Picket Fence Weblog

I thought that I would touch on some more security features and products that shoppicketfence.com has.  I had been blogging about ponds and pond gardens, but today, here in western NY, it is freezing cold, windy, and snowy.  So, gardening, ponds, and lawn care are about the last thing on my mind.

At shoppicketfence.com there are more security products than just the camera that looks just like a flood lamp.  We also have a wireless driveway alarm, too.  This sends a signal to a transmitter that sounds an alarm, so you know if someone has pulled in to your driveway, or started up your walk. Many people like and use this product so they do not miss deliveries.  It’s great for businesses too.

There is also the Transonic Pro.  This is not so much a measure of security or alerts as it is to keep pests away, which is a kind of security.  The Transonic Pro can drive pests away from your garden, home, garage, or storage space.  It keeps small and large pests and rodents away for good.  I’ve heard of some folks who use this in the spring and summer for their garden and then use it for their garage and/or storage in fall and winter.  They really are multi-useful.

Just a few unique products from the QCI Direct. 

As always, Art.

I heard a great story the other day and I felt compelled to share it.

A friend of mine lives in the suburbs.  He has quite a bit of land behind his garage and this is the fourteenth year in a row that he has had a garden.  Each year it has gotten bigger and bigger.  The last 4 years though, he was growing a lot of vegetables to can with.  He also makes different sauces and salsa’s throughout the year and makes gift baskets with his creations to give away at Christmas.  He spent years as a chef before owning his own business, so he knows his way around the kitchen.

Anyway, over the last four years, he noticed that a few vegetable would always be missing. Not every night or anything, just once in a while he would go back there to dig up a carrot or grab a tomato or onion, and notice that some of them were missing.  He couldn’t figure out what he was up against since no pest repellent seemed to be working. I suggested a special camera that looks just like a flood lamp.  It sends a video signal to your television so you can watch what types of animals are getting into your garden.

I know that most people use them for security against  criminals, but this is just an alternate use. Anyway, I talked my friend into buying one.  I even helped him set it up.  He called me a few days later, he had caught the animal red handed!  It turned out, his next door neighbor, an old man into his 90’s, was helping himself to whatever he felt like that day.  When asked, the man told my friend, “not to worry, he’ll keep an eye out” for whatever is stealing the veggies.  My friend said he didn’t have the heart to blame the man.  So now, once a week, he leaves a basket full of vegetables on the mans front door step, no matter what time of the year.  He has never had his garden raided since, and the old man has yet to say another word to him.

I wonder if he’s still “watching out” for the culprit.

As always, Art.

Ok, I know in Western New York it is still winter, but we’re having a little bit of a warm up. In fact, it is supposed to be in the middle 50’s by tomorrow. It wasn’t all that warm this weekend, but it was sunny enough, and by gosh just warm enough, for the topsoil to thaw slightly. I decided to go up to camp and make sure everything was ok. I mean, as long as the weather’s good I may as well spend a little time there. It also got me out of chores around the house. Anyway, it was even warmer at camp then in the city. I thought that maybe I would measure out the are I was thinking for my new garden pond and place markers in the ground, surrounding it with twine, so I could see the shape of the pond.

So I put stakes in ground and set up the string and stood back to look at it. The shape was great. I could tell it was going to look natural. Since the ground was warm, I decided to plunge the shovel into the ground, just to see how many rocks were going to be in the soil. Since the camp is so close to the river, it’s mostly sand for the first foot or two, and after that its actually not all that bad. Sparse large rocks posed a problem but they were easy enough to cast aside. Before I knew it, I had almost dug the pond out.

About half of the pond is already dug out. It’s a lot easier than I thought. My pond is only going to be about 7 x 12 feet, and about 3 feet deep, so it’s not all that large. But the ground, it is still partially frozen, but because the river is close to the lake, it wasn’t frozen all the way, which actually made it easier, I think. I realized that I had spent most of the day digging, it only took a few hours to dig half out. I stopped though, and cleaned up and headed for home. It’s really made me excited for spring, to have a new project ready for me when the sun comes out and the snow quits for good. It is a small breakthrough, and it sort of cured those winter blues a little, plus, there is no turning back now, I have to put a pond in. Unless I want to return in a few weeks and fill it back in. Which dosen’t seem likely. I’ll keep you up to date on what my next step is, which as of now, I’m not sure of.

