The Outhouse Garden

You ladies are all so funny.  After I mentioned The Outhouse Garden in my last post it was obvious from your comments that I needed to get to work and get it in order so that I could take a photo and get a post done with an explanation!  Thanks for holding me accountable ladies, it drove me to get it done.

Without further ado I present to you all...

The Outhouse Garden

See the "tree" in the corner there.  I rescued that from the burn pile because I liked the shape of it.  I set it aside over where I was working.  Jene was burning the other day and walked over by me a mumbled "this should be over in the burn pile" and started to walk off with it!  I screamed "No!  I want that!"  he said in a disgusted voice "for what, it's a dead tree!?" and gave it back to me.  I trimmed it up yesterday and put it in the ground, I love it!

OK, so the story behind The Outhouse.  GJo (dad's mom) got a free outhouse or privy as she calls them, for use as a garden shed (talk about re-purposing!).  Outhouses had always been a fascination of hers and became an interest of mine.  I have an extensive library of books on the history and styles of outhouses (yes there are a lot of books on the subject believe it or not LOL!). 

This particular outhouse has been in the family since 1967!  My grandfather (mom's dad) built it to have a place to "go" down by the lake.  After being inspired by GJo and the garden shed idea I asked if I could have the family outhouse and was told "OK?".  Jene was not on board with this whole idea so I had to recruit my dad to help me move it the 35 miles to my house.  After cleaning out a few bird skeletons and a skeleton of something unknown Dad and I managed to drag it out of the brush and trees to load it up in the back of his pick-up truck and drive very slowly back to my house.  Can you imagine seeing a pick-up with an outhouse in the bed driving down the road?  I wish that I had taken some pictures at the time.  This particular outhouse is a single and needed some restoration, it needs a little more work now as the door is falling off but it works so well to just put the long handled tools into "the hole" and then Grandpa had some shelves in there that are perfect for pots and small hand tools.  GJo sent me an old Sears catalog as a outhouse warming gift after we got it settled.   It is quite a privy-lage to have this fine piece of history in my backyard...whether Jene agrees or not :)

Now Grandma was always about keeping everything fair between the the grandkids so I figured it was not fair that I got the outhouse and none of my cousins got something, right?  I spent the next couple of months collecting toilets...again, Jene was no help!  For Christmas each of my cousins got a toilet that year...one green, one blue.  They didn't seem as appreciative as I was to have the outhouse, hmmm, I don't get it?! 

Then we have  

The Herb Garden

In an old rusty wagon that I got from the garbage about 10 years ago. 

Heading to get some seeds and plants for the veggie garden Jene tilled yesterday.  I feel so far behind because of the weather but my heritage is telling me I am  too early (May31st was what we always told people at the nursery).  It has been years since I have had a veggie garden, the last time I had a veggie garden was the year that my mom passed (2003), gardening got me through the initial depression from the loss, I felt so close to her as I was tending the garden.  I still talk to her and pray to Him as I work in the dirt.  It will be nice to have those conversations again.

Lots of love to all of you,

Kendra