RECENT POSTS
ALL PROJECT POSTS
What We’re Working on at The Acre
Keyhole Garden Update – Sept. 21, 2020
It's day 548 of production for the keyhole garden. The recent heatwave ended what was left of the tomatoes and most of the sweet peppers, but the squash is doing great. Plus, I discovered some garlic.
Hot Sauce Batch 20 – Entry 2
2nd addition of peppers was a full pound split between Hidden Lake Hot and Culebra Negra (see photo). This should be more than enough to get a good ferment going before I pitch it to the barrel and add 10 - 15 pounds of fresh peppers over the next 10 weeks.
Hot Sauce Batch 20 – Entry 1
Batch 20 of my 6 month fermented hot sauce begins with 5oz of Hidden Lake Hot, a Cayenne/Thai cross, and 7oz of Culebra Negra, a Central American pepper I got from a friend.
Keyhole Garden Update
After 521 days of continuous production, the early summer veggies in the keyhole garden are all played out, but the mid-summer crops--beans, squash, and pumpkins--are doing just fine. The second half of summer and most of early fall is brutally hot and dry, so I'm going to give part of the bed a couple week's rest before transplanting the late summer and early fall stuff.
Build a Bee Hotel
Here's how to build a "Bee Hotel" to welcome native bees (which are solitary, stingless and great pollinators) into your garden.
A Rustic Steel and Cedar Window Box
A little time and less than $20 made this cool window box planter (TL/DR: Click here to skip straight to the instructions) Our house is a 1950’s single story California ranch. Long and low, it has lots of big windows that bring in fresh air and light keeping the house cool in the summer and naturally lit in the winter. The guest bathroom has a large window with a view out across the deck down to the orange grove. The glass is frosted to provide [keep reading...]
Garden Path Refresh
I turned a drab wood walkway into a cool, colorful path through the tropical garden in a couple days for under $20. Here's how I did it.
Keyhole Garden Progress Update
It's been a month since I posted on the progress on my year round keyhole food garden so I thought now would be a good time for an update with a few photos.
Lessons from the Keyhole Garden
A year after building my keyhole garden I've learned a few lessons. Here's a quick list of tips to keep your keyhole garden happy and productive through the growing season.
Keyhole Garden Progress – April 13, 2020
Not much new this week. The lettuces continue to putter out and what remains of the bok choi looks like it's about to bolt. On the other hand, the tomatillos and cucumbers are flowering and I've got a couple of yellow pear tomato (the wife's favorite) seedlings getting ready to move into the bed, so we're in good shape.
RECENT POSTS
ALL PROJECT POSTS
What We’re Working on at The Acre
Keyhole Garden Update – Sept. 21, 2020
It's day 548 of production for the keyhole garden. The recent heatwave ended what was left of the tomatoes and most of the sweet peppers, but the squash is doing great. Plus, I discovered some garlic.
Hot Sauce Batch 20 – Entry 2
2nd addition of peppers was a full pound split between Hidden Lake Hot and Culebra Negra (see photo). This should be more than enough to get a good ferment going before I pitch it to the barrel and add 10 - 15 pounds of fresh peppers over the next 10 weeks.
Hot Sauce Batch 20 – Entry 1
Batch 20 of my 6 month fermented hot sauce begins with 5oz of Hidden Lake Hot, a Cayenne/Thai cross, and 7oz of Culebra Negra, a Central American pepper I got from a friend.
Keyhole Garden Update
After 521 days of continuous production, the early summer veggies in the keyhole garden are all played out, but the mid-summer crops--beans, squash, and pumpkins--are doing just fine. The second half of summer and most of early fall is brutally hot and dry, so I'm going to give part of the bed a couple week's rest before transplanting the late summer and early fall stuff.
Build a Bee Hotel
Here's how to build a "Bee Hotel" to welcome native bees (which are solitary, stingless and great pollinators) into your garden.
A Rustic Steel and Cedar Window Box
A little time and less than $20 made this cool window box planter (TL/DR: Click here to skip straight to the instructions) Our house is a 1950’s single story California ranch. Long and low, it has lots of big windows that bring in fresh air and light keeping the house cool in the summer and naturally lit in the winter. The guest bathroom has a large window with a view out across the deck down to the orange grove. The glass is frosted to provide [keep reading...]
Garden Path Refresh
I turned a drab wood walkway into a cool, colorful path through the tropical garden in a couple days for under $20. Here's how I did it.
Keyhole Garden Progress Update
It's been a month since I posted on the progress on my year round keyhole food garden so I thought now would be a good time for an update with a few photos.
Lessons from the Keyhole Garden
A year after building my keyhole garden I've learned a few lessons. Here's a quick list of tips to keep your keyhole garden happy and productive through the growing season.
Keyhole Garden Progress – April 13, 2020
Not much new this week. The lettuces continue to putter out and what remains of the bok choi looks like it's about to bolt. On the other hand, the tomatillos and cucumbers are flowering and I've got a couple of yellow pear tomato (the wife's favorite) seedlings getting ready to move into the bed, so we're in good shape.