Spring Projects: Mushroom Garden and More...

4/3/2015

Bear Here...

It's getting kinda scary around here. Usually Theresa gets some ideas and I go along with them to, you know, keep her happy... you know... This year the projects seem interesting, I am interested in getting them started. Next thing you know I will be the one with the ideas and it will be complete and organized AnArChY!! ... OK I'm better now... Here are some of our plans to get done by next Winter.

Garden project #1, Mushroom garden: Yep, last year I wouldn't eat the things, this year we are going to grow them in our yard. We answered a Craig's list ad from Eric near Dodgeville. He is selling around 1000 logs that were innoculated with shiitaki mushroom spores last year. We bought nine. We should get at least two harvests a year for four years if things go well.

Nice car, thinks it's a truck.

Theresa, keeping the logs damp so we haven't wasted our money.

Keeping them shaded until we can find the perfect spot and better shading material.

Garden project #2 : Gardens in Stock Tanks. We have had wilting problems with our tomatoes and other plants. People tell us the problem is in the soil so we are going to start new gardens in stock tanks on the other sunny side of the yard. We are buying a couple of stock tanks and a LOT of dirt for the project. Theresa knows more about this one than I do.

Big outdoor project: Expand the Catio. We built a 8' x 10' x 8' cage on the house so the cats could go out when they want and be safe. This year we will put up a fenced area in the back yard and connect it to the Catio so the cats have more room and we have more of a chance to be in there with the cats. The trick is going to be connecting them and making doors that the cats can't get out of but unlucky squirrels and humans can. If we could, we would fence in the whole yard for the play area. Wish us luck.

Catio, freshly built in 2010.

A playground for all seasons. (Yes, the cats want to go outside in the snow too.)

Expansion area.

Big Indoor project: Nicer Tornado Shelter. Theresa likes to be prepared for disasters, with emergency supplies and shelter. When the tornado alarm goes off we head to the unfinished basement to wait it out. Usually it sucks because the basement collects dirt and spiders. When our water heater broke a couple weekends ago, we cleaned out the big room of our basement for the first time to make room for a new water heater, then decided to whitewash it since we could actually see the walls. It looks a lot better! Now we need to clear out the small room, do some wall fixing and get it organized so we are willing to use the basement more often.