Yartening.....(yard, art, and garden)

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Pippen Penelope Park

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 4, 2017
Messages
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2
Location
Southwest usa
I'm a real homebody.  So, in order to keep myself busy when I'm around the house, I do stuff.  It keeps me busy, and keeps my mind off of whatever........

So many pictures.......  https://goo.gl/photos/tH5gkL4H712NvMo17
 

I don't know how to weld, I just started doing it when I was younger.  It's actually really simple with a wire feed welder, and for $100, a trip to a harbor freight tool store, and a few minutes of watching some youtube videos on the topic, anyone can do it.  (Just for the purpose of art/minor repairs, anything "structural", ie., car frame, trailer hitch, etc. I'd say get some time on your hands before you attempt that.  The hardest part about welding is cutting the metal, and that's not hard, it's just a loud, stinky, mess.)  
I have a bunch more gates I'm planning on making.

Gardening, anyone can garden!  I'm copying a guy who's coined the phrase "Back to Eden".  Wow!  I'm not religious, and have a hard time listening to people preach..........but I can listen to this guy all day!  So logical................totally changed the way I think about the food at the store, and what makes food "good/healthy" to eat.  I grew up in Silicon Valley, and never did any gardening in my life until about three or so years ago.  Just by watching youtube videos on the topic.  I still suck, and it's hard when all of three months of the year are over 100 degrees, but I'm getting better and learning more.  I've lost a ton of stuff this year, (I kind of lost all interest when July hit, and wasn't watering as much as I should have been).  I've planted at least 30 fruit and nut trees in less the last year as well.  It's on 1/3 of an acre.
I've converted my in ground swimming pool into a chicken/duck coop, and have the yards fenced off into zones so I can keep everything organized.  
It's a never ending project.  Thank god.  lol
Here's the guy that I really enjoy watching.  

I'm just bored, and proud, and only a few people have ever seen any of it in person.  

:)
 
Hey triple P, I looked through your pics and I like the spider web themed gate.  I also have one of those harbor freight welders, but just haven't gotten around to making anything with it.  I still have my lathe and lathe/mill combo that I need to get up and running (missing two parts and been kinda difficult to find) so that will take precedence then I hope to start mucking around with the welder.

I liked the canning you've been doing.  I just did my first jar of pickles today (thanks to the prodding from a member, she swore it would be easy to do (thanks, C :) ) I just need to get more mason jars, and I'll be in the canning business ;)

Anyway, just wanted to say I enjoyed your pics.  Show more of your stuff if you get chance.
 
You did an amazing job! The photos feel like a hidden, magical, storybook kind of place. Wish i could come and visit!
 
@ beautiful loser,

That's cool about the lathes, and mills.  I read in your profile you're a fabricator (I'd assume since those aren't regular handyman tools).  
What have you cranked out before with them?  If anything.  
I don't even know how I'd live without a welder now.  I bought mine (it's a Lincoln 110v) probably around 1993 or so.  Other than refilling the wire, and changing tips (very infrequently) it's worked flawlessly since then.  I don't use it but once in a while, but it's been extremely reliable.  I've always used flux in the wire vs gas.  Gas is even better/cleaner and not much more of an investment).  I've heard good things about the harbor freights, and my neighbor has one that works great from what he says.  I'd have started with one if Harbor Freight had existed back then, or if it was in my town.
You'll have to post up some pictures when you get around to playing with yours.

LIARS!!!!!  Whoever says canning is easy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  j/k   :p
****, I have a new found respect for the amount of work that goes into the whole process!
To do that set of jars, and it was my first time ever doing it, (the peppers turned out awesome by the way) took me two full ten plus hour days over a hot stove.  If I remember right it was literally freezing outside, and about half way thorough each day, I had the heater in the house off, the windows open, and it was still too friggin hot inside (there were three burners on the stove on all day, and the big pot had a constant rolling boil of about five plus gallons of water in it at all times).  The prep work of dicing........oh my gosh........I was cutting for days.  Not to mention peeling tons of garlic.........ugh, the labor of it all.
Sorry to cry, but give anyone who cans credit.  It's work.
Have fun with it, I don't mean to be a downer, I'm sure I'll give it a go again if I have that much surplus again.

Thanks for the kind words.....I need to get motivated to get out and make some more stuff, and it'll help.

Don't encourage me........I'm a bit of a show off, lol.

Thanks again.


@ dead,

Thank you very much, that is the look I was originally going for.

Now that I'm so dark and bitter and hateful inside........

it's now an ANTI-tale themed garden.  I plan on making everything more evil and more gloomy from here on out!

:)

Just for fun, though.

