Two Down, Two To Go

Two weeks after putting together the gardens and removing the railings we finally got good enough weather this weekend to continue.  It'd been rainy and cool, but it is still April and our last average freeze is April 30, so we'll take the good weather days when they come.  We've had all the windows open one day, and some open another day, I think that's about it so far.  But the grass is turning green, spring flowers are blooming and tree buds are opening.  And I get my first shot this week, so things are looking up!

I had to go into the office for a few hours on Saturday morning, but when I got home I did a few chores and then started in on the west garden, the strawberry bed.  This one was falling apart, the wood so rotten much of it fell to pieces when moved.  In contrast, the east garden seems to have held together much better, but we'll see how much when we get to that side, likely next weekend.

I dug up all the strawberry plants and two oregano plants and put them loosely in the lower part of the other garden before removing the rest of the wood and moving some dirt around.  Between the gardens and the garage I have a 12 foot 2x6 to stop weeds from growing there.  It's also rotting, but whole, so I left it as is but I plan on putting one of the 8 foot and 4 foot pieces from the east garden on top of it for extra protection, as long as they're in better shape than the west garden, and they look to be.

Left with just a large pile of soil, I removed as many weeds and roots as I could and measured out where I had to get back to ground level.  I wound up moving a few wheelbarrows full of dirt onto a tarp in the garage though I would bring some back once the gardens were in place.  There's maybe a wheelbarrow and a half left over and I expect about as much from the other side.  When we're done I'll have my wife post something on the neighborhood farcebook page and I'm sure someone will want it.  This is why I put it on a tarp in the garage, because it may be there a week or more so don't want a pile of mud.

I kept at it for a while and got both new gardens in place and about half full of dirt, then decided to take a break for a bit.  My heartrate hadn't even gone back to resting when my wife got home from her Dad's, so it was a short break, then that was when we moved some dirt back to gardens to the depth my wife wanted, and she took over and replanted all the strawberry plants.  The oregano plants are just sitting there, not replanted as they will go on the other side when we get that done.

Also, the dang rabbits have been chewing on the plants, so we'll likely need to put a fence up sooner than later, so I've been forming that plan in my head.  I don't want to do them individually so there will again be something that goes around all of them, with a gate to get in.  And we'll put straw or mulch down on the paths between the gardens to keep weeds from growing there.

After all this, I was able to sit by the fire for the second night in a row.  I had a fire the night before, too, but spent an hour on a video call with my mom, followed by another hour long video call with my sister, which was very nice, but this night was just me relaxing and enjoying the fire, the moon, the stars, some music and my thoughts.  It is very good relaxation therapy.

Today is a rest day, the weather is similar to yesterday but more overcast.  My out of shape muscles are pretty sore again today, but I'll live.  It crossed my mind to dive into the other side today but my back does need a rest.  It held up well yesterday, but I don't want to push it today when it's already tired and sore.  We grilled out sausages for lunch and will probably be pretty lazy the rest of the day.  That's okay, we earned it.

Spring flowers after the break!