Rabbit!

A rabbit came back this year to our yard! The other rabbit was around for the first year we moved in but left; now we have a new friend. Although, I wish he would stay out of the strawberry patch! lol

Raspberry Wars!

Our neighbours raspberries are way better than ours! They use special compost from the university I think. Look how sad and small ours are...and we planted the same time as the neighbours.

Mock Orange Tree

Our mock orange tree always has nice flowers each early summer. They smell very nice!

Chicken!

We had a visit from a neighbour a few weeks back...chicken! These city chickens have no respect! lol After getting their chicken back the neighbours gave us 6 fresh eggs that were very good!

What is this?

Anyone know what this plant is? It looks nice BUT all unidentified plants will be eliminated just in case the city by-law tries to fine us again!

Bee Block!

I finally built a bee block this spring and it's up and working! Message if you would like to buy one off me!

Fern UPDATE!

The ferns are alive! They survived the move and some even survived being covered in clay on the front side if the house.

New Raised Bed Planters

So this spring we purchased a new miter saw! So first thing I wanted to build were some raised bed planters.

So I got a load of Cedar.

And started to build. It's my first time working with wood so extensively so big learning curve. Also in this pic you can see my new cordless drill!

Done one... 

 Done two! I designed them so you can push the support stakes into the ground to hold them in place.

 I sold these two on Facebook like the same day I made them just from bragging. I'm building all kinds of stuff for the house, yard and garden now.

Have a great day!
Ian

Great Fern Move of 2015

So about a month ago I decided to save and move some Ferns from the front of the yard where we are doing some landscaping to the back yard. I got the 2 biggest bunches and 2 smaller ones I think. The big bunches have big seed pods on them so I hope even if they don't survive the move so late in the season that the seeds will start new next year.

 I found a worm in the roots of the Ferns. We have a large amount of worms in our yard so anytime I dig up anything I find worms.

 Here they are on the north side of out garage. I know they like shade and I hope they do fine here.

Unfortunately, most of the leaves have died off but I still have hopes the seeds will take hold.

Have a great day,
Ian

Dead Strawberry Plants ALIVE!

So last year we dumped our strawberry plants out of the pots into the back yard. They were not doing very well because they didn't like wintering in the pots even though I kept them in the garage covered and off the floor.

Just last week I found a berry growing off one of the 4 plants that survived the winter outside.

 The area looked like hell so I decided to clean it up.

 Then I decided to go step further because I found a bunch of runners under the weeds.

 I put a raised bed planter box around it made of cedar with some cardboard to help stop the weeds.

 To my surprise I found a second strawberry under the leaves. My wife is upset because I ate both of them and didn't save any for her BUT as you can see there are a few more strawberries already on the way!

 The finally product looks good although I think by the end of next year this planter may be full of plants...but that is ok!

Have a great day!
Ian

Spring is Coming!

Spring is Coming!

So...I have no plan for this growing season!

If I see berry plants at the store this year I will by a few and just drop them in the yard some place.

I also need to work on my landscaping and drainage around the house. There are a few big cracks in our foundation caused by a tree right next to the house that was cut down before we moved in. This 60 year old house has all the dirt settling around it and now all the rain water flows to the house not away.

When the grading is done the platforms for rain collection barrels can be installed. Although, I really don't think I will get this far this year.

We have some other drainage issues around the yard that may need fixing also in addition to the creation of a second parking stall for my truck.

I love the idea of raised beds but along with that I want plants that will grow every year with very little tending or replanting. I have heard a bit about "Survival Gardens".

Survival Gardens seem to be from the prepper community as a way to have a secret garden in plane sight. Why can't the average person with a yard do a similar thing? I'm not necessarily looking to make it secret but maintenance free would be great!

I'm going to order this book to get me started!




Have a great day!
Ian

2015 Berry Bush Plans

This spring before I got sick I did manage to do one thing in the yard and that is move a "wild" Raspberry bush. This Raspberry bush was way in the back of the yard next to the ally way were the garbage is put behind the garage. The bush was amazing for the 2012 and 2013 growing seasons but we didn't get to pick from it very much because it was forgotten at it's old location.

