So much has happened since I returned from the hiking trip with my husband’s family. Let’s make some elderflower syrup while I catch up up a bit. We’d only been gone a few days but grass had taken over everywhere. Sunflowers urgently needed to go into the ground, so I prepared beds for them. I also made a whole lot of elderflower syrup.

100 A year restoring the garden

written by Kate on in all home garden year02

A year ago, I adopted neglected land to restore and enjoy while we live in an apartment nearby. So much has happened since.

I restored the garden house–well, mostly. We cleaned up endless amounts of trash and cut free trees and paths. We also added a second plot. Even more has happened there. But let’s go back to the beginning.

098 Vacation prep

written by Kate on in all home garden year02

Things take more time with a splint on one hand. And with only six days until my vacation, time was short. I made the best of the last days to stay on top of weeds, free up some strawberry plants, and get the last seedlings into the ground.

097 A rhubarb BBQ

written by Kate on in all home garden recipe year02

When I got a chance to harvest a lot of free rhubarb, I ignored both my injury and the vacation preparations to make a rhubarb BBQ sauce, some rhubarb syrup, and a sweet treat. While I share it all, I ramble on about the myth of the Tragedy of the Commons.

093 Soil blocking on a tiny scale

written by Kate on in all home year02

The garden is waking up. Spring is here. And I only have two weeks left until my hiking trip. We leave for a week at the end of May. This puts a deadline on a lot of my garden projects. I was also almost out of plastic trays. So, I decided to try soil blocking.

091 Potatoes, rain or shine

written by Kate on in all home garden year02

My potatoes had been ready to plant for a while, and I had to get the potato beds finished to plant them. The weather didn’t cooperate, so we dug Irish potato beds in the rain. The next day was a sunnier garden day with more bed-prep and potato planting. Potatoes rain or shine!

088 I have a greenhouse now

written by Kate on in all home garden year02

With my husband back at work, I set out to finish the greenhouse alone. I had to get it done before the wind got too strong–and didn’t like the time pressure at all. The next day, with more time pressure, I put up the rain collection system.

086 Building a storage bench

written by Kate on in all home year02

It’s time to tackle that indoor list. Our living room has been an absolute mess, so I’m building a storage bench for the hallway. I also deal with about 50 eggs from the garden neighbor, and use the egg cartons for my potatoes.

081 Spring? Dirt and trash!

written by Kate on in all home garden year02

Spring is still playing tug-o-war with the remnants of winter here. But the occasional warmer days have me preparing for warmer days to come soon. I clean up our balcony, drive off more trash from the overgrown plot, and make very simple grilled-cheese sandwiches.

079 Trying to bake German cheesecake

written by Kate on in all home year02

With the outside world still wet and gray, I get a lot done indoors while dreaming about garden work. As I’d been craving some cheesecake, I decided to bake some from scratch–something that I hadn’t done in over a decade. It did not quite go as planned.