stefang

Welcome to Garden Tenders! I answered your garden page first, before I read your profile, so I thought you were joking around about being the reluctant helper. Sorry, no offense intended and I am glad you decided to join us. Your gardens are beautiful and we learn so much from each other, even if our gardens are located all over the world.

-- Robin, Massachusetts - "Live simply so others can simply live." M. Gandhi

Thanks for the welcome Robin. My main obsession is woodworking, but I’m hoping my wife will enjoy being my co-pilot on the site even though she not a great computer fan. Our outdoor temperature is still pretty low, but we will be out in the garden shortly as we are expecting a spell of good weather this week-end. I saw your very nice garden and I do especially envy you that “edibles” part. It sounds like you have a lot going there. We have had vegetable/fruit gardens in the past, but we no longer have the energy required to maintain one. I hope we don’t get kicked off the site for being too lazy. We’re looking forward to enjoying your company.

-- Mike the reluctant gardening assistant of Lillian

Welcome to GT, Stefang. We look forward to your contributions. Your past experience in life itself, as well as some gardening and woodworking, may indeed prove to be quite beneficial and useful for us.

My wife and I were in Oslo two years ago, and LOVED it. Hopefully you will be able to post a few pictures of some of the amazing gardens in Norway.

-- jroot

Thanks Jroot. I will do my best. We haven’t done much in the way of woodworking projects in our garden because fortunately we have a lot of privacy around our house without the need for screening. I will be taking some more pictures soon. At this stage in our life we are trying to keep our garden maintenance at a minimum. That could maybe be of interest to old folks like me and I’m sure I can a learn a thing or two there as well.

I’m currently finishing a very plainly styled garden bench for my wife. We won’t be able to see it from our terrace, but she wants to be able to take little rest breaks while working in the garden without having to come all the way back to the terrace each time. I started building it last spring, but it got put on hold until now. I did a 1st part blog on it on Lumberjocks and will soon be able to post the last installment, though I doubt anyone will remember it or even care by now. I understand that there are many fine gardens in your area and I’m sure one of those belong to you judging by the beautiful flowers pictured on your garden page. Meanwhile I hope you are enjoying the spring there and I’m looking forward to reading your posts.

-- Mike the reluctant gardening assistant of Lillian

I wandered over to Lumberjocks to see your beautiful woodworking projects. I especially liked the converted tea cabinet and your bread basket gift idea; they both would look wonderful in our farmhouse. You also make beautiful boxes and are quite skilled with the lathe. The camel you made for a grandson is adorable! Don’t worry about your kind comments going to my head; I know I still have much to learn. I just really enjoy what I am doing in my gardens. Garden Tenders does tend to be a bit addicting and I find that I am trying new ideas I learn here all the time.

-- Robin, Massachusetts - "Live simply so others can simply live." M. Gandhi

Welcome to GardenTenders, Mike. Looking forward to seeing more pictures of your gardens.

-- 'To plant a Garden is to believe in Tomorrow'

Thank you Iris. I will certainly be taking more photos during and after we get the garden in shape. Our garden is actually pretty limited in size and scope, but there are a lot of other places to photograph in our area which I think might be of interest.

Robin As a person interested in gardening and it seems to me quite knowledgeable one as well, I certainly can relate to your being addicted to the site. I have it the the same with with Lumerjocks. Thank for those kind comments on my woodworking projects. I can imagine there is a lot of history there in Massachusetts. I have often said that if I were a professional woodworker I would love to make period furniture reproductions which I assume are very popular in your area.

-- Mike the reluctant gardening assistant of Lillian

Hello Mike/Lillian and welcome to GT.Nice to see you participating already.Looking forward to your gardening experiences this year.

-- Bon,Hastings,Ont.....zone 5a....Always room for one more

Thank you Bon, and the same goes for us.

-- Mike the reluctant gardening assistant of Lillian

Mike, our history is not quite as long as yours, but we have had some very interesting woodworking history in this area. Our farmhouse was built in 1738, in the post and beam style. We live relatively close to Old Sturbridge Village, which works to preserve and demonstrate the architecture and living practices of the 1830 – 1840s. My husband is very interested in the woodworking techniques of the colonial days, particularly the use of hand tools, and I have picked up quite a bit of knowledge listening to him and reading woodworking books he finds in the library. My favorite furniture tends to be Shaker pieces. Although my husband is not very interested in gardening (you might say he is a reluctant gardener too), I am very fortunate because he builds me things for my animals (like a milking stand for my goats) and most recently he built an Amish pie safe to hold the jams, jellies and sauces I have preserved.

-- Robin, Massachusetts - "Live simply so others can simply live." M. Gandhi

Firstly Robin I would like to say that your history is exactly as long as mine because I’m an American too. You are so fortunate to live in historic surroundings and I can see that you greatly appreciate that fact.

It is wonderful to feel a connection to the past irregardless of your perspective, whether woodworking or gardening or whatever. I was amazed when I saw a building on my wife’s grandparents farm that was 300 years old. People once lived on the 2nd floor and kept animals, (probably sheep) below. The farm is right on a fjord and there used to be a ferry landing there. I was told that the warehouse (also 300 years old) on the stone landing had blown down just the year before we arrived in 1971. Of course Lillian’s grandfather pulled out all the old nails and tried to save the materials. Good going for an 86 year old and pretty typical behavior for a frugal farmer, and I mean that in a positive way.

I hope your husband is a member of Lumberjocks as it can be fun and interesting. I also love the idea of hand tools and I have become more proficient over the years with some of them, but it is too late for me to really master them. When I use them it makes me feel connected to the past and of course I enjoy the quiet and dust free moments.

-- Mike the reluctant gardening assistant of Lillian

Mike, I have always been drawn to the history of the places I have lived and I know I would enjoy seeing that old farmhouse on the fjord. We can learn so much from the past. My husband (ChuckV) is on Lumberjocks; he is the one who introduced me to Garden Tenders. If you click on the blue link in my earlier comment, it will take you to his project page for the Amish pie safe.

-- Robin, Massachusetts - "Live simply so others can simply live." M. Gandhi

I too am a woodworking fan. I actually found this site through lumberjocks myself. I’ll have to go check out your work there. I personally don’t have much posted there.

-- Cooking, weeding, and growing what I can in Brampton. -Joe (Superdad)