My latest project. We’ve got 10 homes for the tour! Any other AA folks want to add their home to the list?
The money earned from the tour will go to the local elementary school’s Victory Garden. We are hoping that this garden will teach the kids all about sustainability, nutrition, science and how satisfying it is to work for food. India was amazed that I pulled 3 zucchini from our garden the other day. She said “It looks just like what we would get at the store!”
I say that not because they donated seeds, starter trays, and pots to our school but because they really are the best. Friendly, informative staff and they even have popcorn to satisfy the munchies. They also have great selection and good prices. Hey, maybe not Walmart prices. But really, wouldn’t you rather support a local store and have your gardening questions answered?
They are the tops and have been my favorite since I first visited.
I keep getting that question. Oh, and “How are you feeling?” That one too.
Here’s the answer:
This is our friend Anson Holmes the cabinet maker:
This guy has been keeping me quite busy. He is trying to get a nice brochure together and has wrangled 7.5 month pregnant me into the mix. Unlike shooting babies and people, there are deadlines involved with photographing objects. It seems that everyone in that realm wants the final product yesterday. Which is fine with me, since I only have until tomorrow before the baby is here.
So last Monday I photographed this kitchen:
Isn’t that cool wood? Not to mention that Anson designed and built the pulls.
Then Saturday he got me to drive to Woodland Park (only about 2 hours away) to photograph this home:
Some exquisite work and well worth the drive. Not to mention the cool forest the kids got to run through all day. Oh and the Spook House the owner built for Halloweens. But that’s another story.
This is the first year in my life that I feel like our garden is ours. Well, I guess the year in Baltimore I tried to garden is the summer I broke my foot. No gardening after that. Our tomato plants produced 2 tomatoes, but the basil grew like a weed. I think Baltimore is an easier place to garden, though. So much rain, and the trees are HUGE! Here there aren’t as many huge trees. Our neighbor says trees grow very slowly here because of the altitude. Another neighbor told us that most the trees in the city died from some bug or fungus about 15 years ago. And have you heard that all the pines in the mountains of CO are going to die-off within the next 10 years? Crazy. I guess it is in part because fires are not allowed to burn, so an insect is going unchecked. This is all second hand knowledge. I’m sure someone else would be a more reliable source of this kind of information.
In any case, I would like to share with you a few ideas that I have found to make our yard more interesting for the kids… without having a giant, ugly play structure. I found a few awesome sites dedicated to natural playground design. Most the companies do school design. I found one that shows a residence. Oh, you have to check it out… it is so cool.
We aren’t doing anything quite so fancy, but I would like to embed a slide into our little hill out back. In the mean time, as I sell the idea to Zach, I have spent a small amount of dough on other things… the most expensive being the copper chimes. Don’t get me started on that. The kids better play with them! So far, the most popular thing in the yard has been the dirt. But the dirt is our soon to be garden bed. We have already planted the broccoli and cauliflower seedlings, spinach, swiss chard and some mesculin salad seedlings. Oh and seeds for the salad along with chamomile seeds.
Now for some photos:
These are the infamous wind chimes. Although they only make sound when the kids strike them. I think they look pretty great in the landscape. Using vinegar, I was able to patina them a bit. Not yet green, but at least not shiny copper.
These logs will become a balance beam. These thinner ones will be free for the kids to move where they want.
These will eventually have peas growing over them, creating an edible tunnel. We just have to keep Ezra from pulling them out of the ground.
Since the schools are planting right now, I thought we should get our seeds underway. As it stands, we are going to have a ton of thyme and kale. Anyone need some for their garden? We are happy to share.
This container is what the apples from Costco come in. I always think “what a waste of material.” So have never thrown them out. Now I’ve got a use for them. All I had to do was punch a few holes in the bottom with my awl and tape the edges. Not happy about that, as I can’t reuse that stuff. I Jimmy-rigged this fluorescent lamp ($17 at the hardware store) to our bookshelf without drilling anything into it. I think it will work nicely and can be moved up while the plants grow taller. The cover is already off the Kale… it is much taller than the thyme (pictured here)… and has to be watered every day. I want to get some tomatoes and peppers started also but will need a heat pad for that. I keep meaning to get to the thrift store for an electric blanket to use instead of the $30 heat pad. I love that idea.