Hot 'Tufa Action!

How many times can I use that title line. Only time will tell.

In the interest of continuing to pursue my membership in SOPWAMTOS, I have officially made my own planter. I was doing some research on the sedum plants that I like and I came across the recipe for these fake stone planters made of something called hypertufa. It's fake tufa rock. Not sure exactly what that means but I thought that would be cool. I don't make sense most of the time...

So after checking out a few situations, I figured I would make a planter out of vermiculite, peat and Portland cement. It ain't easy mixin' and for a first-timer, the various websites keep you nervous about too much water in the mix. I think I put a little too much water in the mix... We'll see how it goes. I won't know for a few days. I have to watch it and mist it with water a few times. It's like baking. It's not so much the stuff so much as it is the chemical reaction of the stuff. In this case, it needs water.

In addition to the hypertufa trough planter that I made, I've been tearing into the production of rain barrels. I've got the production down now with found materials and up-cycling of some stuff. I got one for my parents and now their neighbor wants one so I'll be hooking that up next week. Once I get my homeowner's association to stop bugging me about the rain barrel, I'm sure there will be a lot more in the area.

I'll get some pics up when the trough is done and when my latest plantings are fully rooted. My new interests are killing my wife I fear.

If I show up at your door or try to pay for a race entry fee with a nice potted plant, you'll know why.