garden

Ready, set: GO!

This first decent vacation since we got the house has done us good. We rested, got inspired and were ready for a big large sprint. On a rainy day in France we went to Ikea and made the last decisions about the kitchen, so we where ready to order it.
It had been hot in Estonia, actually this region has been the hottest in entire Europe. Those small tomato plants we left a month ago, turned into a huge tomato plant jungle, which Mo cleaned up nicely.

After that it was a week of visiting a lot of shops. First stop was Ikea to check some final details and double check if everything we picked was also available in Estonia. Than we went for Floorin as I though linoleum might be a good solution for the kitchen. Mo’s first response was something like ‘No way!’ Ben when she saw the modern colours, she agreed to check it out and after seeing it in real life the decision was made quickly. We also found some roles of heavily discounted linoleum in the colour chartreuse, which we thought would be nice for the hall way. Nice detail was we brought a bottle of Chartreuse from France and it is clear how the colour got it’s name.

Next was a few countertop specialist, the good thing of have two offers is, you can negotiate prices. Since the first company we checked couldn’t beat the price of Granimar the order went to them.

For the living room we wanted a wooden floor. After earlier success at K-Rauta we went there and also this time we found a floor we liked quickly. As a bonus we also found a vanity desk for in the bathroom that was on sale, so we took that as well.

With these preparations done, we could start the real work. We wanted to try to get the bathroom done before my dad would arrive. It was just the ceiling, starting with plastering it.

And since we would replace the entire floor in the living room/kitchen we also needed to make space there, so we cleared out the garage to create a temporary kitchen there.

Spring cleaning in the garden

As I mentioned last week, I finally knew something for my birthday: a brush cutter. Both my dad and Mo’s mother sponsored this gift and it was great fun to clean out the parts of the garden with way to high weeds. I also cleaned the outside of the fence and the gutter next to it. A huge improvement.

Next to the new greenhouse was an old bathtub. It was pretty much in the way their and we figured it would be nice to move it under the corner of the garage roof to collect rain water. So some digging and than moving this heavy monster and placing it in the hole. With the help of Mattias it went pretty smooth. The dirt that came out of the hole could be used next to the green house. Meanwhile Mo cleaned up around the well and like that the garden had gotten a nice spring cleaning.

It has been a busy week, so little work on the house. We did a bit of gardening. More and more flowers are showing their beauty. During the weekend we are going to check out a tulip festival. Unfortunately, we were pretty late in the season, as a bit more south the tulips where almost done, while in the garden they are at their prime.
But on the bright sight, the place had a semi botanical garden with a lot of rock garden plants, so I could show Mo some of the plans I had for part of the front yard.
And due to a question of Mo’s mother, for the first time in years, I know something to ask for my birthday. So I order it and it should be available next week

Planting gooseberries and tomatoes

This week, Jan came back from Muhu with my van filled with 3 big old gooseberry bushes I had picket up from a friend of Daan who was redoing her garden. So we decided where to plant them and put them in. The bushes need a lot of trimming, but we figured it would be good to first let the root and than trim them for the next season.

To prepare the car for the vacation trip that seems to be more and more likely to happen, I gave it a 20.000 km service. Oil and filters mainly, it was clear the filters had been skipped the at least the last time. This jumpy has a few parts very well hidden. So I’ll leave the glow plugs for sometime later.

During the weekend, we sifted through the soil in the greenhouse, added horse shit and tomato dirt and than planted them. Very excited to see the results later this summer.

Greenhouse part 3

The next weekend was nice a sunny. Perfect weather to work in the garden. Mo and Mattias worked on the vegetable garden, while I put in the ground anchors and the standing parts to make the greenhouse at least standing height.

Once this was done, I could start tacking on the greenhouse foil we got from Mo’s mother. By the end of the day the greenhouse was ready except for a window and the door.

Greenhouse part 2

On Monday night we went to Mo’s mother again. She had ordered a truck load of horse shit an we would take part of it for our garden. Unfortunately Jan had just taken the trailer for a trip to the Netherlands, so we improvised with a plastic sheet in the van.

During the weekend work on the the greenhouse continued, by now all the parts had been made to fit, so it was time to put them in the linseed oil, as it gives a nice natural finish and as a bonus it smells pretty nice as well.

In between a shaped a new handle for the old ax from my grandfather. I had gotten a slat of beech from a friend, which I glued together to be big enough to make a handle out of it. With the used of the miter saw, a grater bit on the drill and the sanding machine, it was a quick, fun job.

The next day when the linseed oil had dried, I started to put together the first parts of the greenhouse. After I got the hang of it, it went surprisingly fast. Within a few hours I had a construction I could stand on.

Start of a greenhouse

As I already mentioned earlier, I saw a great greenhouse at Nastja and Rainers place on my way back from the Netherlands. After I showed the picture to Mo, so was instantly convinced this would be a good idea for a greenhouse, way better then those straight forward, bought things.

While checking out the design I can across a very handy website that calculates the exact measurements of your dome depending on how you want to make it. With these exact measurements with double angles to saw and a lot of them, I started by making a sawing jig. After the first test cuts I could start the 130 double angled corners. For the entire project I created 3 sawing jigs.

Garden work

And then the days start getting longer again, the sun gets more power, so time to prepare the garden for the next season. On my way from the Netherlands I had gotten a lot of seeds from Nastja and Rainer (together with a great design for a greenhouse, which will sure be copied this spring), so time to sow. Mo took care of that while I ordered the border garden next to the fence on the side of the house.

The next day we went to see Mo’s mother to get some cut offs from plants and while we where doing that the neighbor lady also offered some plants, so plenty of stuff to put in the garden. Excited to see how they will grow.

Getting rid of the machine (2)

With the lessons learned from last week, the second part of moving the bigger part of the machine went smoother, but also because it was heavier, it still took an afternoon of playing outside.

As the scrap yard was closed already we went there the next day. With the 20 ton crane it was easy to lift the machine off the trailer. The main part was just over 350 kilo and the total was good for around 80 euro. Let’s not count hours, just enjoy the little extra towards the building budget.

With this big heavy thing out of the way I could finish the last part of the drive way. It really is another finishing touch.

Small adjustment in the lifting construction

Getting rid of the machine

With the house we also got some old machine that was standing in the garden in front of the garage. I was very heavy, so it had been standing there ever since. It seems it has been standing there for years, as I have seen glimpses on old Google maps images.

Together with Martijn we planned a day to lift it and move it onto the trailer, so we can bring it to the scrap yard.

Long story short, we had a lot of fun, it took ages, but in the end we got the first piece on the trailer just after sunset (which is around 15:20 this time of year, but still.) Next week the second piece.

Tag: garden