I might throw in a few more steel sunflowers...........those do make me smile.

:)

You can come visit anytime, but I'm renting my house and living in a class C rv on the side of the house with four dogs inside...........it ain't pretty in here.   :p   So, you'll probably want to find accommodations elsewhere.......  

and thank you for your kind words as well.  Much appreciated.
 
No, I was never a true fabricator, just like to make stuff.  I'm in quality control now, but I used to run CNC and manual equipment.  Got bored with CNC...anybody can run that and do offsets...I wanted to be a tool and die maker, but most places want at least 8 to 10 years experience!  So, I gave it up and started getting into the quality control part of machining and I like it.  Stuff I machined/fabricated on the lathes/mills were parallel bars, angle blocks, tap handles, a few gear shift knobs, bearing pullers to name a few.

I only did my one jar, so had to reduce every bit of the recipe.  I understand there are some parts of canning..from what I've read...that can be a PITA, time-wise.  And will stay away from pressure canning.  I'm just going to stick to pickles, onions and mushrooms for now.
 
It always seems like it would be a neat job to run a CNC machine.  It probably gets old like everything else, but it's satisfying (to me anyway) to actually make something tangible.  Paper, and screen never appealed much to me, but to each their own.  There's a lot more money in the latter.
You're probably really detail oriented if you're doing the quality control thing.  From people I've known who are, they seem to be good at most things.  Details are the devil!!!!  ugh, such a pain.  lol  Glad to hear you enjoy your job.  

That's cool about the cucumbers/pickles (pun intended).  Mushrooms and onions!  Yummy, never had onions pickled that I know of, but that sounds really good.  Hmmmmm, I grew about 100 onions this year......some of them are rotting underground because I didn't get to them.....I never even thought about canning them.  Thanks for the idea.  I'm going to plant 200 for next year!!!!!  (I eat A LOT of onions, and they're sooooo easy to grow here).

Good luck with it all, and it would be cool if you posted some of it up here if you get the chance.  I made a bunch of embarrassing videos of the whole process.  (I'm kind of a video making fool).  Maybe if I get drunk enough I'll link them up here.  I have a whole youtube channel devoted to the garden (although I haven't posted/updated anything since spring).



Josh
 
I may not know Yart...but I know what I like ;-)

Pretty awesome. Since I totally and royally suck as a creative person, I stand in awe in front of people who are agile at making stuff. Including plants (I killed my little plant in third grade).
 
Thanks Richard! I'm feeling needy these last two months, so it's nice to hear.

You know what though, I believe you'd be better than me at it. I can't even draw a stick figure freehand (or with a ruler for that matter!!!!). Everything I make is a super simple design, and the hard part is actually putting the time in to make it happen. I think that's where most people have the trouble, either finding the motivation, or the courage to go pick something up and give it a try. I normally have to do a google search of images to get an idea of how I'm going to do something, and then elaborate a little as to how I'll make it work for me. Most of my stuff is a copy of something I liked (the cobweb, and the sunflowers for example).

I suck at plants, but I keep trying, and I keep getting better. The best thing about an annual vegetable garden is that everyone's fails every year once winter hits! It's going to fail, know it's going to fail at some point. Just give it a go, and see how far you can get it before it does!!!!!!! I lost more than half of my hundreds of plants this year, and I'm totally cool with it. Alright, I might be a little pissed off about it! :)
There's something to be said for having your hands in the dirt, and being outside working.

I dare you to grow a mammoth sunflower. Just one.
and if you want it to be killer.......
Use "Ocean Forest" potting mix...........trust me. ;)
You might still have time before time/the season runs out!
 
Pippen Penelope Park said:
Thanks Richard!  I'm feeling needy these last two months, so it's nice to hear.

You know what though, I believe you'd be better than me at it.  I can't even draw a stick figure freehand (or with a ruler for that matter!!!!).  Everything I make is a super simple design, and the hard part is actually putting the time in to make it happen.   I think that's where most people have the trouble, either finding the motivation, or the courage to go pick something up and give it a try.  I normally have to do a google search of images to get an idea of how I'm going to do something, and then elaborate a little as to how I'll make it work for me.  Most of my stuff is a copy of something I liked (the cobweb, and the sunflowers for example).

I suck at plants, but I keep trying, and I keep getting better.  The best thing about an annual vegetable garden is that everyone's fails every year once winter hits!   It's going to fail, know it's going to fail at some point.  Just give it a go, and see how far you can get it before it does!!!!!!!  I lost more than half of my hundreds of plants this year, and I'm totally cool with it.  Alright, I might be a little pissed off about it!  :)
There's something to be said for having your hands in the dirt, and being outside working.

