We are building a creative, utilitarian life inside an old Victorian( built in 1898) in the historical "Ghosttown" district of Oakland, CA. This blog chronicles our experiences renovating this magnificent antique home and how we learn new ways to build, plant, create and explore our creativity. We'll share our tips and insights with you on how we rehabilitate, remake and refinish this old house so it will last another 100 years in style.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Patio for the Secret Garden
Andrea and I have finally found an area in the backyard that seems the most private. It also isn't an area to grow anything well and sits partially underneath the sweet smelling lemon tree. For the past few months, we've placed our cheapo white plastic patio chairs in this area and found we could survey the entire yard from here. So we decided that we would make a patio. We are toying with the idea of using old bricks from fireplaces in the area or perhaps a flagstone with ground cover. I read that this is a good way to keep weeds down and sort of fits the style of the house and yard.
The first pic is the current area that has been leveled followed by the vision of our new patio. Anybody know where we could get free flagstone?
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Saturday, July 23, 2011
'maters & bumbles
I know, it's all about the backyard these days.
What a difference -April
June
July
The yellows in the hanging basket on the deck are doing well.
George put a little trellis sort of short fence to contain the nasturtium. The ladybird cosmos in the flower planter are blooming like crazy!
Look what I found in the flower today - looks like a bumble napping to me.
We now have 4 'maters growing as I found a new teeny one this morning.
It looks like we are getting our first successful zucchini. It's a learning process as the blossoms only open in the morning and helping them along by manually pollinating them is a little tricky. The 'male' and 'female' blossoms have not been open at the same time until yesterday.
What a difference -April
June
July
The yellows in the hanging basket on the deck are doing well.
George put a little trellis sort of short fence to contain the nasturtium. The ladybird cosmos in the flower planter are blooming like crazy!
Look what I found in the flower today - looks like a bumble napping to me.
We now have 4 'maters growing as I found a new teeny one this morning.
It looks like we are getting our first successful zucchini. It's a learning process as the blossoms only open in the morning and helping them along by manually pollinating them is a little tricky. The 'male' and 'female' blossoms have not been open at the same time until yesterday.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Watching the Garden Grow
I love all the veggies and flowers we've planted in our backyard.
Our recently acquired mint (thanks again Claire) seems to be doing well in the container I planted it in. I put some leaves in our lemon water and the mint really adds a nice flavor.
Our first baby tomatoes are getting bigger.
Basil & Oregano are doing okay. I read the key is full sun and well-drained soil. The oregano is 'flowering' and I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do...
The Ladybird Cosmos we planted from seeds have done exceptionally well and the flower buds have started blooming.
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