If you have a nosey neighbor and live in a neighborhood where houses are close together, and there really isn’t a way to block them out yet, this might be a good solution for you. We recently planted some privacy plants along the fence to act as a taller privacy wall but we need to wait for that to fill in. So in the mean time, we decided to add a privacy wall on the deck itself.
We have done a lot of gardening this year, and wanted to add some decorations from the kids as keepsakes. We bought a kit for stepping stones at the craft store and decorated it with the stones that came with it, had them put their handprints on it and carved their name and year. They look great in the garden and stand out with the colors.
The other thing that I made from the unexpected bounty of cayenne peppers that we got in the farm share was Homemade Frank’s Red Hot. This recipe doesn’t make very much, but it could easily be doubled, tripled…..you get the idea. It’s super easy and quick.
Each year I try a new plant or two. This year, I found seed potatoes on sale and thought that I would at least try them. I followed the directions on the box for the seed potatoes, which basically involved cutting each of the potatoes into about 1 inch pieces, each with one eye (sprout). I left them on the counter overnight.
I had a couple of plastic pots from last year that didn’t hold up very well. I cut rectangular holes out of the sides of the one that was in worse condition so that I would be able to see the progress or get some potatoes out without disturbing the others. I put that pot inside the pot that without the holes cut in it.
I LOVE growing vegetables. I usually start seeds indoors around March so that I’m ready to transfer the plants outdoors when the weather turns warm enough in May.
This year, we decided that we would try raised garden beds. Honestly, it was a decision made mostly out of laziness. We have a rototiller but the soil in our yard has so much clay that we end up having to add a bunch of sand just to make it workable and I hate having to sift out grass and rocks.
Along our back fence is the spot in the yard that gets the most sun, so that is the spot that we picked. We started with one bed. We found a good deal on standard concrete blocks. I thought that I would be able to grow some smaller plants (maybe onions or herbs?) in the holes of the concrete blocks. We stacked the blocks 2 high. I wanted to make sure that it was high enough that we would be able to use tomato cages for our tomato plants.
I made this simple outdoor decoration for fall/winter by using a piece of plywood and couple small pieces of scrap wood. I lined up the scrap pieces on a diagonal with one on either side that would create the hat for both sides. I used a few nails on either side to adhere the scrap wood to the plywood. On the scarecrow side, I stained the wood a lighter stain for the face and a darker stain for the hat.