Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Trying to keep up

Ladder
RIght now is the time several homeowner projects are demanding my time. I love my rain barrels, but before I could install them, I needed to paint the siding they block when in place. Why? The exterior paint was cracking and to keep my home in good shape for the future, I needed to scrape off the loose paint, prime the surface and then put on two coats of paint. Each time I went outside, that was 30 minutes invested in painting, not including set up, ensuring all the tools were there and mixing the primer and paint. Luckily, the weather cooperated so painting done in two days.

Then the rain barrels needed to be installed. No rain is predicted for the next two days, but my area is dry and I will need all the reserve supply I can get for my garden. However, I had not cleaned the gutters and organic debris in the rain water collection barrels is not a good thing. My elderly neighbor was kind enough to loan me his ladder so I carefully made my way up and down to remove the leaves and debris from my gutters. A quick rinse with the hose and I am ready for rain to arrive.

Of course, being spring, I have several seedlings in the greenhouse, garden beds to prepare and sown peas peaking through the soil. The tender greens mean I need to protect them from dastardly rabbits who enjoy seedlings as snacks. So after some grassy trimming and some moved fencing, I had successfully enclosed the garden bed.

All this work I have done demonstrated I was prepared for all the tasks I needed to perform. Since I had previously painted the exterior of my home, I had enough painting supplies to apply any primer or paint needed. I also had a gallon and a quarter of paint expressly for repainting the exterior because I need to maintain my home's wood siding. Thus, I just needed to retrieve the items from my basement and I was in the painting business. The rain barrels were washed last fall and stored in my garage. It was an easy task to switch the diverter on my downspout to active and hook up my rain barrels.

As for protecting my gardens, because there were plants last year I needed to protect that this year are more mature, I had enough fencing and posts to cover my newly planted peas by cannibalizing what I had. Having all the supplies I needed on hand (with additional items on hand) and a kind neighbor, I was able to just tell myself "get started on this task today" and the project was accomplished.

Now I just need more composted horse manure and some time before the rain and I will plant more of my garden!

No comments:

Post a Comment