Against the east wall of my garden is a little half shed that holds soil and other things.
The problem is the other things really- including rusted tools, an old chimney starter, broken buckets and spiders.
So. Many. Spiders.
This morning was actually clear, as the latest rain storm won’t start til tonight, and I though maybe I could tackle the side shed.
Note to self: I have to eventually tackle the main shed too- but that’ll take a few days so I’ve tabled it for now.
Here’s how it looks now that it isn’t full to bursting with things I don’t need. I moved the old charcoal and grilling stuff to the main shed, and I recycled the old rusted tools. I actually found some good stuff that I’m totally gonna use- it just didn’t belong in this shed.
All the various pots and old vases I can use as pots are now living under the work table so they don’t fill up with water and become mosquito factories. I found three old plastic pots of a good size that mom bought years ago that were well preserved in the shed- I have plans for them!
The stake graveyard next to the shed got a good weeding, and I’ve made an inventory of my stakes in preparation for April. Not pictured on the other side of the green bin is a few old rusted tomato cages that I’m gonna try to restore in time for them to be useful. I actually have a fair amount of stakes- the problem is what I need for my beans is trellises… I have some thinking to do.
Mind you the Gerry-rigged system I used last year with stakes and netting was good, just not very reusable.
On the left side of the shed is fertilizers and mulches now neatly arraigned in a shed that has been swept of cobwebs-
So. Many. Cobwebs.
And on the right side is my various soils, including a full bag of worm casings and seed starter I didn’t even know I had!
This is why I have to stay organized!
I did a light weeding around the shade herbs next to the bench- but I don’t know why I bothered, it’s just going to pour for 4 days.
I have a crazy idea for this area though- I might grow blackberries against the fence!
Nice perennial plant that grows wild in my area, and the vertical growth will save me room. I’m eyeing my dad’s old scrap wood pile to see if I can cobble together a bed against the concrete with some elbow grease- but it’ll be a while before I can do anything like that. But still…
At least I know for a fact blackberries will grow here- walking home from school as a kid I’d pick and eat them as they grew on an outcropping a few streets down from me. I’m still pretty nervous about my future cucumbers and how they’ll do in this climate- but blackberries are a no brainer!
Gotta batten down the hatches now. Storm’s coming.
The Neanderthal Gardens 
Blackberries — when I lived in Santa Cruz the blackberries were, um, well they would totally take over unless there was pretty aggressive and regular pruning. And once established they are a real bear to get rid of. But they are great! I remember one time watching a bird on an old swing set that was surrounded by vines, just sitting there getting drunk on fermented berries, gently swinging as it ate berry after berry…..
Well I would grow them in the soil- well amended and I’d make some sort of bed to contain the roots (bricks? wood?) and I’d train them vertically. The idea would be to take advantage of their perennial nature, but yeah, pruning would be a necessary chore with them. The fact that birds would get some berries doesn’t bother me too much, because they’d also eat grubs and bad bugs so more birds=less bad bugs so I’m willing to share!
Yeah, no, you should have more than plenty enough for birds! Got to watch for the drunk ones, though. 😀 As for containment, really just very frequent attention to pruning will be the key, and a contained bed would definitely help also. I worked in a garden once that had them well trained around the sides, I think I recall they had a low brick enclosure. For the pruning you might want to get you some rose gauntlets because the thorns can really tear you up.