I dare you to grow a mammoth sunflower.  Just one.  
and if you want it to be killer.......
Use "Ocean Forest" potting mix...........trust me.  ;)
You might still have time before time/the season runs out!

LOL I live in the middle of a busy city street. No area to plan stuff. Besides which, with that big tree in front of my place, I keep getting all types of critters, up to and including the kitchen sink, invading my appartment. So for the moment at least, only thing i want to do with plants is burn 'em ;-) Once I find a new place, hopefully one with a garden area, I'll try some stuff out. My mother's garden up north is actually a wonderful sight.
 
Vegetables weren't exactly what got me into the hobby either.

Growing indoors under a completely controlled, mainly pest free environment, is a great way to start off.  
That's how I know about the Ocean Forest potting mix.........

:D
 
Wow...I love your yart! I truly appreciate talented and creative people, especially having no skills of my own.

There's a place here that has a giant sunflower in front. Used to be a greenhouse, was made from an old 80s satellite dish. It's pretty cool....

Look forward to seeing more of your creations!
 
Thanks, Yukongirl

This is last month's project.  I planted all 70 spaces on 9/26 and 9/27.  Each spot got two snap peas in the back, to climb the fence, and a mixture of herbs, and cool weather things like brassicas are in the rest (there are probably 500 plants in it, give or take).  Everything was seeded except the first seven spaces.  They were transplants from the nursery (One horseradish plant, six strawberry, and three dinosaur kale).

Anyway, this turned out way better than I expected.  I'd seen people use roofing tin panels to make garden planters before, but never like this.
Last year I was looking through craigslist and came across fifteen used metal tins for sale.  They had holes in them where they had been screwed down before, but other than that, they were in great shape.  The guy wanted $80 for all of them (they are almost $30 a piece here at Home Depot).  They're eleven feet long by thirty six inches wide.  I just figured I could use them for something someday.

I bent one of the panels along one of its "ribbed" sections.  It was a bear fight to do it.  These are heavy tin, not flimsy, and it was a very dangerous task to do to be quite honest.  Having two people would be best.  Anyway, it's not rocket science, and if you see the pictures, it'll probably explain it better than I can.  
I bent the other side of the panel at another rib, and viola, a very unstable flimsy trough had been created.
(Keep in mind, there was no plan, this just kept evolving.)
I found I could overlay the panels to make one super long trough!  Awesome, because I'd been needing a way to section of the driveway from the tree area, and this was the perfect solution.  New puppies dictate lots of new fencing in the yard this year.............

I needed to brace the panels to give them something to hold the top together, and keep the whole thing from being so flimsy.  I used cheap 1" X 1/2" firing strips from Home Depot.  I forget how many I used but it was about 40.  They were a dollar a piece.  
 I trimmed and framed the top of the trough with the strips.  The wood frame totally solidified the trough, and I was confident it would hold soil without collapsing at this point. 

Each trough got flipped over, I cut a big drain whole out every foot or so, covered that with hardware cloth so no gophers could crawl into the planter (I actually did this before the wood frame part.)

It all got laid out, overlapped about a foot or so on each section of new panel, and framed up.  I had no intentions of painting it, but it started to look "nice" so I figured I'd put the time into it.  (I found the red/orange colour of paint at home depot for $8 in their oops section.  The trim colours are just leftovers.

It took seven panels, and it's exactly seventy, one square foot spaces.  Each space holds one cubic foot of soil.  Perfect for square foot gardening.  I put a couple of inches of woodchips at the bottom (just as filler) and then about another six inches of compost I get from my local landfill that is just composted yard trimmings from the city (It's super cheap, one penny for one pound), and the last four inches I packed with my own homemade mixture of potting soil.

I ran a new drip line to each square, and stapled a section of hardware cloth to the front............f'ing dogs..........
honeysuckle's growing in it.  What more is there.  Lol.

I'm not sure if these will end up as benefits (I hope they are beneficial anyway), but they make sense.
Any runoff from the trough will water the fruit trees under them.
The runoff will have nutrients that would have been lost, the trees should enjoy this as well.
I live in a sunny area, lol.   300+ days a year of it.  The trees will shade the planters in the summer when it's 110 degrees out.  Maybe they will give too much shade?  I'm not sure.
In winter, the trees lose their leaves, full sun for lettuce, broccoli, etc.
Oh yeah, it's really nice to sit on the little mechanics stool and wheel myself down the line with a beer in my hand, lol.  That's actually the best part.  :)

https://photos.app.goo.gl/7S6nIn1FPfhNJXm13
 
Wow, that's beautiful. Any advice for a beginner gardener? I have a huge yard and it could look much better.
 

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