Sunnier Times
A gorgeous sunny day! And no significant humidity either, so I can breathe freely and my laundry should dry quickly :) Haven't done too much yet outdoors today, but worked a bit on the future veg bed and laid plastic over it.
We're going to opt for larger stone for the walls of the bed -- something wide enough to sit on. I'll have to move the plastic later to cover the next bit of land or find another small piece to put next to it. I had found a huge piece of plastic this morning, but it would have been too much to handle alone, what with the breezes and all.
L cut down a bunch of the comfrey yesterday and filled up the garden cart; I took it down to by the brook and tossed it all on top of the mulch hay this morning; more to come. We're doing a fair job of taking yard cuttings and suchlike and turning them into soil.
The retaining wall is slowly coming along -- worked on giving it more form yesterday, although too soon after eating, which led to much distress for the rest of the day. Very thankful to be feeling better today! I'll try to do a little more on the wall today, as it still isn't high enough all along to put any of the fill against it. It's great to be working on recreating some of what was there before tropical storm Irene came along, and hopefully we're being true enough to the way the river flows to maintain it. We're essentially echoing the land that has started rebuilding in the river bed, but a bit further away from the water's edge to give it some working room.
Doing this all by hand takes longer, but I think it's better this way, because your work is more affected by what the land and water are doing than if you used machines to do the work, and so perhaps more natural in construction. In the case of a river that will swell with heavy storms, it's better to have a wall that is shaped to be compatible with the power of water. It's actually been kind of fun to build, even though I have to really struggle with some larger rocks, because I'm trying to build something that will be strong enough to hold the recreated land in place, redirect water if necessary, and also is not water-tight so that when we have heavy rains the water can drain through the wall. I've actually assembled some of it with gaps here and there that I then fill with smaller rocks/gravel and even sand and dirt. This again echoes what the river is doing, but at an accelerated pace -- and with fewer rocks in the top layer where I want to plant a garden...
Oh, I also moved some of the ginger plants outside this morning. I need the space indoors for other things, like the new baby tea plants, which have been in perhaps too shady an area. Hopefully the new spot will be better for them.
We're going to opt for larger stone for the walls of the bed -- something wide enough to sit on. I'll have to move the plastic later to cover the next bit of land or find another small piece to put next to it. I had found a huge piece of plastic this morning, but it would have been too much to handle alone, what with the breezes and all.
L cut down a bunch of the comfrey yesterday and filled up the garden cart; I took it down to by the brook and tossed it all on top of the mulch hay this morning; more to come. We're doing a fair job of taking yard cuttings and suchlike and turning them into soil.
The retaining wall is slowly coming along -- worked on giving it more form yesterday, although too soon after eating, which led to much distress for the rest of the day. Very thankful to be feeling better today! I'll try to do a little more on the wall today, as it still isn't high enough all along to put any of the fill against it. It's great to be working on recreating some of what was there before tropical storm Irene came along, and hopefully we're being true enough to the way the river flows to maintain it. We're essentially echoing the land that has started rebuilding in the river bed, but a bit further away from the water's edge to give it some working room.
Doing this all by hand takes longer, but I think it's better this way, because your work is more affected by what the land and water are doing than if you used machines to do the work, and so perhaps more natural in construction. In the case of a river that will swell with heavy storms, it's better to have a wall that is shaped to be compatible with the power of water. It's actually been kind of fun to build, even though I have to really struggle with some larger rocks, because I'm trying to build something that will be strong enough to hold the recreated land in place, redirect water if necessary, and also is not water-tight so that when we have heavy rains the water can drain through the wall. I've actually assembled some of it with gaps here and there that I then fill with smaller rocks/gravel and even sand and dirt. This again echoes what the river is doing, but at an accelerated pace -- and with fewer rocks in the top layer where I want to plant a garden...
Oh, I also moved some of the ginger plants outside this morning. I need the space indoors for other things, like the new baby tea plants, which have been in perhaps too shady an area. Hopefully the new spot will be better for them.