Saturday was a challenging day because we woke up to rain. In case you hadn't heard, rain and electricty don't really mix, so this prompted us to devise a creative solution:
We erected our little camping canopy and set up a table near a window so the circular saw could be plugged in. The orginal plan was to cut the boards right on the lawn, so this new plan created more work by lugging the posts back and forth. Oh well, this ended up being a PERFECT plan because it provided shade and protection from the sun when it finally peeked out!
We had to hurry and get the beds built and the weedblocker fabric laid before the dirt arrived at 3:00. My youngest two boys were a great help:
When the dirt finally arrived we were stunned to see how much dirt it actually was (note the non-matching cozy socks on my little guy - LOL)!
The kids and I decided to just get started and pile the dirt in the center of the beds as Kevin kept building. We worked one bed at a time:
I was shocked and IMPRESSED when my children's friends came to see what was happening and stepped in to help! We had neighbors bring us extra shovels and another wheelbarrow, so we were set up! I didn't get a picture of all our extra helpers, but THANK YOU to Michael, Joseph, Arturo, Connor (big), Connor (little), Keith, Davian, Alla, and Gabriel! You guys are awesome kids, and your help made this project easier!
At the end of the day on Saturday we had built and filled ALL five beds!
On Sunday my husband Kevin cooked us an awesome breakfast and then we headed outside to see what we could do with all the leftover boards and dirt. I had found some great fruit trees on sale at Lowe's on Saturday, so Kevin decided to make some matching tree surrounds:
We also had enough wood to make another long bed for the grape, blueberry, and raspberry vines:
When all the projects were done, we STILL had a huge amount of soil left (we had about 1/4 LEFT OVER!):
I had wanted to plant some flower beds all along the other fences in the coming weeks so this soil will be perfect!
All in all, we built a total of 6 large raised garden beds, 3 tree surrounds, and have enough soil to finish the rest of the yard! WHEW! We worked until dark both days, and my wonderful, amazing children helped make this project an amazing success! Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to Austin, Caitlin, Brendan, Taylor, and Matthew. I love you guys!
Now all I have to do is plant the veggies! Stay tuned for more garden updates this week...
WOW! Looks great! It reminds me of my days in Kentucky when all the neighborhood kids dug a giant pit for an in-ground trampoline. We used to hang out there every day.
ReplyDeleteA suggestion--move the dirt away from the house because of termites and move the dirt off the bottom of the fence pickets because it will rot the wood at the bottom.
Very nice work and now you have a garden like the First Family.
That sounds like so much fun! We saw that on a show once and thought it was a neat idea - it looks safer for sure.
ReplyDeleteI will definitely move that dirt - thank you SO much for the tips! I'm oh-so-new to this gardening and I need all the help I can get! Should I put some sort of plastic against the fence to protect the pickets, or just try to keep the dirt away from the posts?
Do you know anything about grape vines? I bought 6-7, but I don't know if I should plant them along the fence or have hubby build some sort of archway over the regular beds for them. I'm confused.
THANK YOU!! :o)
The kids look cute, for sure put them to work!! [I see Austin took off his shirt, were there some girls around?! ;) ] I went to a birthday party at the new rec center (here in Broomfield Erica) and they had a trampoline that was built into the ground, now I really want to put one in out backyard like that-let me tell my husband! Awesome idea!! And the garden just keeps coming along.
ReplyDelete