06/09/13

When I woke up this morning I wasn't sure what I was going to work on today. I had one idea in mind, but after giving it more thought I decided that being able to finish planting the bushes along the edge of the yard should be a high priority.

I started out using hand a rake, hoe, and shovel to smooth out some soil and to fill in some low spots. I quickly realized that it was going to take much too long to finish with hand tools. I grabbed the string trimmer and mowed the weeds so I could see where fill dirt was needed, then started up the tractor. There was still a pile of topsoil nearby from when I did work down there before, so I used it to fill in low spots along the yard. More fill was needed that I had first realized, which was good, because I was able to disperse the entire pile of topsoil.

Once I finished with the prep work Andrea retrieved the bushes that needed to be planted and got to work. While she was doing this I worked on making some protective rings for the base of the bushes from corrugated drain pipe.

We were able to finish the project by lunch time. We have now planted twenty-five bushes along the edge of the yard. All that remains is to install the protective rings and labels, and then plant clover which will serve as a living mulch.

It started raining shortly after lunch, which was a welcome sight. It has been very dry lately, and we were preparing to water the entire garden again, by hand, if it didn't rain. According to the rain gauge in the herb garden, we've received 1.75 inches of rain today, and it isn't finished. This should really help the garden, as long as it stops tomorrow so the sun can come out.

 Since we spent the rest of the day inside, due to the rain, we used the time to experiment with a couple of things. Andrea made some  homemade ice cream, using fresh strawberries. It was very good, and I'm looking forward to making more while the berries are still in season.

We also made garlic scape pesto, which I had for dinner. I was pleasantly surprised with how good the pesto was, and am glad that there was enough for two servings. Unfortunately making the pesto used up the rest of my scapes, which makes me wonder if I should plant more hardneck garlic next year.

In addition to cooking, Andrea spent much of the evening making labels for the newly planted bushes. I think she'll have them ready to install once the rain stops and things dry up a bit.