Island Facelift

Our 2019 Project List is moving right along!
Each year, Big K and I make a list of changes we want to make in the house.
A few of the things from last year's list never got done,
so we added them to this year's.
Our big project for the year is to tweak the kitchen.

The countertops in this kitchen are not our cup of tea.

They bother Big K even more than me.

The formica-type surface is just cheap-looking,

and the color is all wrong for our home.

We resolved to tackle replacing the island countertop ourselves.

Although all the counter surfaces are the same material,

we decided to go with butcher block on the island.

I love the farm-inspired look and the simplicity of the wood grain.

Our first task was to remove the horrendous current countertop.

It wasn't going to be easy.

Most countertops are installed by screwing from underneath,

inside the cabinets.

Not this one.

It took some figuring,

but we finally realized that these counters were screwed on from the top,

and then the formica was laid over the wood.

Yeah, I kid you not.

After trying several tools and methods, 

including wedging in the chisel between the gaps on the sides,

we figured out how best to get this job done.

A hair dryer was used to loosen the glue underneath the formica.

Then we were able to pry off the brittle material to get to the screws.

It was a team effort, with all of us taking on a section of the task.

I held the dryer, while C and Big K pried it loose,

and then C took the screws out with the drill.

I was so proud of how our boy chipped in to help!

We were hoping to be able to donate the countertop to the ReStore,

or maybe a daycare so that it could be reused,

but there was no way to save the formica top.

Instead, we will flip it and it will become the new top on my outdoor workbench.

Once all the screws were loose, it still took some persuading

to get the whole piece of wood off the top.

The deconstruction alone took us over 3 hours.

What a feeling of victory to have that thing gone!

We used the remaining framework and simply laid our butcher block on top.

A sweet neighbor of ours is a woodworker,

and he was kind enough to cut the wood to the dimensions we wanted,

as well as rounding the corners and routering the sides.

The surface was sealed with a food-safe mineral oil/beeswax product
that we got at our local big box store,
the same place where we bought the countertop.
I put on four good coats on all of the sides
and let it dry well.

What a difference just this one change has made.
I almost don't want to use it, it's so gorgeous!
We will be adding beadboard to the sides of the cabinet
and adding a couple of bar stools to the newly-fashioned eating spot.

We will continue with the kitchen makeover by next changing out the sink,
faucet, lighting and replacing the rest of this God-awful formica with another material.
Hopefully, we'll be getting that underway in the next two weeks.
 Then I will take some 
drool-worthy 
before and after shots.

Just a few changes really update a room.
I may actually get to liking cooking again!

Completed Home Projects:
New Front Door and Porch Light
Desk Top 
Beadboard 
Fan-tastic 
Closets 
A Fresh Look 
HOMEmade

Garden Friday

 It's Garden Friday again 
and we have been trying to stay cool.
We've had unusually warm temps (in the 90's) for May,
and the garden is responding.
The news from the garden is good and not-so-good.

 The Yukon potatoes don't seem to mind the heat,
tucked in their wire baskets and insulated with straw.
We're hoping to plant our sweet potato slips
this weekend in our newly built box.

Freckles lettuce variety

We are still able to harvest some baby lettuces.
Part of the hugelkultur bed is shaded,
so I'm hoping this will help us to keep growing lettuce for a while longer.

 While most of the chard has bolted,
this rainbow variety is still looking good.

The snap peas are completely spent,
even though I only got a couple of weeks' harvest from them.
The plants were sown in February, they just didn't do much until recently.
It's been a strange spring growing season.

 And, ugh.  
The worms and slugs have found the broccoli and cabbage leaves.
I didn't think I'd get to harvest either one, as it's been too hot,
but was hoping that I could salvage some leaves for salads.
Uh, I think I'll pass...

I have to say, I am a bit discouraged with the poor germination on some crops,
and others that are being eaten before they have any size to them.
It seems that summer, with its heat and bug issues
has decided to arrive early.
Ah well, it comes with the territory.

On a brighter note,
we were able to add some free mulch to the pathway
leading to the arches in the garden.
It was good to get all that cardboard covered.
The free stuff is used as a foundational layer,
and the pretty stuff goes on top.
This saves us some money on mulching.

gaillardia

 The flowers in the butterfly bed are starting to wake up!
The pollinators have been enjoying all the blooms
almost as much as I have.

