Project: Watering Can Fountain

I made a watering can fountain back in September.  It was a simple DIY project that added a nice, calming sound to the garden.  Here's how I did it:

I wanted to add a water feature to my garden, but I didn't want to deal with having to plug in a fountain.  The nearest electrical outlet would require the cord to either go over or under a sidewalk.  Going under sounds difficult and going over wouldn't be pretty.  Instead I decided to get a solar water pump. 

The affordable solar pumps don't have as much power as the electrical ones, but I didn't need a lot of power.

The only other things I needed was a watering can and a metal tub.  I also got a couple of paving squares and leveled them to place the tub on.

I then used a combination of drilling (which was not too effective) and hammering a large nail into the bottom of the watering can to run the tubing through.

I ran the tubing to the watering can spout.

This is what the inside of the watering can looked like:

I nailed the handle of the watering can to the fence, added rocks and water to the tub along with a decorative frog.  I put the solar panel on the top of the fence, facing south.  Then I just had to wait for the solar panel to charge and I had a lovely little fountain. 

Most days the pump runs all day and continues for a couple of hours after the sun sets.  I had to adjust the position of the tub because the pump was more powerful during the midday and the water was shooting out past the tub.

It was a simple project that adds a relaxing addition to the garden.

Fell Off the Blogging Bandwagon!

Life has gotten in the way of my garden and my blog.

There are big changes coming to my garden, but it was all so uncertain for so many months that I didn't want to write about what might happen and then have to retract my excitement.  However, the changes are definitely going to happen and very soon!

But before I get ahead of myself there's some things to catch up on in the garden...

1. I harvested my first ever leek!  I've always been too impatient for leeks, but my garden neglect allowed them to actually grow to a decent size.
2. Harvest total for 2012 was 241.5 lbs.  I may have missed a few pounds here and there.  My goal was 300 lbs, so I didn't quiet make it, but I was impressed with myself for keeping track of my harvests.
3. Garden goals accomplished for 2012:



Watering can and metal tub fountain

1. Chalkboard plant labels
2. Bee mason house
3. Add flowers and shrubs to the front flower bed
4. Grow sweet potatoes
5. Plant asparagus
6. Plant grapes
7. Make garden fountain
8. Make rain gauge
9. Plant bed of raspberries
10. Plant blueberry bushes
11. Make bed in front of potting shed
12. Set up seed starting center
13. Finish potting shed

My DIY rain gauge

Domino hanging out in the potting shed

2012 was a good year in the garden and 2013 is going to bring lots of changes, lots of projects, and lots of veggies (hopefully!).  Last year my goal was to weigh my harvests; this year my goal is to not fall off the blogging bandwagon (again)! 

Harvest Monday 9/3/12

It's time for the transition from summer to fall, which I'm looking forward too.  I will miss all the summer crops of tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and more, but I will not miss the heat, humidity, and mosquitoes!  I've been clearing out the spent plants and planting fall crops.  The challenge with planting fall crops is that it is still in the 90s with not a lot of rain, so keeping the soil moist enough for seeds to germinate takes effort.

On to this week's harvests... the summer crops are still coming in.  Tomatoes have slowed and they seem to be getting smaller and smaller.  Peppers are doing well, although I did have one plant topple over and break because of the weight of peppers.  Guess I should have stacked them!

Green beans keep on producing.  I think this is my year of the green bean.  I've officially gotten tired of eating them, so I've been freezing.  I should try canning some, but freezing is so easy.  Perhaps I'll have the motivation to can when I run out of freezer space!

This has not been my year for corn.  My spring planted corn was stolen by the squirrels.  I had a second bed of corn planted in the beginning of July.  I tried planting a second crop of corn last year too and it never grew very tall and had pathetic little ears of corn.  This year's late planted corn did the same thing.  The stalks were beginning to brown and so I decided to go ahead and harvest.  I discovered that the ears were infested with ants... fire ants!  It was not a pleasant harvesting experience especially since I only got 1.7 lbs of little ears of corn.  I am contemplating whether corn will make the grow list next year.

On a happier note, I picked the last of the melons, a banana melon.  The squirrels have loved these melons, but the last one was left intact. 

Cucumber 1.8 oz
Banana pepper 8.2 oz
Bell pepper 8.6 oz
Yellow pear tomatoes 8.5 oz
Eggplant 4.9 oz
Green beans 3 lbs
Tomatoes 1.65 lbs
Banana melon 3.26 lbs
Corn 1.7 lbs

Weekly total: 11.64 lbs

Yearly total: 201.88 lbs worth $325.20

That's all the harvests coming from my garden this week, to see what others are harvesting check out Harvest Monday at Daphne's Dandelions.

Happy Gardening!