New Front Walk/Ramp

According to the Seattle Times, the average age of homeowners selling their homes and moving into a senior living situation is eighty five years old. Wow! We certainly hope to stay in the home we love as long as possible. So it makes sense to start planning how to make it physically possible as our knees and hips start complaining when they encounter stairs.

Our Rodda and Sons Landscapes crew has just completed the landscape renovation of an aging, overgrown garden. The concrete in the front walk and steps was cracked and heaving. The concrete landing at the front door was tipping and pulling away from the house. Both were hazardous and needed to be replaced. The landscaping was not the only thing that was aging. The owners, who want to remain in their home several more years, realized that steps were becoming painful to climb, and they were starting to have trouble with balance. So they opted to eliminate the three steps along the sidewalk and three steps at the front porch in favor of a poured concrete ramp up to a new concrete front porch. We poured a longer concrete front walk to accommodate the gradual rise from the driveway to the front door, and added concrete steps next to the house for a shortcut. Now they have an easy walk, and in the event that they need a walker or wheelchair an easy glide, from the car to the front door and on into the living room.

Jan Rodda, Rodda and Sons Landscapes, Inc.

My own garden journal says that last year we planted early vegetable seeds on March 9th. Indoors!!! I call it “kitchen sink gardening.” We start many of our vegetable seeds inside, because we’ve had poor luck planting seeds directly into the ground and having all of them germinate. If it’s too cold and wet, I think the seeds just sit there and rot, but the biggest culprit may be the crows who hop down the rows searching for tasty tidbits. In any case, we put 2 to 2 1/2 inches of potting soil (garden soil is too heavy) in clear plastic containers and work at our kitchen counter spreading seed and covering it with a light dusting of potting soil. I like to use clear plastic cookie containers from the bakery. The snap-on lids create mini greenhouses. We label the containers with the vegetable variety and the planting date. Then we water to dampen all the soil, snap on the lids, and set the containers on a card table next to a west facing window. We check every few days to make sure the soil stays damp. As the tiny plants germinate and begin to grow, we remove the lids and check daily on the watering.

Starting vegetable seed indoors is, admittedly, more work than sowing seed directly into the ground. But we get much better germination. And when we plant the seedlings outdoors in April or May, they are way ahead of planting seed in the ground. It also saves money…I feel rather smug watching people at garden centers buying paks of 6 lettuce plants for $1.49, when a pinch of lettuce seed has given me a whole row. And lettuce seed keeps at least a couple of years.

So, what will I plant in my cookie containers? Seeds of vegetables that are normally planted early in the spring, lettuce and spinach, sugar snap peas and sweet peas (the flowering kind for picking), cauliflower and broccoli, parsley and Walla Walla sweet onions. I’ll also start tomato seeds that will need to be transplanted into individual containers (yogurt cups with holes punched in the bottoms) to get some growth on them before they are planted in the garden in May. Last year we planted way too much lettuce seed. How many bunches of lettuce do you buy in 2 or 3 months? Lettuce is a great plant for succession planting throughout the summer, so this year we’ll start some seed now, and plant again in mid summer. We’ll plant root crops, carrots, radishes and green onions, beets, and potatoes, directly into the ground beginning now, and into May. Carrots are sweeter if grown in cool weather. We also plant old potatoes, that didn’t get eaten and are wrinkled and sprouting, into the garden. Last year we had fun with very contorted fingerling potatoes in stews and soups. I’ll wait to start corn, beans, most flower seeds, and especially basil until later in the spring.

Barry and I have been vegetable gardening most of our married life. It feels like a healthy hobby that we enjoy together. It’s a great form of exercise, but it’s also a lot of work. Our friends in the retail nursery industry say that, with the price of fresh produce and our sagging economy, vegetable seeds and gardening tools are flying off the racks. If you are vegetable gardening for the first time, I’d suggest starting small. Find the sunniest spot in your yard that has access to a hose for water and clear a small spot. Improve the soil by digging in 2-3″ of compost or steer or chicken manure. Vegetables like rich soil, water in our dry summers, and lots of sun. Building a raised vegetable bed and filling it with garden topsoil makes gardening easier.

Well, I’ve checked through my stash of last year’s seeds and made my list of “must buy” seeds. I’ll see what else looks interesting at my garden center. On this cold, rainy Saturday morning it’s time to do a little “kitchen sink gardening.” Gotta go.

Jan Rodda, Rodda and Sons Landscapes, Inc.