Sunday, March 24, 2013

making progress....slow but sure

See that pile of dirt over there? The one behind the greenhouse frame? It's about half it's size right now......
 I've been hauling it since friday, and I've made a sizeable dent! Where is it going, you ask?

Why, here, of course.....
Into those nice raised beds that will be used for veggies and the like. I have the three big ones done, moving on to the smaller ones that will probably go faster. I should finish today, if the weather holds out like it's supposed to....
Yesterday, we started assembling the greenhouse. All the parts are still sitting on the front porch, so the idea is to finish today and start working on the deer fence that will go around the veg garden. We're off to lowes here pretty soon with a list and a plan.

The next step,  once the boxes are full of dirt, is to cover all of that black weed block with cedar chips for the paths. Hopefully, I'll be able to get most of that done this week, weather permitting. I'm hoping the cedar chips are lighter than the dirt.

We made a field trip yesterday and bought some blueberries and a brazelberry raspberry. They'll be a great addition to the garden. All 3 of the blueberries are dwarf bush types and currently loaded with blooms. The raspberry is intended to grow in a pot, so we'll still be getting the "real"ones as well.

We had good news and bad news on the landscaping front this week.....good news, the contract is signed, deposit made, and we're on our way.....bad news.....they probably won't be here until april 22nd. ARGH! I NEED to get planting.
Some of these things can only hang out in pots for so long before they need to go in the ground. I'll have to make an alternate plan and take some of my new dirt to make a holding bed for the peonies and daylilies at least. The peonies won't be happy about being moved in april, but they really don't have much of a choice. Hopefully, they'll forgive me.....

Sunday, March 10, 2013

you gotta love a guy with a bulldozer

So, monday turned out to be a relatively dry day, and it ended up being DIRT DAY!!!!!
We've been pushing for the dirt to get done for a while because we couldn't do ANY other landscaping until the city signed off on the "post construction soil amendment plan".
On monday, our favorite bulldozer guy turned up with this nice little toy....

 
Next up were the 4 truckloads of "special" compost. (don't ask). He spent the day spreading and digging in the compost. Once that was done, it was inspected by the city and deeemed "done". This is a HUGE step. Now we can proceed with our landscaping and planting, and not a moment too soon.
 
Without further ado.... here are the before pics...
 
Left side yard, this will be our veg garden area. That black lid is the cistern that we will use to water it.
 
Right side yard. We'll put up a chain link fence between us and the neighbors and this will be paths and perennials. Back in the corner, I'm planning on planting a moon garden.
 
 
back yard and deck. There will be SOME grass here, but not much, the rest will be paths and perennials as well.
 
We had a really nice break in the weather yesterday and we were able to build our little hearts out.
We did raised beds for the garden and the foundation for the greenhouse.
 
 
 
 
 
Love the dragonfly corner!
Today, it was supposed to be dry again, but it's already raining. We have one raised bed we need to finish, and we were hoping to start assembling the greenhouse, but that's probably not going to happen. We'll probably go buy supplies for the next project instead. That will be building a deer fence around those boxes and a strawberry tower..
 
This week, I have a meeting with the "real" landscapers to go over the plan, add a few things, and see where they are with their schedule. They'll be doing the dry stream in the front, the rock work around the fountain, and all the paths and patch of lawn. Then we'll see what we have left.
 
 

 

Sunday, March 3, 2013

rain, rain, GO AWAY!!!!

We were pleasantly surprised on wednesday this week, when bulldozer guy made a bit of a unexpected visit. We've been waiting for our dirt project to get done, and we THOUGHT this was going to be it!
He started by delivering and spreading a couple of loads of gravel to widen the driveway and parking area. (turned out great) The rest was supposed to happen on friday. Mother nature had other ideas, though, and, after quite a few mostly dry weeks, we had nearly an inch of rain on thursday, turning the whole acre into pea soup. Needless to say, the dirt didn't happen. Today, the sun is shining and it's clear and dry, although still muddy. Tomorrow is supposed to be the same, so, we're HOPING to finish with the dirt project by the end of THIS week now.


The dirt thing is SO important because it's our last step with the city. After this, we'll be done with them and we can go on with our landscaping. I have an appt with the landscapers on the 14th of March to go over the plan and get put on their schedule. They'll be doing the paths, small lawn, dry stream bed, and the rock work in the front. The labyrinth installer will do the labyrinth. We get to do the garden, all the fencing, and all the planting. I have to have SOME fun........

Another winter project that I had was to clean up the greenhouse from the other place. The polycarbonite panels had gotten moss growing in the little cells, and they were quite dark. After a  local tool place offered the SAME greenhouse for around $200, I declared "uncle", and just went and bought a new one. We've already bought the lumber for the foundation, so, as soon as the dirt is done, we'll be out there assembling.


We also made a couple of aquisitions this week. Two nice espeliered trees. One is a six way apple, and one is a three way asian pear. The pear is ready to bloom. They're going to be great additions to the garden.







So, today, we're going to measure the garden space so that I can draw it out and make a plan for the deer fencing and raised beds. Hopefully, dirt guy will be back monday or tuesday and the city will inspect it quickly so that we can move on.

Come ON spring!!!