Back Yard
Once a young girl spent hours and hours in front of PBS watching archaeologists unearth the ruins of ancient civilizations.
“Oh! Mama, that’s what I want to do when I grow up.” she would say.
(She would go on to say that she wanted to be a veterinarian, after watching Wild Kingdom and on to numerous other professions that seemed dreamy to a child.)
She grew and learned just what was involved in these professions. In high school biology she had to dissect a pig. “Euhhh…Gag me with a spoon.” That axed out vet. She also really liked showers, nice shoes, big hair, and eyeliner which totally ruled out archaeology.
Then there was this weekend.
The Weekend of the Big Dig.
Here is where we started.
“Oh! Mama, that’s what I want to do when I grow up.” she would say.
(She would go on to say that she wanted to be a veterinarian, after watching Wild Kingdom and on to numerous other professions that seemed dreamy to a child.)
She grew and learned just what was involved in these professions. In high school biology she had to dissect a pig. “Euhhh…Gag me with a spoon.” That axed out vet. She also really liked showers, nice shoes, big hair, and eyeliner which totally ruled out archaeology.
Then there was this weekend.
The Weekend of the Big Dig.
Here is where we started.
Big ol' mess. Sorta a sidewalk, a pile of odd rocks, weeds, and just a total wreck. Chris uncovered the bottom of the birdbath last summer.
"What a great spot for a vege garden?" We thought and agreed.
We began to dig, and dig ,and dig. A pitch fork works well to break up the earth. ( Unless you have a plow, or a tiller, or a mule. )
We cleared the sidewalk with a flat shovel....
We made rows....
We unearthed steps......
We filled in the Mini-Cooper sized crater (hole from a long ago fallen tree) with some of the left over dirt.
and
We found that the rocks surrounded the sidewalk in a sorta semi-circle.
I am not sure why they couldn't make it all even,
like a true half circle or half oval.
Not wop-sided. Oh well....
(view from the deck)
See in the back, they are set in concrete. Meaning...they stay for now.
Here you go, a close up.
(rocks set in concrete)
We planted some tomatoes, eggplant, and squash on the right side.
The left side still needs some work. Last year, that side of the yard was completely covered by Kudzu.
That is newspaper in between the rows. It works very well keeping moisture in and weeds out. We will mulch over it.
That girl, was very glad, that she had a nice subway tiled shower and plenty of advil after such a long day.
She needed both equally as bad.
Stay tuned for Day 2- front yard.
Posts
7 comments:
I think it's great when you find hidden "treasures" like that. I know there are going to be all sorts of things around here. Besides the random pile of tires and metal scattered in the woods.
Lots of hard work. It's going to look really nice! We're thinking about planting a small garden again. We haven't done that for several years.
Huh... where do the steps go to?
The steps are down from the back parking area to the sidewalk. On the picture (view from the deck) the parking area is right below the bottom of the photo. No, we haven't parked there in months. Lumber and other odd's and ends are there. Another big mess for another post.
one of my best friends is an archeologist/sociologist...she has shoulders/arms like a footballer from all the digging. She's gotten most of her work moving really old/settled cemetaries...eek
we have random stones/rocks set in concrete too. they're around in an old fish pond that a long time ago was converted into a flower bed. they almost look like teeth. weird.
i'll have to take a picture.
what fun discoveries...all i found this weekend was a teeny tiny piece of china. boo. :-(
I wanted to be an archaeologist and also a vet when I was a girl. I grew up to be a SAHM, but I do still have an interest in those things. I've gone to the Kansas Archaeology Training Program Field School four times. I'm sad that I won't be able to make it this year. There are other opportunities like that to be found in the U.S. and all over the world. (I think Kansas has the best deal, though. It's super cheap.) I've volunteered at the Humane Society and my oldest dd will enter the pre-vet program at K-State in August.
Loved seeing what you dug up in your garden this year! Don't you love finding things like that? It makes me wonder about the child who lost that gun and badge years ago.
Post a Comment