Last post I made some comments about changes coming to the garden. I was needing a day off work to, you know, work.
The last two days have been glorious weather - cool and breezy which is perfect for some hard labor.
I gave myself some forced deadlines. For example I called the mulch yard and asked for 3 cubic yards of garden mix - (50% soil - 40% mushroom compost - 10% sand) to be delivered to as early as possible Friday morning and dumped at the end of the drive. Knowing the Student would be home by 6:00, pushed me to get this done. Halfway up the drive, you can see some of the material I had already removed from the bed.
The plan was to remove two perennial beds and prep them for conversion to boxed raised beds. I want to preserve as much as possible in terms of plant materials by repurposing them in the front yard, which, as a friend told me "...is pretty sad for someone who thinks they are a gardener."
Ouch, but the truth hurts.
I've always enjoyed the aspect that the garden is in the back and not visible from the street, my very own "Bijou Caché." It is a surprise to pull up to the very unassuming house, walk down the driveway, and turn to see a vigorous garden. But, as the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention. If I was going to save those plants they'd have to move. And I might as well tart up the front of the house a bit.
I spent the morning ripping out the East bed, here is the before and after.
Then I moved the soil out of the driveway. It may not look like much, but three cubic yards takes some time. I did in fact finish before she came home from work. I'll show you what we came up with at the end of the post. I was exhausted by the end of the day - 12 hours of removing plants and shoveling soil will do that to you. I'm afraid I wasn't good company at the German restaurant for Oktoberfest. Oh, the beer and Jager Schnitzel were delicious, but by the time I was finished I was almost falling asleep. A few aspirin before bed and hopefully I would not be too sore the next day to continue.
Surprisingly I felt pretty good! Up at 6:00, took dear daughter #2 for some driving practice, a stop at the local greenhouse (their perennials were all on sale for only $2 each!) and I finally could procrastinate no longer. While clearing out the west bed, I did feel bad as there were some plants I couldn't save. Oh well, if you want to make an omelet.. you gotta break some eggs.
All I need now is to build the boxes and fill them, shred all the material I pulled out of the garden. Won't happen today as it is raining a lovely soft gentle rain, perfect for the new plants in front.
This still needs mulch, and is a little tatty but will be better after wintering over, I'd say it is big improvement. Whew! I need a nap.
Until next time, Keep Digging & Eat Well!
The Gastronomic Gardener
Garden blog http://amidwestgarden.blogspot.com/
Cooking blog http://ihopeyouarehungry.blogspot.com/
Twitter - @gastrogardener
http://www.facebook.com/TheGastronomicGardener
email: thegastronomicgardener at gmail dot com
The last two days have been glorious weather - cool and breezy which is perfect for some hard labor.
I gave myself some forced deadlines. For example I called the mulch yard and asked for 3 cubic yards of garden mix - (50% soil - 40% mushroom compost - 10% sand) to be delivered to as early as possible Friday morning and dumped at the end of the drive. Knowing the Student would be home by 6:00, pushed me to get this done. Halfway up the drive, you can see some of the material I had already removed from the bed.
The plan was to remove two perennial beds and prep them for conversion to boxed raised beds. I want to preserve as much as possible in terms of plant materials by repurposing them in the front yard, which, as a friend told me "...is pretty sad for someone who thinks they are a gardener."
Ouch, but the truth hurts.
I've always enjoyed the aspect that the garden is in the back and not visible from the street, my very own "Bijou Caché." It is a surprise to pull up to the very unassuming house, walk down the driveway, and turn to see a vigorous garden. But, as the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention. If I was going to save those plants they'd have to move. And I might as well tart up the front of the house a bit.
I spent the morning ripping out the East bed, here is the before and after.
Then I moved the soil out of the driveway. It may not look like much, but three cubic yards takes some time. I did in fact finish before she came home from work. I'll show you what we came up with at the end of the post. I was exhausted by the end of the day - 12 hours of removing plants and shoveling soil will do that to you. I'm afraid I wasn't good company at the German restaurant for Oktoberfest. Oh, the beer and Jager Schnitzel were delicious, but by the time I was finished I was almost falling asleep. A few aspirin before bed and hopefully I would not be too sore the next day to continue.
Surprisingly I felt pretty good! Up at 6:00, took dear daughter #2 for some driving practice, a stop at the local greenhouse (their perennials were all on sale for only $2 each!) and I finally could procrastinate no longer. While clearing out the west bed, I did feel bad as there were some plants I couldn't save. Oh well, if you want to make an omelet.. you gotta break some eggs.
All I need now is to build the boxes and fill them, shred all the material I pulled out of the garden. Won't happen today as it is raining a lovely soft gentle rain, perfect for the new plants in front.
This still needs mulch, and is a little tatty but will be better after wintering over, I'd say it is big improvement. Whew! I need a nap.
Until next time, Keep Digging & Eat Well!
The Gastronomic Gardener
Garden blog http://amidwestgarden.blogspot.com/
Cooking blog http://ihopeyouarehungry.blogspot.com/
Twitter - @gastrogardener
http://www.facebook.com/TheGastronomicGardener
email: thegastronomicgardener at gmail dot com