In the meantime, check out some of the fun spring categories at shoppicketfence.com. Pond, lawn and garden, and patio, deck, and pool are some of my favorites.

As always, Art.

So, how is your car holding up in the cold weather? My car is 8 years old, going on 9. It’s a lower end car (chevy prism), but has served me well through the years. I would love a new car, but since that is not going to happen anytime soon, I need to take care of the one I have. Besides regular oil changes and keeping the tires properly inflated, I also strive for safety. I recently bought the Porta Jump to have on hand to jump start my car. If I was stranded with a dead car battery, I would have no idea how to jump start it. The Porta Jump stores in your glove compartment until needed. You just plug it into your cigarette lighter, wait for the green light and start it up. No more trying to figure out which cable goes where or relying on another car or another person! Other handy car accessories I have from Picket Fence include Tire Minders. These go over your existing valve cap and change color, alerting you when your tires are not properly inflated. Last but not least, I have the blind spot mirror so I can see what I would normally not be able to. Drive safe this winter and beyond! Until next time… Ann

“Marriage has no guarantees. If that’s what you’re looking for, go live with a car battery.” - Erma Bombeck

I have been searching around for more articles and blog spots about garden ponds.  It’s been really great.  There are some truly fascinating stories out there about individuals who built their own ponds, or folks who are trying to build their own garden ponds, as I am.  It’s nice to see a community of people out there who are true DIYers (Do It Yourself-ers).  I guess that probably comes from upbringing, or maybe just the quest for knowledge and pride.

I have finished designing where I want my pond and what shape I want it to look like.  Its going to be a small oblong oval shape.  I made it so it was not completely oval, it has some strange curves to it.  I tried to make it look as natural as possible.  I’ve started looking for liners, which is a technicality, because I’m more into what is going around it and how I am going to finish the overall design.  I know I am going to put a bird feeder close by, possibly a fishing boy, and maybe even a flamingo.  I’m not sure that I’ll be able to fit all that in the small space that I have designed, but I will try.

I’m going to put rocks up on one side, and then let the grass come up on the other.  I’ll probably place a lawn border or maybe a fence there, to keep the grass a few inches away.  I hope it attracts some local wildlife, which everyone tells me is one of the best benefits of having a garden pond.  I’ll write more when I get more decided.

As always, Art.

As most of you know, I love to garden. It is a joy of mine to plant and grow, and to use my fresh vegetables and herbs in cooking. I am learning the art of canning and freezing too, in order to provide myself with my own brand of veggies throughout the winter as well. It’s a great way to save money and provide yourself with good food.

But up until just recently I have always planted my garden for utilitarian purposes and left little room for aesthetics. I’m not much for growing flowers, which are naturally aesthetic and eye pleasing, so I wasn’t sure how to make my garden look more like an oasis. I showed some friends pictures of my garden and was partially confused when someone suggested adding a pond. My response was that there wasn’t a pond near my garden. I told them that the body of water they were seeing was the Chaumont River. They then explained to me that a garden pond was mostly decorative and could be easily installed by using simple landscaping techniques. I decided that I would do some research into this and write a blog each time I have some new information and every time I take a step forward in the development of my pond.

The first step is designing how you want your pond to look.  It is not going to do me a lot of good to go out to camp with a shovel and start digging one now, since winter has officially set in and the ground is frozen.  But the other night I decided to draw up what the area looks like around my garden.  I made it rather official and used graph paper to get size as accurate as possible. I’m not quite sure of the size as of yet, but I do have the basic shape down and where it is going to be placed in my garden.  It’s a good idea to start planning for these ventures now, so when spring comes and you are ready to get started, all the kinks have been previously worked out.

There are hundreds of great websites out there that can help you plan your pond and garden, and the more research I do, the more of them that I dismiss for not being accurate.  But I have found of few that have piqued my interest, I just haven’t finished going through them all and checked all their sources.  But I have found myself getting excited about this project.  There are some awesome products at Shoppicketfence.com for  ponds. Reviewing products like these can really help you decide what you want your pond to look like.  I will be researching how to build one of these soon, and I will post my findings as soon as I know more.

