Just keep digging

The trees were doing well in the yard.  Well, the 'love apricot' stopped showing signs of growth.  I'm hoping it's just a phase though since I do plan on continuing to live in this house if Jeston and I have to break up...which could be awkward.

DIG A HOLE!

But the compost pile had started becoming unruly with all the kitchen scrapes and dead foliage from the winter.  Plus Mark's dog, Kali, found out that's where she can go to find fun things to eat.  I had researched a bunch of different compost designs and thought about buying a compost bin from Lowes but ultimately I wanted it to be easy for me to access but not for Kali.

The simplest solution was simple.  Since the compost was in a corner of the yard, two sides of it were already protected.  I just needed to create a fourth corner post and then conceal the sides from Kali or any other hungry visitors.  With a medium sized wooden post, a staple gun that kinda looks like a hammer, some chicken wire and a mallet, I enclosed the compost area! SUCCESS!

Contained Compost Area

Of course the second I turned around all I saw were piles of dirt from where I had dug holes and holes where I had dug holes.  Pretty much, I had a lot of holes and dirt.  Which had brought me to my next remodeling project....

...RAISED GARDEN BEDS 

(also known as: postponing the holes and dirt problem)

Those things are all the rage now.  But popularity aside, it was almost necessary to plan on raised beds since our lot was about 2 inches of sod and then nothing else but dense clay and rock.  Not something that is easy to grow things in. 

holes on holes on holes

I spent the rest of the week preparing the ground for the beds.  I measured the length and width to be 3x5 feet and dug out the area.  Jeston and I had drawn out the plans for how we wanted to design the beds; we wanted them tall and possibly with a ledge around them so you can sit and enjoy the yard in all it's imaginable splendor.  We also had originally planned on doing four beds but I figured I'd start on a few and see how they went.  

Once the bed plots were dug, I had two options....

1. buy the wood for building the beds
2. do something with all that dirt

Dirt be gone!

The second option won.  Mostly because I had cultivated this thing about dirt and I hadn't gotten my paycheck yet to go and buy the wood. 

In a couple afternoons, with a wheelbarrow and a shovel, I moved all the misplaced earth from the holes and plots I dug.  The dirt was redistributed to fill the many holes as well as used in an attempt to level out a weird slope on one side of the yard. 

Next stop?  Wood.