Category: Farm

After a sleep is optional night, I got up fairly early and decided to continue on the garden quest. As I lay in bed not sleeping last night, I decided to combine more of the boxes on the uphill end of the garden. They were rotting away, so this morning, I built a 4 x 4′ box in front of the asparagus but moved it downhill about a foot. I leveled the path below it and used that height as the grade for the box so lots of shoveling, but it did put some good composted soil in the 14′ bed I built yesterday, less will have to be purchased. The new box was set in place and filled with soil some from the paths beside it. The remaining 4 boxes up there are on either end of the asparagus bed and beside the one I built. They are going to become 4 x 8 foot boxes and will require a lot of digging in, but there is so much good soil there and where the compost pile was until the chickens spread it last fall, that there should be less needed for purchase. By the time I finished the box building and soil shoveling, it was time to fix lunch. Then I drove the tractor back up to the barn and hauled a 16′ double joist, two 8′ double joists, two 12′ 2 x 10s, and miscellaneous boards to use as ends for the boxes. The 16′ joist was cut in half, others trimmed to matching size or squaring off ends, and another long box was built, replacing a 4 x 8′ and a 4 x 4′ rotting cedar boxes.

I ran out of steam before I could build the next 4 x 8′ one on the upper end of the garden. It will require a lot of digging to level it and bring it down even with the smaller one I built this morning. The other 4 x 8′ one can’t be built until the garlic is harvested, but the wood is cut and will be stacked beside where it will be placed. Everything I did today is replacements. There is still a 4 x 4 that needs to be replaced, but I didn’t haul enough wood down to tackle it.

Several more bags of mulch were applied between the new boxes from yesterday and this morning. The garden is looking good.

Tomorrow will be 2 weeks since I got my second vaccine, so we are going to go dishwasher shopping. Maybe afterward, I will tackle the 4 x 8′ box that can be built now and Friday morning, before the rain showers begin, I will plant peas and onion in some of the newly finished beds.

I have lots of rotting cedar boards. The more sound ones will be used to build a compost bin in the corner of the garden near the hen coop. The rest will go in the burn barrel and burned when the spring burn ban is lifted.

For now, I’m going to just sit with me feet up for a while and redo my garden plan now it isn’t based on the old box sizes.

The boxes that needed to be built have been. A second long hard day complete. The 14 x 4′ box that had to be dug in to the slope was dug in. Lots of soil shoveled from one end to get it low enough and cardboard put down at that part and the frame screwed to the corner posts. I used a level and though it isn’t totally level, it is far better than some of the other boxes, then the soil had to be shoveled back on the cardboard to work the other end. Eventually, I would like to move more of the wood down from the barn and reinforce or rebuild the cedar boxes that are rotting away. The row above the long box will need to be terraced in as well. Those boxes all sit at a bit of an angle. Since we don’t get our last frost until Mother’s Day, I will attempt to get that row repaired at least before they are to be planted. A single 14′ long 4′ wide bed would encompass the 3 four foot square boxes and they can be terraced in to make the center aisle mostly level.

We purchased more soil and more mulch today and stopped at the pet supply store to pick up cardboard, but they had already discarded theirs today. We stopped at the convenience center and was told they can no longer allow cardboard to be taken because of COVID. There was enough to do the bed and part of the wide center aisle. The soil that was shifted and the bagged soil didn’t even begin to fill the new long box. Some mulch was put down where the paths were covered. The box that was built yesterday got the extra tier on the ends, it is the deepest bed and will be great for potatoes this year, but needs another 8 to 10 cubic feet of soil. We will continue to bring home a few bags at a time so the beds are ready to plant when the weather allows. I hope that between last year’s efforts and this spring’s efforts, that the garden will be easier to care for in future years with no more heavy moving of wood, soil, and only enough mulch to keep a good layer to hold down the weeds. The one addition I want to make is an A trellis to use to train the tomatoes. Son 1 did that last year and was pleased with how it worked. One that fits an 8 foot box can be moved to different large beds as crops are rotated would be ideal.

