Trash to Treasure Garden Update {2}

Here I am!

Another garden update!

I literally spent ALL day outside in the garden yesterday.  I realized we had so much wasted space and we purchased some more seeds over the weekend. I thought I was just going to be out for a few hours planting those seeds, but instead I was out there for about 7.

Yikes!My hands are killing me today. I’m convinced the arthritis has spread to my hands. I have one knot in my right pinky that I thought was a calcium deposit, but its only gotten larger as the year goes on. I don’t think it’s carpel tunnel, but who knows.

This video is a rundown of the garden yesterday morning when I first got started.

 

I do know that the Arthritis Foundation and Arthritis Today brag about how wonderful gardening is on the body (mind and soul) and how it actually helps with arthritis. Well, after yesterday, I can tell you – its painful either way.

Considering we had this open space thanks to the small and big barn demo…..well, why not use it up, right? Those photos above are just of the small barn. So you can have a visual of the size of space I am working with.

My little garden project turned out to be a lot more than weeding and planting new seeds in the few spaces it had available. If you haven’t read last weeks, or the previous updates I highly suggest it.  I have tried to take a good amount of photos so that you can see how things are growing around here.

It actually meant move some dirt and hand till another section of earth to create some more garden space.

That means manual labor! 

I had to push through every ounce of arthritis hip , hands and back pain.

I’d like to think I am a fighter, but I did shed a few tears through the process.

As I beat the ground with the pick and hoe, all I could think about was how horrible my already-crooked shoulder felt. I thought for sure it was going to just come right out of its socket. I became angry. Angry for letting my body get so out of shape that I pretty much caused my own problems and angry that I let it carry on for so long. Working from home-made it too easy for me to snack and too easy for me to find excuses not to exercise. Well, no more excuses. I have to get healthier and I hope this garden is the way to do it!

Once the ground was broken and all the weeds were raked out we had to pick it to till it. Since we do not own a tiller we had to do all of this by hand. Once that was done we shoveled dirt into the trailer and haul it with the mower. We dumped it at the other end of the garden and spread it out. That gave us two more rows where I planted a row of carrots and some more radish.

Of course I had to take a minute out of my hard-working day to take a selfie.

In the middle of the garden we had half an empty row and then a section where the radish didn’t take over so well. So, that was a redo.

At the front of the garden I planted two  rows of purple lettuce.

We spent some time putting fencing around the tomatoes so they would start growing up. One of the tomato plants has a ‘mater growing!

Our peas are growing at a substantial rate. We need to get a small fence over there and some twisty ties to get them going up. We’re not wanting them to collect all over the ground.

Just about everything is growing well except for the peppers. I have a row of green bell peppers and a row of mixed color bell peppers. So far, I don’t think anything is growing. I’ve seen a few tops poke out, but I am not sure if those are weeds.

The fairy garden is all weeds. So far, none of the flowers we planted are blooming. But, that’s ok. According to kiddo the weeds make it look like a fairy forest. So, we thinned a few out over the weekend. Our trusty gnome still stands guard.

My friend Nicole over at 350 Preheat shared this photo this morning on my FB page. Now, I am thinking I need to use some of the extra paint I have hiding in the basement and go out and pain the tires. There are some fun colors down stairs leftover from when husband and his ex first bought the place.  Some of the paint down there has never been opened. Maybe I could put it to use. Maybe its too old. Who knows. But, I think I would like to try to make my tires look a little prettier.

Next year I am going to try this though and see if I can get my tires to have some whimsical shapes and patterns.

Casey and Tink spent the day outside with me.  For the most part, Tink was pretty good about staying in the yard. Over the weekend she ran through the cornfield and was almost to our neighbors! This photo was taken during her timeout because our neighbor was going for a walk down the road and Tink went barking after her. Ugh. So, I chained her to the tree for a while. Big sister Casey went to keep her company. Tink stayed right by me the rest of the day. Somehow I don’t think this is the end of her curiosity though.

Later in the day the husband came home and chipped in to help. I am thankful for that, otherwise I would still be working out there today!

This video was right before we quit for the day. He finished up the tomatoes with the placement of the tomato cages. I left him to take a shower. I was so dirty! Felt like a little kid again.

I keep thinking about things I wish I would have planted like some cauliflower or zucchini, but I am thankful for the little bit I do have growing.

Maybe next year.

Are you gardening? How is it coming along so far?