A brief yard history for 2010

Here's a brief photo history of happenings up until now.

February, pictures taken from the top step.  Fun, huh?  It does give you a good idea of the size of our yard, though.

The last of the snow finally fell victim to a ferocious rain (which was apparently an even more ferocious snowstorm further to the north of here.)  We took ground prep in easy stages.

March:  Initial planning.  I had wanted to do true raised beds, but neither of us could come up with a way to make that look good in a front yard.  We eventually compromised with a plan to terrace off the slope with landscaping timbers.  (If we ever want to sell, we can rip out the veggie garden and replace with flowers.)

Sunday April 11:  Roto till and set landscaping timbers.  Hubby did all this.  The timbers are drilled through and spiked to the ground. Total cost for timbers and spikes was $14.  (Tiller was borrowed.)

Sunday April 18:  Amend the soil.  We got up early and headed out to Home Depot to get the fixings for Square Foot Gardening's recommended soil mix: 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 peat most, and 1/3 compost.  We have a composter in the back yard which I'd been counting on, but it hadn't been tended well, so it's a good thing we also picked up a few bags of cow poo.  I didn't really see the point in buying compost in addition to that, though, as I am not wild about commercial compost, and this area is farmland, historically.  Virginia red clay is beastly to dig in, most especially after it's been compacted by the heavy equipment used in new home construction, but it's quite fertile.  Next year I'll have some real compost to work with.

(Please note:  The fact we are amending, not replacing, the soil, means we are not using a true Mel's Mix, so please don't attribute any failures on my part toward the SFG method! :) )  I also got some seed potatoes (Kennebec) and onions at Southern States Co-op.  After celebrating with donuts, I sent hubby inside to relax while I got to work.  He was still sore from tilling the week before, poor baby... red clay is tough stuff!

The horticulture-grade vermiculite was the most expensive, about $23. That's it there on the right.  It is a natural mineral used as a soil conditioner.  SFG recommends coarse grade, but the bag didn't say either way.  The peat moss was $9.75 and the sterilized dehydrated organic cow poo was about $5 a bag.  (Yes, I mislaid the receipt.)


We also got some tomato cages and stakes and gardening line, but that's another story for another day.


It was a breezy day, so I put the vermiculite down first and hit it with the peat as quickly as I could to keep it from blowing away.  (If I'd had half a brain I guess I could have tried to wet it down, but apparently I didn't have half a brain that day.)  The manure went on top and then I mixed it all through.  Looked pretty nice when I was done!

Starting to look a little more gardeny, now.  That center area will be a walk and eventually mulched over, and the ends of the beds against the walk will get those last bits of grass ripped out and some edging put in.  Still got a lot of clean-up to do, including that ratty container in the foreground.  (Anyone want some chives?  I've got plenty!)

4/15-4/18:  Researched heirloom seed and worked up garden plan.  (More on this later.)

Monday, April 19:  Ordered seed.  $58.50