This year, with the bees gone, I decided to go all out in my garden. When I had them it was hard to properly weed because it was never completely safe for me to weed certain areas. Now I only have a couple of problem areas that are easily manageable once I’ve got nothing else to do. So, with  that said, I’ve decided to make a list of all the projects I’m currently working on. And post pictures.

  • Weed and wood chip the garden
    • Weeding 90% finished. Wood chips should be delivered this weekend.
  • Finish garden path
    • Now that the grass beneath it has finally died, I can dig down easily enough and make it level/not wobbly.
  • Install raised beds. This is tied with two other projects, so it looks really chaotic at the moment.
    • I’ve been talking about doing this for a couple of years and now that I’m making a decent amount of money I’ve got my own funds and can actually do it! I’m installing 5 cedar beds, 12″ deep, with room to add another 6″ on later. I’ve got all the lumber cut and just need a dry day to screw everything together!
    • This project also involves killing off the lawn and hauling in wood chips. I’ve hauled in three car fulls of free burlap sacks to make a nice barrier , and wood chips are on the way!
  • Haul in compost
    • After the beds are built I need to haul in compost to fill them. This isn’t something I’m technically working on at the moment, but I’m working toward it, so it kind of counts? I also have to put compost on all of my existing raised beds, which is why this gets its own bullet.
    • After that I just have the task of filling the beds with plants!
  • Rainwater Irrigation system.
    • I bought six 55 gallon drums from a guy who lives up the road from me, and have attached all of them together with PVC pipe. I also dug up part of the old sprinkler system and cannibalized it. Pipes now run all over the garden, one for the end of each of the 5 beds.
    • Once the garden beds are full of compost I can properly finish the system and attach drip hoses to the ends of the pipes.
    • The only thing left to do to this project right now is attach a battery powered marine pump that will keep the line pressurized. Since the beds will be watered with drip irrigation, I don’t need a very strong pump.
  • Lay brick.
    • In order to install the rain barrels on my side yard, I had to rip up all of the brick I had put over there. I never bothered to make it level, cause I didn’t see the point at the time. Plus dirt moves on its own anyway, so having it level a couple of years ago wouldn’t have mattered much now. Anyway, I have about 40 sq feet worth of chimney bricks piled up in the lawn that now need to go back on the side of the house to keep the weeds down.
    • Thank fully this ground is already leveled, so the hard part is done!

And now for a photo album!