used it to hold almost 900 gallons of rainwater that we used to irrigate plants and clean up the doggie bathroom area.  

Rain gutters direct excess water 

to the swimming pool

Finally, 16 months later, I have an outdoor toilet.  My son built me a "box" for the toilet seat to sit on.  

Isn't she pretty??

This is exactly what I wanted!  The plants have grown in.  I have privacy, comfort, and sustainability.  My son included a bucket of sawdust from the project.  Sawdust (carbon) works with the waste (nitrogen) to give us a great soil amendment.  All I need is magazine rack.

Be well and happy gardening!