Glorious Weather...Thank You Cool Front

Berry bed prepped, weed-block installed

I had a stay-around-the-house-to-get-projects-moved-forward weekend for me.  Pete got a bath and groomed on Friday.  The other 3 dogs got bathed on Saturday along with several washer loads of crate mats and dog towels.  I then concentrated on outside projects including setting up and planting my Happy Mother's Day Earthbox Tomato Kit with 2 solar fire tomato plants.

Earthbox Tomato Kit

Plus plants and soaker hose

Unfortunately the dogs decided that the coconut coir planting medium that came with the Earthbox was a potential food source.  Luckily the Earthbox is on casters so it was easy to wheel outside the back gate on the driveway.  Mike patched up the red cover with duct tape while wondering the impact to the future tomatos of the grey patch on the the red cover.  I also planted two hanging basket tomatoes: 1 cherry and 1 grape style.

Nevermind that the Mississippi River is causing massive flooding just a few miles from here - the yard at Meadowood Ranch is very dry. So Saturday I watered and installed new soaker hoses to create a more efficient means of watering the backyard ornamental beds.

With Stepping Stones and Mulch

Next I tackled the bin part of the new Mantis composter.  Friday evening I put together the frame.  With Mike's help we tightened up the connections and carried the frame to its planned location by the workshop.  The composter bin is partially together except that the remaining steps require a second person. Tuesday maybe?.

Sunday was dedicated to prepping and planting the berry bed.  This bed now has 3 thornless upright blackberry plants and 36 strawberry plants.  A few weeks ago I tore out the strange array of plants in this location.  However, soil prepping (compost, fertilizer, and Amaze), weedblock laying, soaker hose installation, and soil planting were all performed Sunday.