Why I Oughta...

Recently, we had twelve steaming yards of hardwood fines mulch delivered to our driveway from Best Firewood and Mulch - the same folks who deliver our firewood.  That's the delivery in the video at the top of this post showing the driver doing a little bit of 'jiggling' with his lifted bed to get all of the mulch to drop.  Nine years ago, I posted a similar video of ten yards of mulch that was dropped on our old driveway.  You can watch that video here .  This new mulch is destined for the beds that I pointed out in my recent garden tour post  and will fill in the spots between the front (where we're doing the cocoa bean hull mulch) and the far back (where I've been doing the wood chips from the Villag e). I have a seven cubic yard cart (wheelbarrow...but not a traditional wheelbarrow).  There are 27 cubic feet in a yard.  Let's figure that it takes four carts to get that yard.  Twelve x four per yard = 48 carts lugged into the back and side yard.  Ther

One of my social distancing projects has been to keep working my way through the processing the firewood rounds that I picked up late last year.  Right after Christmas, I posted some photos of some of the split rounds and mentioned that some of them were very yellow and believed that they were Mulberry wood .  That belief (that it was Mulberry tree wood) was based on a couple of posts on the Firewood Hoarders Club site.  This one .  And this one .  Both have photos.  Have a peek at those posts.  Then come back and look at the photos in this post.  Same wood, right?  Down to the more whitish ring that appears at the very outside edge.  The white line is more prominent in the photo below: The Hoarders Club members say that it burns long and hot and makes great firewood.  I have a few rounds that I've split and a couple more left.  Unlike the Ash trees that I took, this Mulberry tree was live when it was cut down.  So, it is VERY heavy.  And wet.  The Ash can be burned almost

Social Distancing means that we can't go to the store for anything other than groceries, but it doesn't mean that I can't putter around in the garden.  For me, that means that this year, I'm going to try something new:  growing some annual flowers from seeds.  Normally, we buy a set of annuals - like Zinnias - for our front beds and plant them out front of the boxwoods.  This year - I came across a seed set online and grabbed it.  But, when to plant?  It seems that Menards always puts out their seeds right after Christmas.  But, that's too early for us. This piece from Gardener's Supply Company talks about when to start your seeds : they recommend different times for different varieties.  This piece from the Bump talks about sowing seeds indoors 4-5 weeks before the last frost in your zone .  For gardeners like me in the Western Suburbs of Chicago...when is that? According to MorningChores.com, our last frost is April 7th to 30th .  Let's use that date o

Well, that escalated quickly.  A little more than a week ago, I posted a photo showing the result of a five gallon bucket full of free wood chips/mulch from the Village of Downers Grove. Today, I've made 15 trips to what we're calling the 'mulch pit'.  I've gone all-in on the free wood chips/mulch for the very far back of our yard.  This is an area that I've done absolutely nothing to over the past few years and just let go natural. I've cobbled together a series of buckets, trugs and one garbage can that I believe - when filled - total about 9 cubic feet of mulch.  That's about 1/3rd of a yard each trip.  15 trips = 5 yards.  I'm not quite 50% of the way done across the back of the yard, but with the social distancing being extended for another 30 days, that means that I might be able to get the far backyard covered in this weed barrier before I end up getting back to the office.   I figure that I'll need about 20 more trips to get all the

I've been hanging onto this screenshot Via Adam Kuban on his Instagram stories for a number of months in preparation for times *just* like these.  Being stuck at home, I figured it was time to try something like this.  The problem?  I didn't have a ton of peppers, so I improvised.  The recipe calls for 5 chilies - and it looks like Adam Kuban used jalapenos.  I had one jalapeno on hand.  And a couple of Fresno peppers.  And a bell pepper.  So, I used them all.  I also didn't have coriander seeds, so I just tossed in a little ground coriander.  I've posted about Adam Kuban before - who is someone that I watch like a hawk when it comes to pizza.  He's both great at knowing/sharing/talking pizza and seems like a pretty great dude at the same time.  But, I haven't posted about the other guy mentioned in his story. These are courtesy of "International Pizza Consultant" Anthony Falco - who you can find on Instagram @ millenium_falco . As for

More social distancing and filling my lumber order for delivery from Menards today.  This is the third in the series of posts that are mostly about getting my order straightened out for lumber based on some upcoming projects.  First was the wooden garden obelisk .  Then the Versailles Orangerie Planter box .  Today is the lumber for a Wave Hill(ish) Garden Chair.  I mentioned adding chairs like this for the first time last year in December .  And revisited it in this post where I found a reference photo on Reddit that showed a modification of 2 boards to 3 boards for the seat/back.  For lumber ordering, I'm using the dimensions of this chair and the cut list tool .  Here's what I've come up with for the 2x2's based on the cut list tool . [1] → 27" (x4) [2] → 20" (x4) [3] → 11" (x2) [4] → 26" (x2) [5] → 3.5" (x2) Lumber list:  1. 12 2x2 square edge 36" spindles. 2.  2 1x6' for back and seat (doing 3 instead of 2 like thi

Yesterday, I posted (for my own thinking) a lumber order for the building of a Versailles Orangerie Planter box and mentioned that it was one of a couple of projects I'm thinking about as part of our social distancing program.  I recently received the catalog from Gardeners Supply Company - which is a joy to read right now - and saw this large cedar obelisk.  They're asking $199.00 for what seems to be a pretty " good quality item ".  But, I know that I can beat that price if I built them myself. Here's the Gardener's Supply Company Obelisk.  This is NOT my photo - it is via their catalog here: Source via Gardener's Supply . As for the 'why' add an obelisk, well...I'm not totally sure just now, but thinking about growing something like hops.  We had Golden Hops planted in our yard back in Elmhurst and I liked having them grow up a trellis.  It took a couple of seasons to get them to grow vertically, but by the time we moved, they

All this social distancing and being on quarantine has me putting together a lumber delivery from the fine folks at Menards.  Or...at least assuming that *if* I put a lumber order in that they will deliver it.  The list of 'essential' jobs and stores includes hardware stores, so I'm thinking that they're open? There are a few projects that I included in my 2020 to-do list including a raised planter or a Versailles box.   With all the time spent at home, I've also added another project or two to my list:  a garden obelisk and a boardwalk.  More on both of those at some point. Today, I'm thinking - once again - about the Versailles planter box that we first saw at Luxembourg Gardens in Paris .   Why?  Because I recently came across this photo on Instagram that features a couple of the Orangerie boxes: View this post on Instagram Love this pair of Versailles boxes, with their wonderful metal topia

A few days ago, I shared the list of bare root trees that The Growing Place is taking pre-orders on during the month of March and included on that list was something called an American Serviceberry Autumn Brilliance.   I had not previously come across that particular variety, but due to the whole 'social distancing' dynamic going on this past week, we've done a few family walks down to the park and pond near us.  On one of those recent walks, I saw this multi-stemmed shrub (or what I figured was a shrub) and then noticed the little yellow tag on one of the branches.  I peep'd at it.  And did a double-take.  It is an American Serviceberry.  Funny, right?  Having not even heard of such a tree/shrub before this week, now I've come across it twice in five days.  (Note:  I've blurred out the house in the photo just to provide some semblance of privacy here...) This specimen on our block is heavily multi-stemmed - as you can see.  It has branching very low on t