Fun, productive day!! Warning: this is a long one!

So, as these days have been getting longer and warmer, I've been getting more and more overwhelmed, thinking about all of the projects that I want to get accomplished this summer. One of those projects is getting my yard 100% completed. This yard of mine has been a work in progress for going on three summers now! Well, I guess to be fair, I should acknowledge that the first year was really only half a summer (we moved into the house in July). I was able to get the front yard partially started, but it only put a teeny tiny dent in what was to come. Then, last summer, I started A LOT of projects, but only actually finished one (our front yard pondless water feature). This left a backyard pond to finish, a cutting garden to finish, flower beds that still needed to be installed, flagstone pathways to install and a lawn (including sprinklers) to put in. Yikes! You could say that I got a little distracted at the end of the summer by a certain lovable four-legged guy named Caspian. ;)

With my current state of "overwhelmedness" I was so stoked when my friend Patches offered up the services of her rock star dirt workin' boyfriend to help me get a jump on some of this work. Mainly, I really wanted to get the "future lawn" part of our yard leveled out so that I can soon get to work amending the soil and getting sprinklers installed. Then, hopefully installing grass within the next couple of weeks.

We decided that Sunday (yesterday Sunday) would be "the day" to get the work party started. YESSS!!! I was so stoked. Plus, as an added bonus I got a chance to hang with Patches all afternoon while the rock star did his thang! We planned to get to work planting up some experimental tomato/herb planters.

But first, we got a little distracted by this bush in my front yard. I noticed last week that the aphids have taken up residence and keep meaning to mix up a little Dawn dishsoap aphid annhilation mixture (a little Dawn added to a full watering can and poured over the affected areas works like a charm to kill them and doesn't harm the plant). Anyway, "meaning to" is the key phrase here...

Since I've been slacking on remembering to do that, I was so excited to see nature's aphid exterminator crawling around the leaves of this bush and called Patches over to take a look. Being the big dorks that we are, we then spent about 20-30 minutes photographing this one bush. It was amazing how many critters were on it though! Ladybugs, aphids, ants, spiders...a whole little bug colony!

Once we finally pried ourselves away from the bug bush, we decided to get to work on our hanging planters. Read along and I'll show you how to make one of my "Kuntry Girl Tamata Planters". This is my first time making them, so it can be a group experiment! Just don't yell at me if they don't work out so well. But I have faith...I think.

Now, if I were smart, I would have taken a picture of all of the supplies that you will need...but I didn't.

So I will instead list them out (bo-ring!):

• Plastic 1 gallon water or milk jug
• Coffee filters (4-5 per planter)
• Potting soil
• Compost
• Moss (I got a BIG bag of this at Fred Meyer for only like 3 bucks!) Look on the aisle with the hanging baskets.
• Drill (or punch...just something to poke holes with)
• Hanging basket chain (Lowe's has packages of replacement chains for less than 2 bucks)
• Hand saw, exacto knife, or serrated pocket knife if you're like Patches and carry one of those around. That girl is always prepared!
• Pliers
• Scissors
• Tomato (or tamata) start (or peppers - they'll work too)
• Herb of your choice

You will want to start off by cutting the flat bottom off of your jug.

Note: be careful on those reinforced corners...right Patches? ;)

Then, poke holes in your jug where you will be attaching your chain (I forgot to take a picture of this). I'm fired from "How-Tos"!

You could attach your chain at this point or you could wait 'till the planter is done...up to you.

Whenever you do it, once you're satisfied with the placement of your chain hooks, you'll want to use your pliers to close the "S hooks" to prevent the chain from slipping out.

Okay, now the fun begins. Grab a little stack of your coffee filters (4-5 filters). Fold in half each way and make a cut so that you have an X. Then, carefully fit the stack of filters over your tamata (or pepper) plant.

Next, turn the plant and filters upside down and carefully fit it through the opening of the jug. Tuck a little moss underneath the root ball. The purpose of the moss and filter is to contain the dirt and to keep water from streaming too fast out the bottom.

Next, add in some potting soil, compost, and moss. I like to do this in layers (in that order) ;) Having another layer of moss about halfway up the container should help retain water towards the top and encourage the roots to grow upward towards it.

Next, add a little more potting soil and then go ahead and plop your herb of choice right on the top there.
Finish it off with a bit more potting soil, a bit more moss, and then finally, another layer of compost as a top dressing (forgot to take a close up of that...so fired!)

Here they are completed...ta da! Your very own "Kuntry Girl Tamata Planter"! Cost effective and envoirnmentally friendly...a great way to recycle your used jugs! The other great thing about these is that they're lightweight, can be easily moved around, and they really help maximize garden space! They could even be hung on a balcony! Mine will eventually go in my cutting garden (which you can kinda see in the background), but first I gotta get the braces up that they will hang from. THERE IS NOT ENOUGH TIME IN THE DAY FOR ALL MY PROJECTS!!! Sorry, just had a moment there. I'm ok now...

Okay, moving on. This post has turned out to be pretty lengthy, so I think I better cut myself off now. But I'll leave you with some before & afters of "Yard Project 2009" (imagine that in a big, booming announcers' voice please).

The front yard after a few quick passes with the box scraper.

Ooh, it's starting to get smooth!
Side yard starting to get "roughed up".

The big pile of dirt left over from the front and side yard. After Patches and Rock Star left I used our little tractor to move this pile...I used some of it for my cutting garden beds and the rest I used to begin building up where the rest of my flower beds in the yard will be.

I always lay out an extension cord to give myself a guideline of where the flower bed edge will be.

The pile's dwindling!

Almost gone!

Ah, now that's what I'm talkin' about! You cannot even imagine the feeling of peace that I get looking at these last two pictures. Just look at that smooth, smooth yard! I'm tempted just to leave it like this...no mowing, no sprinklers...although I have a feeling that maybe, just maybe dust might be an issue. ;)

Okay, so that's it for now! THANK YOU so much Patches and Rock Star for putting this Kuntry Girl's mind at ease and getting me on the right track for a summer of projects! You guys are the BEST!! :)