A bunch of rocks and dirt

The before

This weekend I attempted to make a stone path in my backyard.


I may not have been as successful as I had originally intended, but its a path in the ground, covered in stones. So I guess I can call it an accomplishment.

I originally had started using the hoe to dig the path but then the ground started being difficult so I found that using the shovel at an angle, was much more effective.


Which was great, until I realized how uneven the depth was between digging with the hoe and digging with the shovel. Thankfully, I have a lot of different sized stones so the larger ones will go in the deeper sections while the shallower stones go into the shallower area.

That shallow digging hoe

But the path has been dug, and the stones are starting to be placed.

The stones were boring though. So I had a rock painting party. Only to find out that the paint that I had originally bought was washable and came off when it rained.

So I had to redo all the stones. It was exhausting and I felt bad asking my friends to come back over and redo the rocks with me. Which means that it won't look nearly as awesome with just my mediocre painting skills.

Finished pathway

Eric teaches the ground a lesson

With all the dirt that was dug up from the path, I was able to even out some of the backyard a little bit more. Technically, I just sort of dumped all the dirt in an area and spread it out haphazardly. I hope that with some rain and wind it'll erode into a more even area. Because it definitely isn't even right now. If not, I'll deal with it after the snow leaves.

Dirt in a new home

I also did some fall harvesting and planting while I was out in the backyard this weekend. The lettuce patch has been growing something fierce. I have collected so much lettuce, spinach, arugula and basil that I officially can't eat it all. Thankfully the staff at work took a bunch of it off my hands. It was much appreciated. I just hope that next year I'll have just as plentiful a garden as this year was. 

MY FIRST BROCCOLI!

Unfortunately, my tomato patch made friends with an ant colony. So that whole bed needs to be cleared out and redone. Blargh. Not something I'm excited about. The tomato crop was great this year, a little out of control, but great nonetheless. I just hope when I redo the bed Jeston can help me make a more suitable trellis for the tomatoes to grow on. 

The next bed was supposed to be Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, Beets, Onions and Potatoes but only a few made it all the way to the finish line. Onions, Brussel Sprouts and Beets never sprouted and I think it might be because of the weeds growing in from the bottom of the bed. It was a sad sight. I all expected those leaves that were sprouting to be delicious veggies....no, they were weeds. But I did get a good batch of purple potatoes and this little broccoli!!

I'm pretty stoked about that broccoli that I went out and bought seedlings for beets and brussel sprouts and am going to try growing them again this month. Fingers crossed.

The final bed was my green beans, which have been fine but I think I'll switch from bush beans to pole beans next spring, and my sweet potatoes. HOLY SHIT THE SWEET POTATOES. I had no idea. I wasn't ready. There did not stop coming out of the ground. It felt like I was a midwife and I was pulling baby sweet potatoes out of the earth filled womb of that raised garden bed. 

Seriously, 18 large sweet potatoes. And the few that I kept, were delicious. Cooked up so quickly, super sweet, beautiful orange coloring on the inside. 

I win at potatoes. In case anyone was concerned. 

LOOK AT THE FALL HARVEST

So, we're down to 54 days until Jeston comes home. I've still got a few more projects to finish up around the house before I feel like I've accomplished my goal of house remodel while Jeston has been away. I had hoped with Kristin moving in this past July that I would have a buddy to help me out, but it's been a bit hard to make that work with our schedules. But I did plan on tackling this project on my own, so having to actually do it on my own shouldn't really set me back at all. The last few things are:

1. Bookshelf for the TV wall

AND THATS IT! OMG! I did save the biggest project for the end, but that's what you do. Hail Mary and what not. I may even not attempt the bookshelf until Jeston gets back and have him make it for me. Who knows. Anyway. That's it. Goodbye.