In the fall of 2024, we purchased two inexpensive hoop house greenhouses from Amazon, one 7′ x 12′, and one 10′ x 20′. We set up the smaller one up by the house, to be used for starting plants and herbs. You can read more about them here: Greenhouses
This post is actually bitter sweet. When we bought this house, the day we closed, a tree had fallen and the people we were purchasing from had to clear it from the driveway on their way to the closing. This would be called foreshadowing. When Bill and I drove up to our new home we looked at what was left of that tree and thought, treehouse.
This home had stained wood trim, doors, bannisters and beautiful dark wood kitchen cabinets. The original wood is redwood with a red/orange tone. When they remodeled the kitchen they went with a deep, dark walnut cabinet. The master bed/bath/closet remodels done in the 90’s were all this light bleached wood. They must also have remodeled the hall from the garage to the kitchen and the half bath off of it at the same time because they were all the same light bleached wood. Two bedrooms had all their trim and doors painted off white. None of it blended or felt cohesive, it all felt very disconnected like the house had multiple personalities. Never the less we love wood and I was raised to believe that painting wood was a sin.
Link to Bootstrap Farmer video. Link to buy the kit from Bootstrap Farmer here.
The kit sells for $156.99 USD and is currently sold out as of 3/25/2026.
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Just one of the reasons Bill loves me is that often I send him a link to something telling him I want this. Now you might be thinking why would he like that you want to spend money? The answer is he has secretly been wanting the same thing for sometime now but didn’t want to pull the trigger or ask if he could pull the trigger. I opened that door just a crack for him and he is happy to kick it down.
There are times in life where you just need to get something fixed, quickly, simply and cheaply. I ran into one of those times when we were renting in MI. I swear that those cheap vertical blinds that they put in rentals are designed to break thereby giving them a reason to not give you your security deposit back. Also to remind you that living is sad. You’re left to stare at blinds with missing slats knowing you can’t replace them, sometimes you can’t even hide them with curtains. Well no more! Today we take back our happy! We get back our security deposit!
Read on gentle viewer for the solution to your vertical blind dilemma.
I have dreamed of having a yard filled with edible delights for years. My vision was to have vegetables, fruit trees, berry bushes, grapes, and flowers all living together in a happy yard filled with the sound of birds and humming bees dappled in golden sunshine, sigh. I think I might be a hobbit.
It started upstairs. In our bedroom. Last year it moved to the basement. As weather allowed the lettuce and spinach moved outside.
I think we are done with that. The biggest reason?
We are much more likely to harvest and eat the lettuce if it’s inside. The box we typically grow in sits in view of the kitchen window just across the driveway. We have a cover over it and move plants outside by April. The problem is we just don’t go out and harvest frequently. Why? I have no clue. It might have something to do with the fact that Bill isn’t a big salad guy. It might have something to do with the fact that when we bring it in we are pretty meticulous about cleaning it and that takes time. Whatever the reason, inside works best for us. Here is what we have learned:
More than 40 years ago I lived on land out in the country. In the front yard were two very old apple trees. One needed to be cut down, which made me sad, but the other flowered and fruited every year. Come fall I had a brother-in-law who got very excited because he knew I was about to start baking apple pies and he was on the list of people to gift them to. I have wanted fruit trees ever since then and this may be the year.
Some things that have made gardening easier this year. They cost money and you don’t need to spend a lot to get into gardening. We have tried just about everything up here on the hill and at this point in our lives we have a pretty good idea of what has worked for us and what has not. We fight the woods, meaning not having a lot of sunlight, leaves, trees/branches falling, and all the critters. We fight bad dirt, it’s mostly rocks up here with some clay and landfill quality dirt. We fight access to water, not as bad as what some have but enough to make keeping the garden well watered a chore. Continue reading
