As I remember, the original conversation went like this: me "I was thinking about enlarging my garden for next year", husband "Oh we can just move the fence over", me "What about the stumps", husband "Oh, we'll just take them out". Me "Great!". It seemed so easy. So we started at it...... Now, several weeks later, with sore backs and blisters, a BIG pile of rocks and giant uprooted stumps, we are done.
But its a beautiful fresh new plot of dirt. Definitely a cause for celebrating with a nice martini!
The photos show my new plot from each of the four corners. The new dimensions are 23-24 feet x 27-29 feet. (The plot is not square, so the paired numbers are each end.) About 660 square feet total.
My old plot was 15 x 24 ft, 360 sq feet. So it now almost twice the size.
And I'm planning all sorts of new crops for next year. Here's my list of my new ideas.
community plot expansion project
Did you use any machinery to turn all that soil and get it to look that pretty? I spent days digging a plot in my back yard and it was like trying to mine a parking lot. Even when I finally finished it never looked near that nice. It mostly looked like a bunch of gravel and garbage dirt. And after bumping into some cement piece of my septic tank I scrapped it all and decided to build a raised bed instead.
ReplyDeleteI have that same garden cart and, while it's brilliant for light duty, I've had a tough time with it when carting around mulch or topsoil.
Anyway, I'm partially just commenting to thank you for the blog. The photos and posts are very enjoyable to come across in my Reader. I'm sure it will continue to be a source of inspiration and information as we make our first tentative steps into vegetable gardening in the spring.
It really is beautiful. What is it about fresh dirt that is so...hopeful? I also love your poison ivy markers. I will have to adopt that idea! Sadly, my community does not have community gardens. And like the previous poster I will be building raised beds for next years garden due to an abundance of surface roots.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your reply about my beans. Sorry to have posted about that. Lost it for a bit. With them inside I worry that whatever they have will spread around- and if my new little banana tree succumbs I will really kick myself for letting it be done in by beans! At any rate, I really enjoy your blog and will try to stay on topic!
Fantastic! OH how I wish I could have a lovely community garden plot instead of my old driveway in the back.
ReplyDeleteSome of the plot isn't even turned. We filled in the holes and flattened the piles from digging the stumps. Of course this worked most of the soil. Mostly, its just really nice soil. I believe its been grazing land and open fields for hundreds of years. Most importantly, its not fill.
ReplyDeleteA lot of houses are built on fill and then the best solution is to bring in top soil and compost. This is what we did at home to fill raised beds.
Have fun with you new raised beds.
I was working in my newly enlarged plot early this morning and it is sooo nice. This great sense of space and (as mamwhatthe said) hopefulness.
By the way, don't worry about staying on topic. I really enjoy hearing any comments you have on any posts.
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