The Spring Break Project

Some friends were over a week or two ago and mentioned that we could damage our foundation and be having water leaking in to our basement due to our raised beds.  They said that the best thing to do was to pull all of the soil out, put down a barrier, that would go up along the walls, and then put the soil back.  

So that's what we did.

I think shoveling the soil out was the worst part of the job.  I worked on it alone the first day and the second day I had a little help.

This was all of the dirt that came out of the bed.

The second day was non-stop shoveling.  We took a break for lunch and a break for... well just for a break.  But otherwise we worked from morning until 5PM to get it finished.  We even brought over some of the compost to add to the top.

I replanted the rose buses and a couple other plants that had already started growing, my fingers are crossed that they will re-establish themselves.  It isn't completely done as I'd like to add some more boulders, transplant some day lilies, and put some more soil in to make sure it's angled correctly to shed the water away from the house, but I think it's going to be better once it's done.

Creative Garden Labels

I needed something to label the areas of our garden but this year I needed something that would stand out more.  Last year we painted rocks, but the paint began to peel and the rocks weren't large enough so they eventually were buried by the dirt.

This year I was trying to find something that would be more of a sign and then I cam across these cutting boards in a dollar store.

There isn't anything in the garden yet, but having the labels out is already helping the boys and I to remember which rows are for walking and which are for plants.

Only minor progress

We got out in the garden again today but didn't get too much done.  I re-tilled the entire garden, finished getting the deer and chicken fence all set up, and then was able to stretch and tie a few guidelines for the first few rows before we ran out of bright pink string.  

The rows that were marked off were where the tomatoes, onions, lettuce and cucumbers will be going along with a few other things that we can't plant just yet.  But at least those areas are ready for when we can plant them.  The newspapers are for weed  prevention.

I will need to grab some more string to finish marking off the rows, as I'm determined to stay organized this year.  Then I can get started planting the few things that are able to go into the ground before the last frost.

A chick with extra toes??

Our last batch of chicks is now two months old and is finally getting some more regular time outside in a chicken run.

The Polish with a mohawk