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Finally, a Clean Patio

By Mavis Butterfield on February 5, 2016 · 14 Comments
The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosure

pressure wash patio

I don’t know what it’s like where you live, but here in the Pacific Northwest, we get a ton of moss, mold and algae cropping up on our rooftops and patios. It’s super gross.

pressure wash patio

Usually we pull out the pressure washer once in the fall and again in the spring and blast the patio {we save the roof for the professionals}.

dead tomato vines

But last fall I was lazy and never got around to cleaning the patio after I grew boatloads of tomatoes in my galvanized stock tanks. I kind of let all the plants die a horrible death on the vine. If I remember correctly I didn’t even clean up the stock tanks until early November. Bad Mavis. Bad bad bad.

concrete pation

Ahh but all is well. My patio is now clean and the growing season can start all over again.
patio

Spring, it’s only 46 days away. Wahoooo!

What are you most looking forward to growing this year?

Me? Tomatoes and Peas.

~Mavis

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Comments

  1. Laura Z says

    February 5, 2016 at 7:23 am

    Tomatoes, japanese eggplant, and cucumbers….. but especially tomatoes. I don’t know why, but the ones I grow at home taste better than the ones at the farmer’s market. Must be cause they are free. 🙂

    Reply
  2. Stacey says

    February 5, 2016 at 8:52 am

    Tomatoes, peas, and arugula! My favs! This will be the first year in 2 years that I will have my garden back. Oh, how I missed it. It needs to be spring right now! Lol!

    Reply
    • Mavis Butterfield says

      February 5, 2016 at 9:36 am

      I agree. We need a fast forward button.

      Reply
      • Laura Z says

        February 5, 2016 at 3:28 pm

        Amen to that!!

        Reply
  3. Connie says

    February 6, 2016 at 7:20 am

    I am going to try a stock tank this year. Probably put tomatoes (roma) and peppers in it.

    I will try squash again – zuchinni, yellow and patty pan. For years and years , I had great success, but the past few years have had squash bugs attack them. I used natural pesticides to no avail as well as planting marigolds nearby. The squash are perfect for our hot dry desert climate usually.

    Last year my green beans did well. I will also plant okra as it does well here too.

    My backyard is shade and I only have one narrow garden strip along the driveway.

    Our days are getting warmer, so will plant snow peas in the next few weeks. If we don’t have 100 degree weather in May, they do OK and I can underplant with later crops.

    I do try and grow a few greens in my shady back yard before it gets too hot and they bolt. I would like to grow some storage crops someday, but just don’t have the space with sun on this lot.

    Reply
  4. Emily says

    February 6, 2016 at 7:59 am

    Do you add drainage holes to your stock tanks for planting?

    Reply
    • Alison says

      February 6, 2016 at 8:43 am

      I was curious about that too.

      Reply
      • Lace Faerie says

        February 6, 2016 at 6:04 pm

        Me, too!

        Reply
    • Mavis Butterfield says

      February 7, 2016 at 3:54 am

      Yes. I drilled holes in them. 🙂

      Reply
  5. Lori says

    February 6, 2016 at 3:24 pm

    Tomatoes, strawberries and blueberries!!
    Here’s a question that’s been nagging me – can I compost dog fur? My Alaskan Malamute sheds armfuls of fur daily a couple times a year. Seriously it is more than the birds and critters can use. I’ve never found a good answer. Thanks!!

    Reply
    • Phyl says

      February 7, 2016 at 11:59 am

      Lori, hair is mostly slow release nitrogen…yaaaaa! You can compost hair as long as it hasn’t been dyed or processed, so nothing from a hair salon. I first heard this tidbit in a composting class by Bonnie Orr the Dirt Diva in Chelan County WA.

      Reply
  6. Phyl says

    February 7, 2016 at 12:23 pm

    Hi Mavis, The Pacific Northwest is a pretty big place. Some of us actually have to spread buttermilk and moss spores on pots to give them an old mossy patina. I’ve tried, but east of the Cascades we can’t grow moss even with lots of tender loving care….It seems we spend all our time “trying to kill what wants to grow, and grow what wants to die”.

    This year I’m growing some things that are new to my garden…garden huckleberries and litchi tomato berries (both solanace), Gele Tros an endangered yellow cucumbes, Mexican sour gherkins, Jelly Melons, 3 determinate tomatoes Orange King, Black Sea Man, and Clear Pink Early, and Opalka a large 5″ paste tomato, and Sugar Magnolia purple podded sugar peas. Don’t know how many of these will survive our hot dry desert heat, but my excitement is almost uncontained! That’s gardening for you…

    Reply
    • Mavis Butterfield says

      February 7, 2016 at 12:50 pm

      If I lived eat of the Cascades I’d be growing melons! 🙂 You can have my moss. 🙂

      Reply
  7. Mrs. Chow says

    February 8, 2016 at 8:06 am

    Looking forward to tomatoes, for sure. Also:
    Shallots
    Watermelon
    All types of berries
    And, hopefully, cantaloupe, honeydew, and winter squashes. Squash bugs got them last year. Decimated them, actually.

    Reply

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