 The first of our sunflowers has opened in the front porch bed.

 The black-eyed Susan has really filled out this year
underneath one of the crepe myrtle trees.

One of my all-time favorites is the coneflower, or echinacea.
There really could never be enough of these to suit me.
One tip I recently learned is to place your pollinator-friendly plants
in clusters of the same variety.  This makes it easier for them to find plenty of food.
Anything we can do to help!

Look at this curious critter we found on our new storm door.
It's an American Ermine moth,
which can be found in Canada and the Eastern United States.
This was our first spotting and it stayed on the door for a long time,
even though we opened and closed it to get the shot.
Nature is forever teaching us.

Sweet Potato Box

Over the weekend,

we took a trip to our local landfill to pick up some of the free mulch

that is offered by our county.

It was used to create a pathway to the garden.

We were able to bring home a few pallets as well.

This is something I always look for,

as they can be used for so many things.

It's important to use only pallets marked "HT" (heat-treated),

when building things for the garden.

This ensures that no chemicals have been infused into the wood.

With just a few tools and some screws,

we were able to make a bin for planting our sweet potatoes.

The idea is based on one of the great projects found on

Old World Garden Farms.

They have so many fantastic building ideas

using repurposed items like pallets.

Our version is a bit bigger, so all of our sweet potatoes

will go into this one crate.

Big K and I sawed the pallets in half lengthwise,

to form the two long sides of the crate.

This sawzall does a great job,

but a jigsaw could also be used.

The sawzall cuts right through nails  

like buttah,

making the dismantling of pallets a breeze .

We also removed the boards from the other side of each piece,

to be used for the shorter sides of the crate.

No waste!

The removed pieces were cut in half,

 and it was time to assemble the crate.

The shorter boards were simply screwed onto the short ends.

We used 2-inch wood screws and placed four on each board.

The top and bottom of the crate are left open,

and we'll add straw to the bottom to help keep the soil in place.

It turned out better than I expected
and I am so grateful to have had a helper on this project.
I'm already thinking about other things to make with the pallet wood.
One idea is a walkway down to the garden.

This weekend we will plant our homegrown sweet potato slips.
Let the growing begin!

Memorial Day 2019

 

To those who gave all, we salute you.

God bless our veterans, today and everyday.

~daisy

Garden Friday

Vampires beware!
It's Garden Friday and time is up for the garlic.

Last weekend I was able to harvest the garlic and shallots 

from one of the 4 X 4 raised beds.

The outer leaves had turned brown,

which indicates that its 9-month incubation period was over.

I have to say,

this is the nicest garlic crop I've ever grown.

The heads were huge and firm with roots galore!

I got the starts from Sow True Seed in Asheville,

and I'm very pleased with the results.

Garlic is so easy to grow.
(Here's our post on planting.)

You place the cloves in the hole,

water once in a while (usually rainfall is enough),

and fertilize once or twice during the growing time.

The hardest part is waiting the 9 months to harvest. 
The best of the heads will be saved
for planting this coming fall.

Shallots are pretty much the same,

with a hands-off approach.

The shallots come as bulbs and grow into 

long-stalked beauties and lend a mild onion flavor

to most anything they share a pan with.

I'm fairly impressed with these as well.

In the fall, when they are planted again,

 ample space will be created for them

so that I can get more at harvest time.

I never seem to grow enough!

It worked out well growing them in the two 4 X 4 raised beds.

Now that these have been picked,

I can use the bed for sweet potatoes,

which will be ready  to harvest in time to put in more garlic and shallots.

One of the shallot plants didn't fare so well.

It was one of the plants that I decided to cut off the flower.

I'm not sure if water got into the plant that way or what,

but the shallot was mushy and waterlogged.

Into the compost pile it went.

I think I will leave the flowers intact next go 'round.

These crops need curing,
so they are lying in the garage
where the skin will become papery.
It takes from two to four weeks.
At that time, the stalks can be cut off
and the bounty stored in the house.
No need to buy garlic for a while.
That gives this gardener a feeling of overwhelming satisfaction.