As always, Art.

Cleaning my house takes about 2 hours. It’s a job I’m not particularly fond of, so if I can find things to reduce that time, I’m all for it. This year I made a vow to take my shoes off and leave them by the door. This has made a world of difference. It keeps the mud and muck outside where it belongs. No more constant mopping up the grime left by dirty, melting snow and slush. These Shoe Covers are also good debris busters. They slip right over your shoes. I also this Boot & Glove Dryer to keep boots and shoes dry. Less drips means less cleaning. Spring is 9 weeks away so don’t get discouraged by the cold, dark days - sunshine and milder weather is on the way!

Until next time… Ann

“Love is the thing that enables a woman to sing while she mops up the floor after her husband has walked across it in his barn boots.”

Here in Western New York, the January thaw has worn off and the snow has started up again.  As soon as those winds move over the lake the “lake effect machine” revs up and dumps multitudes of snow upon us, making travel and outdoor activities difficult.  I like spring, summer and fall much better than winter, although winter has it’s joys as well.  I started thinking that in Australia right now, it is summer, and then happened across a blog from an Australian gardener while perusing Kathy Purdy’s blog at coldclimategardening.com.  The blog was written by Alice, who found a fox snooping around in her garden, and seemingly posed for pictures!  Click here for some great photos of an Australian Fox! Thanks a lot to Alice, who was quick with the camera.

As always, Art.

Chin up people, winter days are dwindling and the bright sunny days of Spring & Summer are ahead! So, how will your garden grow this year? If you take steps now, you will be guaranteed a gorgeous garden come Spring.

1) How is your bird bath or outdoor statue looking? If you procrastinated and neglected to clean it this past fall, now is the time to get going. Our Bird Bath Protector works great for that.

2) Sharpen your garden tools. It can be minus 10 degrees outside, but this is a job that can be done indoors.

3) Annuals can be started inside. You’ll save money and it can be fun besides. You will need a peat pot, potting mix and seeds to get started. For further details, here’s a good guide:

http://www.helium.com/tm/364962/plant-growing-prowess-spring

4) Design your garden’s layout. Grab a pen and paper and go to town. Group by color, mix it up - let your imagination go wild.

5) Get your supplies now so you will have them when the time is right. Our Garden Gel Kneeler was a lifesaver for me last planting season. The sidewalk by my flower bed can be unforgiving. This mat made a huge difference in my comfort level!

6) Think early. There are plants that do well even before Memorial Day. These include: onions, radishes, beets and lettuce, to name but a few.
- Until next time… Ann

“Grass is the cheapest plant to install and the most expensive to maintain.” - Pat Howell

Ever since my last post about gardening (just 4 days ago) I haven’t stopped thinking about it.  I like to grow flowers merely for the aestheticism, but growing vegetables is my main love.  I love to have fresh vegetables in the garden so I can walk outside, pick them, and use them in dishes for friends and family.  Meals always taste better when the veggies are fresh.  And I don’t mean fresh as in the produce section at the grocery store.  A vegetable that has been picked 12 minutes before its cooked tastes much different than a few days or weeks old.  No pesticides, or chemicals either, and I know that my vegetables have been grown completely organically.

But the winter is long.  Not much to grow when its all cold and snow.  Or is there?

Kale is an excellent winter veggie.  It is very hardy, not affected by frost, and is great for soups, which happen to be a popular winter item.  Also, beets grow well starting as soon as the soil is workable.  These are typical Russian veggies, so it may be best to use Russian varieties, since they are used to the cold.

You may also want to start some seeds indoors.  Broccoli can be put into the ground as early as March, so its not to early to get a few seeds going inside and ready for transplant. The same goes for Brussels sprouts (if you like them, I know I do) and cabbage.  Get them started now in pots and they can be put into the ground in March.  Along with carrots, turnips, rutabaga, garlic, lettuce, and onions; all essentials to a great garden.

It’s really not too soon to start thinking of these things.  Get excited for Spring!  It’s such a wonderful time of year.  Its a good way to keep yourself busy through the long, dark, and boring winter months, too.  If you think about it, you should start these projects now, because March will come up quicker than you think.  It’s always nice to extend the growing season!

Click here to view some products that can help in your planning process.

As always, Art.