Platform Bed

Getting a head start on preparations to plant some winter vegetables during this coming Fall (feels like it will never get here with temperatures well over 100 degrees for the last several weeks). I looked at some kits you can actually buy that are pre-cut, etc., but decided to just build my own. It's terribly easy and I was pleased with the results.

I was going for a 4' x 8' bed.

The materials are simple:

Six 1 x 6 x 8 cedar boards. They are rot resistant and last for a very long time.

Four 18" metal rods.

Tools: Hand or power saw, drill, tape measure.

I was unable to buy 18" metal rods, which are used to link the boards together at the corners, so I bought two 36" rods at 3/8" diameter and used my angle grinder to cut them in half. The results:

Exciting eh?

I had six cedar boards. Four would be used for the long sides of the bed and two would be cut in half for the short sides. To secure the boards together, I cut small brackets in each one as seen here.

...and here:

You can see that there are sections cut out of each end, but on opposite sides so each board looks like a really long "Z". You drill 3/4" holes through each "tab."

Next you clear some ground and level it. I used my little Honda tiller. Oooo, check out that real-estate. Sexy:


Puzzle all the pieces together, drop the rods through the holes and you're good. Because I want to extend the longevity of the cedar, I put it on a platform of rocks.


Check for level and you're all done. Boom.

Not Taking it for Pomegranate

One year ago we planted four "dwarf pomegranates" next to our house. They were about 2-3 feet tall when planted and after one year they range between 6-9 ft tall. Just amazing growth. This one is almost up to the underside of the roof.

Starting around March-April, the plants produce gorgeous bright orange blooms that become flowers and then start turning into the fruit.


Here's a little bundle of buds that will become flowers. The fruit start growing around May at the end of most branches. Despite being called a "dwarf" pomegranate for some reason, these plants produce full baseball-softball size fruit that is ready to pick in around October-November. Here's what it looks like right now, in early July:


We collect them up and get the juice out of them. I tried a variety of ways to harvest their juice. Asking them to release their juice was my first idea. Not only did they not let their juice out, but they didn't even talk back. Now, if you've seen a pomegranate on the inside, they have like a bazillion little fruit-coated seeds inside.
See? It would take at least four to five days to squeeze all the juice out of each of those individually. So what I do is cut each one in half and squeeze the half really hard so that all the juice is removed by force. There will be some little bits of seed and stuff in the juice that comes out, but you can easily use a strainer, sieve or clean underwear to filter it out and get just the juice. Most pomegranate juice is a little bitter, so we just add it to glasses of ice water for a refreshing drink loaded with anti-oxidants, which apparently are good for you in that they kill ugliness. That's right. If you drink stuff with anti-oxidants and you are ugly, they will either turn you beautiful or kill you. Cheers!

Modern Fence Gate

We have a small "side yard" off of our main back yard area. It has mulch in it, which is apparently catnip for dogs, of which we have four. We are doing some planting back there and decided that a gate had finally become necessary. We didn't want a full fence-height gate there, as it would tend to completely block in both of the areas it separated in a way that restricted the open style of the house and yard. So I took it upon myself to build this thing and am happy with the results. Since it's functional, but decorative, I made no attempt to copy the style of the fence it's up against other than to use the same type of wood: cedar. You can see the baby Yakuza Chinese Maple in the far background.

Here's a picture of the back of the gate. It is done in a very minimalist fashion. Since fences typically start to lean after a few years, I wanted this gate to be independent from the fence itself--so I anchored it to the house. This is the only area where there is a lot of metal hardware. I used masonry anchors and put them into the concrete foundation and the rock wall itself. That sucker will hold better than any wood post. I did place a post on the static side of the gate, but it bears almost no weight. While the gate extends all the way to the fence opposite the house, it is not secured to it. This allows for movement and shifting of the fence without hurting the gate. Lastly, I included a hidden latch that is not visible from the front and tucked away nicely in the back. I briefly considered hiring someone to do this job, but I don't believe most contractors would have taken the time to build it as seamlessly as I did--because it isn't their house. What I learned is that building something like this has very little to do with actual skill. The key is giving a crap and being patient. Here's what you have to know how to do to build a gate like this:
1. Saw wood. Cedar is rather soft and easy to saw. Even with a hand saw, which I used for all the boards.
2. Drill a hole. If you have a drill (a hammer drill is better for masonry, but any drill with a masonry bit will eventually do the trick) you can do this.
3. Know how to use a level. Here's how you do that: put the level on the surface you want level. Now watch the bubble. If it's in the middle, you win!
4. Know how to install a post. Here's how: dig a deep hole (a post digger tool helps), put the post in it. Then follow the directions on your 50 lb pound bag of cement (let me summarize those for you here: Step 1. Fill 1/3 of the hole with water. Step 2. Fill that water with cement. Step 3. Top up the hole with an even ratio of water and cement. Step 4. Check vertical and horizontal level of your post as cement sets (usually 30 minutes set time)). Total cost: About $100.

If you can master these simple tasks, you can build a great gate and be awesome like me!!!!!

Wintertime Flora

It's been a while since I've updated the blog and thusly I apologize sincerely to our many (two) blog followers.

So when last we talked, I'd taken down all of the perennial cover crop and had dug a swale. We then spread a mixture of perennial rye and New Zealand White clover from Peaceful Valley. Both, but especially the clover have taken amazingly.

The brown tufts are the recently pruned down red grass, fountain grass and feather grasses we also planted for additional erosion control and "texture". Whatever that means. It's pretty cool to have a bright green lawn in the middle of winter that isn't being enhanced with chemicals or engineered greenery. The clover is so great for a lawn because it needs no mowing, low to moderate water (in the hotter months only) and adds valuable nutrients to the soil. We pulled a few weeds out of the lawn and the upturned soil revealed a solid 2 inches of dark-chocolate colored dirt on top of the original clay that was there when we first moved in. Additionally, this ground cover took exceptionally well to the low point of the swale.

You can see the indention of the swale along the length of the yard. We've neglected to blow the leaves out of the yard from the fall, which explains some of the brown you see in the yard. Otherwise this yard is thickly covered with 5-6" of clover. It has taken beautifully to both sunny and shady areas.

During the summer we planted Palestine/Strawberry clover in the lot next to our house. It has also thrived wonderfully during the winter (even completely covered in leaves from the 5 oak trees in the yard).

Check it out:
So, basically, the clover is super resilient and would flourish even better if we were a little more on top of getting rid of the leaves in the yard.

Upcoming this spring: we're going to do a tree guild in the front yard centered around a live oak. In the lot next to us, we're going to perhaps do some fruit trees and stuff, but we'll see.