Monday, August 3, 2015

Deck Construction and Garlic Harvest

Quite a bit got done on the deck today.


There's much left to do, of course, but the project tonight looks a lot different than it did this morning.  (Those four 4 x 4 poles are the start of my laundry lines.)

The above picture shows the new house color pretty accurately.  The painting officially got finished Saturday.  There are just a few little things remaining for me to take care of.


I dug the stiff neck garlic today.  We got about 36 nice look looking bulbs that are now hung and starting the curing process.  The harvest of the stiff neck was much, much better than that of the soft neck.  I still have no idea why most of the soft neck never came up this spring.  I'm sure glad we've got this big bunch of the stiff neck though.

Tomorrow?  More work on the deck, I think.  I know we have to do some measuring and figuring and possibly go get more lumber.  That gives me something to look forward to.  Our social outing for the week.  Going to the lumber yard.

18 comments:

Sparkless said...

You two sure are fast workers cause that deck is getting built quickly. Have fun on your social outing even if it just buying lumber.

Laurie said...

The deck is looking good and so is your garlic harvest. Can't wait to see the finished deck.

Dawn said...

I can just see you sitting there in the evening on a rocking chair talking about what you have achieved in the day, good garlic harvest ours is curing nicely hope to get it all strung up end of the week :-)

Sue said...

Still can't get over how NICE that house color is. Very snappy! ( I ALWAYS wanted to use that term---thank you!)

I always heard soft neck wasn't for northern gardens. Have you grown it before with success? My garlic is SMALL this year. But heck, it works.

Mama Pea said...

Sparkless - The deck boards are only temporarily screwed in a couple of spots per board. Now we have to use some muscle power to straighten out some slight curves and bends while setting all the rest of the necessary screws. I wonder if I could somehow convince someone to stop for a lunch out when we go to the lumber yard?

Mama Pea said...

Laurie - *I* am a little eager to see the finished deck, too!

Sorry to hear about your cold/sinus infection you brought back from your (excellent) trip! :o(

Mama Pea said...

Dawn - It's been so long we've had chairs on the deck (heck, so long since we've had a DECK!) that I'm forgetting where we stored them!

Glad to hear you had a good garlic harvest. I've read many folks who had a complete failure this year. Such a bummer when we all need that garlic to keep the vampires away!

Mama Pea said...

Sue - Thank you, thank you, thank you! Both hubby and I are delighted with it.

Yeah, I've also read soft neck doesn't do as well in our northern areas. But it's also the one that has the best storing qualities and flavor so I've tried it. Last year, it grew as well as the stiff necks but that was the first year with cloves right from the catalog company. It could well be that because it doesn't store as well the cloves I planted just didn't have enough oompf left in them. I don't want to have to order it every year so I may have to stick with just the stiff neck.

Tombstone Livestock said...

Good job on all the projects, my house needs painting, are you available?

Susan said...

I LOVE that color - your house looks fabulous!~ Are you going to stain the deck or leave it natural? And how clever to put your clotheslines within such an easy distance. Your hard neck garlic is certainly better than mine. I would say that, out of 52 plants, about five were of good size. There's always next year, right?

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Looks great! I love the clothesline so close to the door tool

Sandy Livesay said...

Mama Pea,

Great choice on paint color, I really like this color on your house! Your deck is really looking good, and you're close to finishing it. I prefer having a clothesline close to the door like yours. We have several lines my husband put up next to the back door, then there's the old steel clothesline "T's" out on the side of the house outside the fence. I don't use this one any more for clothes, I do use one of the "T's" to hold a feed lot panel as a trellis up.

Very nice looking garlic harvest :-)
Hugs,
Sandy

Mama Pea said...

Tombstone Livestock - No. Nuh-uh. Nyet. Nope. It's nothing personal, but I hope I don't have to paint a house again for a loooonnnng time!

Mama Pea said...

Susan - Thank you, Sweezie! We plan on putting a preservative and stain on the deck. Probably a dark brown. I love, love, love my clothes line on the deck. Have always had it here.

"There's always next year" for the garden? The only "next year" I want to think about right now is the slower, inside, lazy, cozy winter!

Mama Pea said...

Kristina - Close and handy and dry (no mud as in the grass and I keep it shoveled in the winter), too!

Mama Pea said...

Sandy - Thanks for all the kind words. I'm really looking forward to having my clothes line back. I've missed it for hanging out big things to air . . . like blankets and quilts . . . besides regular laundry.

Leigh said...

Your garlic looks fantastic! Mine was all so piddly looking, even though I laid on the compost at planting time. Likely it all went to stems, LOL. But - there's always next year.

Bateman Homestead said...

The house looks terrific! I am trying do decide what color to paint my house, for next year. I want to make it look more like a house, less like a mobile home. But I also have to make sure that whatever I choose doesn't absorb the heat of the sun, since we are lacking shade. Great job on the deck as well.

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