Was that a phone scam? Or did someone come to the door? Gawd, scary world. They prey on the elderly.
You're showing some very nice work there. I see that vape nearby
Speaking of firewood, not sure what they got planned for this Winter. No one has been out to get wood. Her dad has got plenty of free to go get spots. Have I been asked once to go help get wood in, split? Nope.
Gorgeous.
I have one like that I got from my Father (RIP). When I get a chance I will take a picture. Maybe I will take pics of all I got from Dad. I treat them with the same care he always did because he taught me well.
Sometimes I get a little disappointed when there's not much to pick. Especially for the given space, feels like I should be getting quite a bit. A 20x40 something garden space and the same or less veggies than friends of mine get from those compact 4x8 gardens. Though I guess to be fair some of it's wasted space. I don't have long efficient tightly packed rows, I have a group of this and a group of that trying to fit more variety. And still have space to walk around and amongst everything.
If you get a chance that'd be cool. The older tools were better quality, they're what I can afford vs new high end. And I appreciate the history of them. Not really as a collector, that's not really my hobby. But I find it fascinating to have a tool show up that's easily 103+ years old, still in good condition. And wondering who used it? Someone likely had it in their hand prior to either world war. It survived the dust bowl, at least one world war, vietnam, korea, the great depression. Obviously likely wasn't overseas during those conflicts, just the number of historical periods it went through.
I don't think my dad has much in the way of tools still, though his were different. He has some expensive stuff at one time in a small chest, he was a manual machinist. My stepdad was quite a bit older, though he didn't have a whole ton of his tools left and most were likely general purpose. The ones I remember him having were more automotive, sockets, wrenches and some power tools and things. Nothing overly vintage, lots of craftsman (before they went downhill).
Really nice set to inherit. Just got that Millers Falls jack plane in the mail today. It's already, not terrible though I knew it wasn't their nicer type stuff. Think it's from their value line. My own fault for not paying attention, most of the planes the rear tote has 2 screws. A shorty through the toe and a long machine screw through the entire handle. In their budget cutting what MF decided to do was just leave an empty hole/recess in front without threads and use a rolled brass pin in the handle to rest inside. It doesn't physically tighten down like a screw would just prevents lateral twist of the tote.
I doubt you want or need any advice, but as for the "wasted space", what I would do is put something there, because closely spaced planting, not crowding, helps attract and hold moisture in the area, and change your micro-climate. Even just letting weeds proliferate in the blank spaces, or planting flowers, or creating artistic little rock garden areas, is preferable to empty space, but I'm not sure what you really mean when you refer to wasted space.
It can be hard to let go of the abundance. My friends and I have supper club some Friday nights, pooling our food and trying to impress each other with our recipes. They recently bought me a set of knives, because, they said, my knives are dull. I accepted graciously, but I felt their complaints were ridiculous. I love using my mom's and my grandma's knives I inherited. They like to stand over the pan and cut up a potato right into the pan, for example. I use a cutting board, so there are never any issues of the knife dullness they complain of, and my big knife goes through a tomato without squashing it. Oh well... And I don't have room in the drawer for the new knives, so they have to sit in a pile on the counter.
Mulching is important for holding in moisture, and as it breaks down, it feeds the soil too, but I never felt weeds were necessarily the enemy. I like seeing clover and dandelions. They're easy to pull if you want the space for something else. Johnson grass is beautiful to me. There is a variety of purslane that seems to land on any neglected spot here, pretty little leafy stems. But there are easy things to put in for eating, and watch them go mad, down here including epazote and cilantro. I was just thinking, for Synphul, that empty spaces get hot and dusty, and the soil blows away. Anything is preferable to sterile empty spaces, IMO.
You don't want weeds among your crops, because they're competing for the soil nutrients, hence the mulch, but I tend to think of a lawn as an albatross. Better to get rid of it in favor of wood chips, gravel, pre-made stepping stones, another pretty terrace like your trash bin area you showed, a picnic table, birdbath, whatever. Lawns take a lot of water and drive people crazy. In my aunt's yard, wherever I saw a patch that didn't want to be lawn anymore, I'd dig it up, surround it with rocks, plant something in it. That's how we got a meyer lemon that went nuts and produced fruit the first year, though it was already a nursery start when I brought it home. The terrain tells you what it wants to be. My uncle was good at listening to the land that way. He had a spot that was always muddy, maybe downhill from the neighbor or for whatever reason, and part sun part shade. He built a brick planter around it, added more soil, and planted spearmint, peppermint and lemon balm in it, all which loved growing in that spot.
Congrats on the best lawn on the block. I posted that reply because you seemed to be mad at the crabgrass and clover.
Lobster ?!?!?! Well I guess we must all make sacrifices sometimes
For the wasted space, I just meant that it's not efficient. For example I have a small row of bell peppers, a small row of jalapenos, another small row of jalapenos each with a space in between to walk. Compared to running one long row of just peppers. At the end of the bell pepper row is a low planter with oregano, then a space, then a small raised planter with lettuce, then a space, then my butternut squash. I could have cramped everything together and only had rows in one direction to walk, instead I've left space to walk around each thing.
Thought about that, wish the inner diameter of the recess was a tiny bit smaller. So I could tap it for a smaller diameter screw. Worried by the time I got it tapped the size threads would be a bit large for the little toe area kicked out and might split the tote.
It's as I thought, you are not in need of my advice. That sounds like an enviable garden. Yes, the clay soil, a difficult issue.
