long time gone

looks like i’ve fallen off the wagon.  i was doing so well, and then the chaos that is spring hit.

before we were so rudely interrupted, i was talking about all the work that got done around here after the Big Event kids came.

so finally – i have pictures to share.  just looking back at these, i’ve noticed how many more things have sprouted up in just four weeks.  thankfully even though i’ve been absent in the blogging world, i’ve still been keeping track of all the changes going on around here.  Mainly in our garden.  More on that later.

Without further ado, here’s what we got 5 college kids to do for no payment other than a big lunch and the satisfaction of a job well done.  score.

remember the massive mulch pile?  this is what is was reduced to.  and that’s after going back for more.  twice.

this is where most of it ended up.  this year was our third spring at our house (we moved in in spring) and it was the first time we were able to mulch it.  it’s big.

this is where a little more if it went.  the mulch, and not our badly in need of a power wash garage is the focus of this picture.

finally, the rest went up front.

gratuitous flower shot

we also had the boys fill up the dogs’ contributions to the landscape (lots and lots of holes. grr.) with fill dirt.  then we seeded it with grass seed and covered it with straw.  grow!

and welcome to our garden:  a trailer full of free rough grade mulch from the dump filled up extra space perfectly.

this should do the trick at providing nice pathways for our garden.

a closeup.  we tried to lay it as thickly as we could.  one more load of this stuff might have been even better.  but beggars can’t be choosers and there’s always next year.

coming up shortly are pics of our progress over the past month and whatever randomness comes to me.

The Big Event

Last weekend, Ross and I got to reap the full benefits of living in a college town.  Back in 2002, Virginia Tech started participating in the Big Event - a campus-wide service project where students volunteer to help out residents of the New River Valley with any number of house projects and/or yardwork.  So we said, “Sign us up!”

Thankfully the weather was fabulous, because at around 11am last Saturday, five strapping college boys showed up at our house ready to get to work.  And we had plenty for them to do.

By 2:30 (and with a lunchbreak thrown in there too) here’s what we got done:

- completely mulched back garden bed (ross even had to go back for more mulch.  twice.)

- mulched side bed by the garage

- filled our veggie garden with rough grade mulch (around the raised beds to help ward off weeds and create paths)

- filled up all puppy-created holes with fill dirt

Then after they left, ross and i mulched the front garden bed, cleaned up, and then collapsed.   Everything looks fabulous and it finally feels like we’re making something of this property that’s been ours for two years already.  It’s amazing how long it takes to feel like you’re on top of things.  Which we’re still not, but at least much more than before.  I have pictures, but as always, they’re not on my computer yet.

soon.

happy friday – its supposed to be another great weekend.

finishing touches

remember that fence we just put up?  and remember that catchy little poem i shared with you?  about the garden gate?  well we didn’t mention that on that wonderful day of fencing victory, we didn’t actually have a garden gate.  oops.

see? no gate!

but we were back a few days later making sure we did.  ross researched gates for hours and we finally came up with this little guy.  he’s super simple, but that’s really all we needed.  all the props go to ross for his amazing handy work.  i just played vanna.

meanwhile, i was working on the lone little box of garlic that needed to be planted.  knowing the design of the rest of the garden, i couldn’t just put the box anywhere.  i had to put it 14 feet from the entrance of the garden.  why?  because i’m OCD,  people, and when my design says 14 feet, i listen.

so of course 14 feet falls right smack in the middle of a 5 foot leaf pile, three berry bushes we planted last summer and several holes courtesy of the mutts.

hmm. looks like i have a couple of obstructions.

here are the cast of characters for operation:  rake leaves, move berry bushes, fill holes, and level out the ground.

bushes out:  check. (these guys didn’t get tossed – just relocated)

leaves raked: check.  now to just pick axe the heck out of it and rake it smooth.   no prob.

the box awaits a new home.  this is one of the two boxes that made up our garden this past year.

last year’s soil, also awaiting a new home.  recycling at its finest.

back at the gate, ross is starting to attach the doors to their posts.

ta dah!!

here’s a picture of the final product.  we backed the gate in the same wire fencing as the fence rails.  and there’s me in the background finally planting that garlic.

we designed the gate to swing open inwards toward the garden.  when its just us going through we’ll use the right side only; when we have a wagon or wheelbarrow to bring through, we’ll open both doors.  the gate spans five feet, the same width as the center aisle of the garden.  cool, right?

garlic cloves are really like little tulip bulbs.  just separate the biggest and the best from a head of garlic and pop those bad boys in root side down.

once these all got put in, i watered them and covered them in a couple inches of mulch to help them retain water and protect them from the elements.  only time will tell if these little guys will actually produce anything for me next summer.

so aside from a couple hundred pounds of leaves and some serious leveling and filling in of holes, our little garden is well on its way.