This Year's Garden

Each year how the garden will do is an unknown.  Some years turn out better than others.  This year, actually, was better than the last couple of years.

There had been a lot going on so we were a little late getting the garden in this year.  Blaubeere, who is  much more into gardening that we are, had given us a number of things that she's had success with and we put them in.  It was looking good.

We were only a couple of days later than normal.  By mid-June it was all in and growing nicely.  Couldn't be too late because our growing season is not terribly long in this part of the county.

But by the end of June things were coming along quite well.

We were getting more blossoms on more plants, always a good sign.

We were getting enough rain that we didn't have to go out and water so often.  Rain seems to be better for gardens that watering.  Maybe its the more natural distribution of the water.  I dunno.

By mid-August we began getting stuff, produce type stuff.  Blaubeere had given us some blackberry bushes that put out fruit this year.  That was nice.  Not a lot but it was promising.

We also began getting tomatoes and zucchini, which Brombeere really likes.

As the summer progressed the blossoms continued to grow and turn into stuff.  More and more tomatoes.

Pretty soon we were getting enough tomatoes that Brombeere was beginning to feel hard pressed to keep up with them.  She likes tomatoes but didn't want to have to can any, summer was already busy enough without adding that to the mix. 

We even got a few currents from the current bush Blaubeere had given us.

And the rains kept coming.  Not too much, but at a good, steady pace that was good for the garden.

Every couple of days Brombeeree went out and brought in more tomatoes.

They were the star producer this year.

Then it was getting close to the time that we were leaving for a couple of weeks.  We had checked the long range weather forecast and knew that it would probably freeze before we got back so she went out and picked everything that was far enough along to ripen in the house.  That turned out to be a lot.  Since Schwartzbeere was going to be home while we were gone, Brombeere charged him to eat enough tomatoes that none spoiled.

Unfortunately, Schwartzbeere is not as big a fan of tomatoes as Brombeere and when we got back there were a few spoiled ones in the boxes.

But there were still a lot of good ones left, plenty enough to keep Brombeere happy and feeling like she'd done really well with the garden this year.

So by late October it was time to trim everything back and get the garden space ready for winter and all the snow that we usually get.

And then it snowed.  But the garden was really good while it lasted.  This year was much better than many of the other summers we've tried to keep a garden.  Brombeere was happy with it.

The Pump Cover

When we bought our present house it had an underground sprinkling system already installed.  That was nice.  And it had its own outdoor pump so it didn't run on city water.  That was real nice as it kept the cost of watering the yard down.  The pump was out in the backyard, way in the back corner of the yard, under a little "dog house" cover.  We had no idea how old the system was, or the cover, but they were obviously not new when we moved in.

But it was out there, in the corner of the yard, out in the weather, rain or shine, winter, summer, fall, and spring, faithfully covering the pump, not getting much attention at all.

I don't know if the previous owners ever painted it, I know we never did.  It didn't get any attention at all except twice a year when it was time to either start up or shut down the system.  Then the lid would get moved off while the service people did what they needed to do to either prime the pump and get it started in the spring or shut it off and blow the lines for winter.  When they were done the lid went back on and it would sit again until next time.  

So it sat there, exposed to the elements year-round, aging and deteriorating, year after year.  It would occasionally get bumped while mowing the lawn, but otherwise it got left alone. 

Several years ago it began attracting attention because it was gradually rotting, moving closer and closer to just collapsing as it aged. A couple of years ago Himbeere offered to rebuild it but I didn't want to trouble him because I knew it would be at least a day's work, if not more.  There was also the expense of getting the material to rebuild it, which, even though it wouldn't be a lot, it would be time consuming to figure out what we needed and actually get the stuff.  

But then one day Himbeere went out and made a simple drawing of the cover and got some rough  measurements, the first step.  So, figuring we'd try to get all the materials before the next time Himbeere visited, Schwartzbeere and I finished out the drawing and measurements and went and got all the stuff.

By the time Himbeere came back, a couple of weeks later, we had everything ready to start construction.  Schwartzbeere was home that day so the two of them got started.  We had been figuring to build a cover that was a little more sturdy than the old one.  The two of them put in about three hours work and got as far as getting the bottom half pretty much done before Himbeere ran out of time and had to leave.  As he left he commented that he was surprised it was taking so long but I wasn't surprised.  I had done this kind of thing before and knew it was going to take a while.

But they had made good progress and got the bottom part pretty much done.  So during the following week I took the bottom out to to the pump and tried putting it in place, just to make sure it would fit.  The bad news was it was too small.  It wouldn't quite fit over the pump and all the pipes that go with the system.  Later, when Schwartzbeere was home, we went back out and did some more measuring.  Then we looked at the material we had and how we could enlarge it with the least amount of waste, using as much as possible of what we had already.  

On a Saturday when we had plenty of time, the two of us did the work of taking the bottom part apart and rebuilding it a little bigger. It was still a bit of work and took us all the time Schwartzbeere had that day before he had to go to work. But we got it far enough along that we were able to get to a good stopping place.  We had the bottom part all done again and the lid framed up. It was a good place to stop.

During the next week I went out one day and finished the lid, as far as getting it ready to put the shingles on.  Then the next Saturday Schwartzbeere and I put the shingles on and finished it all up.  

Then, a few days later, I took both parts out back and put them in place.  It fit this time, a very happy thing. Brombeere decided she wanted to paint it so it would last a little better so she went and got some nice, forest green paint and began painting.  She even put on primer, which was a good thing, the wood we had used was pretty thirsty. 

But two coats of primer and two coats of paint later, it was all done.  A much better looking little dog house now, ready to keep the pump out of the weather for years to come.  I suspect this cover will last much longer than the last one.

It took us quite a bit longer to do than Himbeere ever imagined it would take but we have a very nice little pump cover now.  The guy will be here in another week or so to shut the system down for the winter.  I wonder if he'll notice.  I suspect he will, if only because it's a bit heavier than the old cover. It will take a little bit more effort to get the lid off.