This morning, as I was trying to loosen the tight sore muscles from yesterday and getting my toast and coffee, 9 deer wandered slowly across the back yard and upper field. You can see that the trees are still bare.

Some of the seed planted on the weekend have sprouted. I have a row of Mesclun mix and one of Kale. One of the herb are beginning to show too.

The tomato seed arrived today and they were put in the new hydroponic seed starter. Soon there will be flats moved in and out of the house to give them sun and light wind to strengthen them into healthy sprouts to be transplanted in the garden at the right time.

I still need to finish laying mulch and try to rebuild the two rows of boxes near the top of the garden. Since more cardboard wasn’t available, I will try to use the remnants of a roll of weed mat or layers of newsprint to finish the wide aisle, but the heavy work is done for now so my body can recover some before more wood is moved. I have decided not to move the compost pile and will leave it on the wider side instead of building another box that isn’t even on the garden plan. The area is not really large enough for another planting box and the narrow corner where I was going to move it won’t be easily accessible when the comfrey grows up this summer. Perhaps a few more medicinal herb can go in that space.

Two days in the dirt and my hands are so rough that spinning finer fiber is almost impossible. I will have to slather on lots of cocoa butter for a few days. That that is even wearing gloves most of the time.

Today we purchased some 2 cu ft bags of organic raised bed soil and a few of mulch. All that I felt the car could safely handle. After I unloaded them inside the garden gate and changed into gardening gear, I grabbed the tractor key and headed for the barn. The old deck joists are 16′ long and double thickness, so they weigh as much as I do (a very slight exageration). I dragged, pushed, pulled, and tugged one on to the tractor bucket that was strategically parked right at the end of the pile. First I had to remove all the wood that had been added after they were wrestled in to the pile. Once it was on, I could get to some 14′ ones that are single thickness and loaded 1 of them and a 4 X 4. I didn’t raise the bucket high enough and lost the load in the driveway about halfway down. With a lot of maneuvering, I managed to get them back on the bucket and made it to the yard between the house and garden. The doubled joist was marked in half and with the circular saw set at max, I was able to get it cut in half with two cuts. Each half is still heavy, but I could move them. The first box was built, though I need to add another tier on the ends. It was build just below the box I moved yesterday, set on cardboard and filled with most of the soil we just bought. After the potatoes are planted there, I will add more soil as they grow and by the end of the summer, the box will be nearly full.

The other box is going to be 14′ long by 4′ wide, built beside the one I moved. I started weeding the area as I dug a trench for the side that is uphill and the chickens were loving the fresh greens being tossed into their run.

They stayed close to where I was working. I got cardboard down on the uphill edged and fastened one corner to hold the board in place as I continue to weed and level that bed tomorrow. I will add the other end and the other side board then.

I think I have enough cardboard to finish under that box, but not enough to do the path that is to the left of those two boxes and I certainly don’t have enough mulch so another trip will be made just for more mulch later this week before the rain showers begin on Friday. The two reclaimed wood boxes are so much sturdier than the deteriorating cedar ones I bought a few years ago from the local big box hardware store. If I can man handle a few more of the 16′ double joists back down to the garden and figure out how to get them in the garden alone, I may replace the rows of 4 x 4 and 4 x 8 cedar boxes with more home made long beds. If I had power at the barn, I would cut them in half there and move 8′ lengths. The boxes to the right of this one are falling apart, as is the one I moved yesterday, though I added some screws to it today to try to give it another year of use. I think because I am terracing the long bed into the slope, there will be enough soil to mostly fill it, though it is going to mean shoveling piles on top of the cardboard then laying more cardboard and raking it smooth. It may take a few sacks of the purchased soil to give it enough depth.

It didn’t get finished today, dinner had to be prepared and cleaned up, but tomorrow is supposed to be another beautiful day, so I hope I can get that box finished if not totally filled.

One of the double 16′ joists is on the top of the pile, so maybe I will fight with it tomorrow or the next day. Where are the strong teenage grandsons when you need them.