I had to chip away at the concrete and asphalt to dig it up. The ally is to the left and I'm standing on the end of the drive way. The garbage goes right on that concrete just on the right side in this picture so it's not very pleasing to pick here.

Then I picked a nice spot on the front side of the garage in the main back yard. You can see the back of the house in this picture below.

To go along with the moved Raspberry bush we plan to plant a few more varieties of barry bushes in the back yard. Basically we want it overgrown with berry bushes so we don't have that much useless lawn to cut. Bellow are a few berry bushes they had at the local Home Depot that we may get for next spring.

Blackberry plants at the Home Depot

Blueberry plants at the Home Depot

Red Raspberry plants at the Home Depot

Yellow Raspberry plants at the Home Depot

 With luck these new additions will all give berries at slightly different times of the year so we can have berries more often.

Have a great day!
Ian

Over Grown Garden Invaded!

Since I was so sick this summer and spent some time in the hospital I didn't get a chance to keep up with my plans for yard work and expanding the garden. This fall just before it got really cold in early November our back garden area was invaded!

A stray orange and white cat was found sun bathing in the tall grass and on the pallets I plan to use for my compost bin.

Now that the snow is on the ground we can see his tracks criss crossing our back yard just about 20 feet to the right of these pictures.

Below is a picture of how that garden area should look when the weeds are cut! This is from the opposite side of the yard in this perspective I was standing on the left behind the pallet pile (the drive way) and the stray cat was on the far right next to the fence.

Have a great day!
Ian

Tower Garden

Well it's only November and I'm already thinking about the next growing season.

As part of our first steps to gardening I plan on buying a Tower Garden. A Tower Garden is a compact hydroponic garden system that can be used indoors or outdoors.

Tower Garden Source: http://ianhopfe.towergarden.ca

This is a great alternative for people that:

Don't have time - Since it can be put indoors in your most commonly visited room you can check it and harvest as you pass by.

Don't have space - Great for condo or apartment dwellers where space is at a premium.

Don't have the gardening green thumb - Just take the time to set it up properly and then let it go only checking as needed.

Don't have the mobility or energy - Disabled, injured, or elderly this takes you out of the garden, out of the elements, and off your knees because it is up high and weedless!

Don't have the gardening climate - If you live where the growing season it short this allows you to have fresh veggies all year long.

It's a little pricy up front but they allow you to make 12 equal payments. When you compare the monthly cost along with the added cost of store bought veggies to the savings your get with time, space, skill, mobility, and climate it's worth the low monthly investment. In your second year of use the savings is even greater as the unit it totally paid off!

Buy your Tower Garden today!

Tower Garden Source: http://ianhopfe.towergarden.ca

Have a great day!
Ian

First post, First post!

Hi,


I will be documenting my urban farm building and home sustainability projects here on this blog.

My wife and I bought out first house in the summer of of 2011. We did some basic renos to expand a washroom on the second floor and installed new water lines and a hot water tank.

We found out we have a sewer line problem caused by our new low-flush toilets...not fun when you think you're doing something good for the environment. This is cost money to fix and in the mean time we must not be stingy with our water usage to keep the lines running...exactly what we where trying NOT to do!

After we save to fix the sewer line we also have to save some big money to build an income suite in our basement. Out first plan to save money is to rent out our spare bedroom on the main floor. Our second plan to save money is to find ways to reduce power and gas consumption in the home. After we fix the sewer line we will save on water consumption also.

This year I will be attempting simple home projects and preparing the yard/garden for our first home garden season spring 2013. I was hoping to begin growing a full garden this year but we have just decided to do a few containers. The job of preparing the soil, compost, raised garden beds, rain barrels, fixing some fences, minor landscaping around the house, and a little bit of demolition in the basement will be more that enough work for us this summer.

I hope I get everything done this summer/fall and then have a very relaxing winter before the full on grow season happens.

-Ian