zero cost fire pit

Fancy backyard fire pits seem to be all the rage these days, and I wanted to jump on that bandwagon STAT. However, I am unwilling to shell out beaucoups bucks for the same thing that someone else can buy -- I needed something original and created from free materials.

I've lamented to you before about our rocky top mountain soil, but those same irritating rocks do come in handy for quick little projects like this:

Buddha approves.

Jay complimented my fanciness with the white rocks.

We lugged that fire grate out with us from California, I stole the decorative white rocks from under the holly bush in the front yard, and, of course, the surrounding red rocks were laboriously dug out from my little fall/winter garden below.

Chard

Beet greens

Lettuce

Notice how I've only included close-up shots? Yea, that's because the rest of the garden is looking a little sad. Things are growing verrrry slowly, which isn't surprising considering we're on the brink of winter, and I think I might have gotten a little overzealous with thinning in some spots. I also didn't mulch anything, instead relying on my make-shift greenhouse cover and wacky green lights, which may be slowing things down a bit.

Lastly, I probably should have utilized the approximately 3'x20' spot a little more efficiently by planting fewer varieties in larger quantities, but I consider this my test garden and am not going to beat myself up too much over it.

However, I did discover a couple of windows in the corn crib the other day (and relatively new ones, at that), so I'm going to hunt down a few bales of straw and rig up either a hot bed or cold frame (depending on if I can get some manure from the neighbors) and experiment with some winter planting.