Raised Garden Beds

Now I know why people use raised garden beds rather than in-ground plots: rocks! I’ve spent hours clearing weeds from Mary’s backyard to get ready for paths and planting areas. Often I can’t get the shovel more than 1/2” before hitting rocks. Big rocks, little rocks, smooth rocks, rough rocks. I will never complain about my Saint Augustine grass and its matted roots again. Mary has dug a 10’ x 40’ strip to have steppingstones, mulch, and a little bridge over a dry stream bed. She’s found enough nice rocks to line the stream plus many, many more that she hasn’t decided what to do with. Perhaps a stone wall.

Yesterday, Grant spent at least 2 hours digging the hole for the dwarf mandarin. He and Ryan also went to Home Depot and bought a circular saw to cut the boards for garden beds. I had already used 12’ pressure-treated boards for the first one, but they had warped so badly, the concrete end stones wouldn’t hold in place. By cutting them to 8’, we hoped we could use the straighter parts. The remaining 4’ can be future side boards for other areas. We also moved where one was located, so Grant spent another hour shoveling dirt to the new area. 

All of this is accomplished with Bella’s help. Her enthusiasm is delightful even if her digging is always exactly where an adult is trying to work. She insists on being in the center of the action. Such a happy, charming child. Remi, on the other hand, wants no part of being down and dirty. He is teething, his mouth hurts, being carried by mom or dad is all he wants. He makes a noise like a Harley Hog to complain. The rare moments when he feels better, the sound is more like a motorboat. Constant wall/wail of sound. This too shall pass, but it’s hard on everyone until it does. Plus he is not growing as fast as the medical establishment has decreed, so Mary is stressed about getting him to eat more. A loosing battle when his mouth hurts. Tylenol seems to be mildly helpful. Thank goodness he still nurses. I can remember one teething child, (which one escapes me), whose gums seemed to hurt more when she/he tried to nurse, so we struggled with a hungry baby whose source of nutrition and comfort just made it worse. Crossing my fingers Remi’s teeth break through soon.

It hasn’t been all work. Saturday we met my high school friend Mickie at Lake Murray and hiked around for a couple of hours. Even though it was crowded with walkers, bike riders, skateboarders, joggers, and dogs, it was still a lovely morning. Mary was cautious about getting off the paved roadway because rattlesnakes are coming out from hibernation, although occasionally Grant and Bella would walk a few feet into the scrub. The flowers are starting to show. I especially liked a yellow and orange spike shrub. I hope we can incorporate some of these native plants in Mary’s front yard. Perhaps just scraping the top rock layer away, and letting their indigenous roots find their own ways through the rocks. I’m certainly unenthusiastic about digging any more holes.