the Trash vitae

Trash is the editor-in-chief of an independent Colorado micro-publisher/ design studio. I dabble in digital photography, the lost art of film image making, and guerilla digital video. DrMAC Studios specializes in books and videos on self-reliance, gardening, dumpster diving, urban foraging and living off the excesses of others.
This blog documents my daily experiences with the rest of the world

Sunday, March 28, 2010

a busy Sunday



I spent most of the day in the garden today getting things going. I built a new raised bed out of scrap wood and recycled nails and planted some spinach and green onions seeds in pots. Those experiments are shown in the pics above as the pots with plastic coverings. I also planted a cuppla seed potatoes as an experiment . I know it is only March but I figured what the heck.. I love the taste of spinach leaves freshly picked..
As a sidenote I was moving things around out in the herb garden and noticed that the thyme i planted at the end of summer is coming back. There is another herb I wont have to replace.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

after the snow.. spring growth emerges


chives potted last year and ignored

chive in the ground. I separated a few plants last year for pots

these lovely hollyhocks were laying dormant under the previous owners plastic weed barrier and mulch.. Until I set them free last spring.. Surprise surprise.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

snow day at the 'stead



Snow Day at the 'stead

After being off on Monday and hangin out in shorts and a tshirt workin in the yard, I went back to work on Tuesday only to face-off with a snow in the afternoon. Silly me I didnt read the weather report. Anyhow the snow started falling about 3 and by the time I got home almost an hour late, the snow was coming down.. Looks like about 8 inches thus far. The good news is though that work is closed down so I get to hang out and watch tv and read with the kids since they are on spring break.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

it did warm up yesterday

And so I was able to get out of doors and work in the yard for a bit. I got some homemade compost moved into the beds and turned it in. Making room in the bin to cook up some more black gold. I was alos able to take a walk over to the Walli for some bird seed and some cat food and bread. Walked thru the garden area and my oh my are they stocking up on grow stuff.. The lettuse seedlings look good as do the cabbages and the like. I might have to pick up some BokChoy and Chard.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Saturday after the snow

Well we did get about 6 inches of snow here at the 'stead. It is pretty much melted now on the concrete and in the bricks. But the yard will take some time. I should be able to get some yard stuff done tomorrow as well as some stuff inside the house. I really need to begin working on getting some more soils and stuff for the new beds so that the transplants will have a home to go to in about 4-5 weeks. I really want to have more production here than I did last year.

Friday, March 19, 2010

the blizzard

We were supposed to be waking up to 2-4 inches of snow this morning. As I look outside at 430 am all I see is some light rain. Amen as I have to go to the south and then to PArker this morning and was getting up early JIC. SO unless it starts up hot and heavy in the next hour or so I should be fine. Anyhow I hope to get the new bed built this weekend as well as spreading the wealth ( the compost pile needs to to be trimmed.)
Anyhow I really need to make it a priority to write a bit of something on this everyday for my faithful readers.
We will see about that.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

SAturday final news

Since it was in the high 50s yesterday I spent the day in the yard working on prepping the beds for this years garden.. I also came upon an orphan wheelbarrow that I had been eyeing for a few weeks and some garden tools from the neighbors that moved. I also became the proud owner of a bunch of 1x12s that will make either great storage shelves or possibly another raised bed.. fun fun..
The weather is a tad cooler today so I dont know how much outside work i will do but its still nice enough to do some.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Spring time in Denver

Another long week. Went to dinner on Thursday night and brought home a whole crapload of freebies from the Sprouts market.. cuppla frozen roasts, veggies taters etc. On Friday I picked up a whole slew of garden stuff from across the street and today I hit a payload of paint from behind the strip mall down the road. Starting out to be a good weekend.
Except for the accident this morning all is good.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Sunday in the yard

Since the weather cooperated today I was able to get out in the garden and start laying out the plans for a cuppla new beds on the south side of the house where the sun is plentiful..
I created a couple of beds 3ft by 12 ft and 3 ft by 5 ft.
On the side of the house I also increased the lettuce and spinach bed to a 3x6 for greater production this spring. I grew spinach and collards last year in window boxes and they took off, so this season I am going to increase the size of the plot.
The soils in the zuch patch is soft down to about 4-5 inches so I was able to turn it. It wont be long. I just need to start working it and adding supplement to it.
All in all a productive Sunday.

Whole Foods Products made in CHINA



Though they are trying to clean it up a bit,,Read the labels before you buy from them

Saturday, March 6, 2010

The 1st week of March

Self-sufficiency on the rise.
After trying to contain myself, from both physically and verbally confronting a LEADER (haha) who thinks he is Caesar but acts more like Curly from the 3 stooges. in Babylon this week, I accomplished several projects around the 'stead.
First off I had to replace the electrical outlet to the dryer. It had shorted out and quit working due to the heavy usage and grime build up in the wiring harness.. yum yum to fix that.
Secondly I had to refit a gray-water line that had come loose, prob do to either my crawling under there last Sunday or by means of the cats jumping over it the last several years when they go to their underground fortress under the house. ha ha
Either way easy fix.
Thirdly, now that the snow is finally leaving the yard I am able to start moving things around to create the landscape I want this year for the veggies.. I am planning on thricing the production capabilities from last year. WE MAY NEED IT.
Lastly, I am again working on the potential to add homemade videos to the site this summer. I have set up a channel on youtube, nothing there yet. But am hoping to create and upload some within this month. Of course when I do they will be linked to withing these posts. Hopefully with the profits coming in from other projects I am working on, these endeavors will be self-supporting.