Blood, Sweat & Beers

Above is a picture of the lower garden bed towards the end of last season. You can see the logs falling apart, but also note the ferns and scrub in the background. That's now potatoes & artichokes. It's not like I didn't realize that the retaining wall was disintegrating last year (or the year before that). And it's not like I didn't know about the May long weekend deadline. Anyone who's had a garden for more than one season has learned that if you don't get your plants out by the May long weekend, you're a bad gardener. Or at least a procrastinator. Which, of course, I am.

The tear down phase was the easy part. My 3 year-old basically shredded the logs of the lower bed with his bare hands. There was a minor debate about new materials; a concrete wall would have been nice, but too expensive. Treated lumber would have been cheaper and a hell of a lot lighter to lug around, but I'm wary about what chemicals would be leaching into my tomatoes with that stuff. Granted, it's not our fathers' treated lumber; they've removed the more toxic elements and I wouldn't hesitate to use it around non-edible plants. When it comes to stuff I put in my mouth, I'm a little more careful. Luckily, Mother Nature and her storms of past years provided a safe, free alternative: cedar logs. We've had a few trees fall each year, as has our generous neighbour. Thus we were able to rebuild and expand the retaining wall for the cost of a plate of brownies (the neighbour won't take cash), about $50 in rebar and a new hammer drill (but new power tools are always a justifiable expense, right?).

And so we come to the rebuilding, or what I like to call the blood, sweat & beers phase. The sweat came from hauling 15 foot cedar logs out of the brush and up the hill to the garden bed. The blood was mine, but that's nothing new, as I've never really been described as graceful. The beers were for my husband, as he did most of the really physical work. The feminist in me feels the need to point out that I could have done it myself, but the realist will add that it probably would have taken me until August. As it is, I managed to get plants in the ground by the first week of June. Happily, the existing chives & raspberry bush survived the renovation, but some of the new seedlings were a bit worse for wear from the wait. The beans didn't survive the transplant, and the jury's still out on the corn. All in all, this year's garden is shaping up nicely, though. Perfect time for a nap.