aspenhill's blog: Organizing the Deck Boxes

Posted on Apr 18, 2024 5:04 AM

Thursday
Yesterday I had another full day working outside. I decided to switch gears and instead of gardening, I cleaned out and organized the four big deck box type storage bins that are now in place outside the greenhouse. I've had them for years and they hold all kinds of gardening stuff, mostly nursery pots. They sat out back just beyond the wood line though, and the lids often blew open so they were filled with leaves and debris. What a job that was!

First I emptied the contents. It took longer than I expected, and when I was done with that, I was tired of it and my mind kept jumping about to all the other tasks on the to do list. I kept at it though, really trying to finish the things that I start. I had to climb inside the boxes to get all the leaves out. Again, once that was done I was ready to move on to something else. That was basically how it went ALL ... DAY ... LONG. It was hard to stick with it to the bitter end, but I did it Green Grin!

The next step was to drag over the shop vac from the garage and suck up the remaining debris. Then I used a sponge and a bucket of water to wipe the insides down. Finally, all four were emptied and cleaned. The bin contents were still fairly organized, but each did have some random things thrown on top over the last few years. I sorted and then started putting contents back in. Had that pull to do something else between loading up each box. I can't say that it was a fun project, but it is done.

Each box is now filled with different sizes/shapes of pots. I have saved many nursery pots over the years that I thought would eventually come in handy. Box #1 contains square pots ranging in size from 2" to 5". I'll continue to save this size when I get them with new plant acquisitions from Black Creek. Box #2 contains round trade gallon size pots. I have so many of these that I will not be saving any more for years to come. Box #3 contains extra large round nursery pots that shrubs and trees come in. I have enough of these for now too. Box #4 contains carry trays and cell inserts for seed starting and growing out plugs. I'm not sure if I will even keep these. They are such a mish mash of what purchased things came in, and after the seed starting efforts this year, I think I would rather go with very standard uniform 1020 nursery trays and inserts. Seems like I could make more efficient use of light shelf and greenhouse growing space if they were all the same size.

I carried all the miscellaneous gardening supplies which aren't used for seed starting and growing out plants over to the conservatory basement. I need a full day to clean and re-organize that space as well Sighing! Cleaning and organizing can be just as tiring as gardening!

I did end the day with about an hour of raking leaves out of the beds around the stone retaining wall that defines the parking area. It runs parallel with the greenhouse and was one of the many things that I wanted to be doing instead of working on those deck boxes Green Grin! I uncovered a little yellow ring neck snake. It surprised me as much as I surprised it, and it quickly slithered away.

Bonnie came over just as I was finishing. She was still wound up after her work day and wanted to do something physical in the gardens. She used a thatcher that she attached to the back of the riding mower and did my small front lawn. Then she spread the bag of Scotts Triple Action Turf Builder that I got last year and never used. There was plenty left over for her to use on her small front lawn too. It feels pretty good when you use those kind of supplies up. We sat for a bit enjoying the evening as the sun was going down, but Bonnie can't sit still for long and was soon off to take River for one last long walk before turning in for the night.

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