Category: Projects

Over the weekend, we managed to finish the herb garden.  I say “managed” because as I’ve mentioned before, the sod in this place is brutal.  The grass is old and the roots well-established, and the soil contains just enough clay that separating the two is a feat worthy of a strongman competition.  And the vegetable gardens will be bigger.  I asked the neighbor to borrow his tiller but it’s currently on loan to his son.  Maybe I’ll acquire an ox instead.

Anyway, after two days of hacking and cursing, the sod was removed.  The soil, now exposed, was begging for vegetation, to which I obliged before it started enlisting local volunteers.

But first, we discussed raising the bed.  Despite our valiant efforts of minimizing soil loss, a large quantity still accompanied the sod in its journey to the pile of discarded grass on the side of the house.  That, and the benefits of drainage from a raised bed are obvious.  Visions of logs sticking out the back of the inadequate Honda dampened my spirits, but then I remembered the leftover 2x4s from the fencing installation.  With a little help from the reciprocating saw and sledgehammer, I secured a border with wooden stakes.

A lot of fancy dirt later, and raised bed we had.  Lowe’s also had a sale on herbs, which was awfully considerate of them to time that with the weekend of our herb garden project.  And, complementing what I had started under the grow lights, we now have a proper garden of fragrance and seasoning–a symbolic requirement to having an established homestead.

Can’t wait for the pesto to start flooding in.

–Simon

Over the weekend, Liz decided to begin her front garden project.  The edge of the narrow front yard, terminating in a mailbox and pipeline marker, looked very inelegant.  And I agreed with her assessment.  I hate that ugly marker.

But, there isn’t much I can do about its mere existence.  I imagine removing it would be in violation of some statute regarding the easement, and since the BP contractors have so far been very reasonable with us, I’m opting to not jeopardize our tenuous non-aggression pact.  So, the pole stays.  Other than that, the only restriction was to not plant trees on the easement.  But we got an official okay for anything bush size or smaller.

I’m no stranger to removing sod, but this was the hardest yet.  I swear the roots were a foot deep.  It may not have been virgin prairie, but I’m pretty sure this grass was here since the 60s.  The soil also has just enough clay that the roots wouldn’t pull free–rather they had to be cut.  Ultimately we had to dig up the sod with a shovel, then shear off the dirt and bottom roots with a stirrup hoe.  An hour into the project, Liz rethought the garden’s size.  It did give me an excuse to segue into a discussion about how pioneers on the Great Plains constructed houses out of sod though.

In the end, tenacity won out, and garden we had.  Now filled with acquisitions from the perennial sale, and some annuals from the indoor grow light experiment, we have enhanced the aesthetics of the front yard, and hopefully, detracted from the glaring prominence of that stupid pole.

Henceforth, it shall be know as the Easter garden.

–Simon

Work continues on the rain garden–a project whose purpose is ever-more apparent with the recent downpour.  With the ugly gravel pit juxtaposed to the greening lawn, and the last frost date looming, I completed some preliminary additions.

I’m assuming that the garden’s flood/drought cycle will make it perfect for succulents, and as they were already bursting at the seams of their peat pots, I indulged their eagerness and buried the pots in the stone.  Also, I relocated some volunteer tiger lilies, which were wedged against the house’s foundation, predicting that they were hardy candidates for repeated flood cycles.  Now, again I wait.

–Simon