Reclaiming The Backyard Firepit, Part 8

in #gardening7 years ago

Between Mother's Day, my birthday, and dodging rainy days, it's been almost a week since I've made any progress on the firepit area.

There was one small spot that needed weeds removed before I moved on to the main event. They come up pretty easy, like rolling up sod, because of the plastic that was originally under the pool.

Tinker always has to investigate what I'm doing and sometimes offers her assistance, which in this case, was wallowing in the dirt I just loosened. I tried to get a video, but I couldn't switch modes fast enough to catch her at it. She's just tucking her shoulder under, prior to dropping for the wallow in this pic. Maybe next time...

Far corner is cleared in preparation for the next step.


STARTING RECONSTRUCTION! WOOHOO!


The fabric is very dense, but easy to work with. I went a little bonkers on the pins to hold the fabric in place - 120 count! I may not use them all, but I sure as heck don't want to run short. We're going to be walking on this, so it needs to be secure.

The buckets came in handy for holding things down as I got started. Putting in the pins is a bit of a challenge, because there was a rock border at the base of the pool. Those rocks are still there and in some places, the pins just won't work.

It went pretty fast once I got the first length in place. I had to fiddle with the pin placement to get the fabric taut on the second length, but that only took a few minutes. I spent more time than that chasing Tink out of my way.

I did a third half-length coming off the firepit base. I contemplated digging out the tiles the firepit sits on, but honestly, the less digging on this project the better. (There will be enough of that by the time I'm done.)

I'm just going to tuck the fabric up alongside the edges of the tiles and call it good. When the mulch goes down, it'll will look tidier.

To finish off today's reconstruction efforts, I also placed some of the buckets in their new spots. These three are going to have brussels sprouts. I stuck tomato cages in for extra support when they get tall.

The three on the far corner will be pole beans. I already had two 'double-decker' cages on hand, so that worked out well. Another cage and some duct tape will have the middle one just as tall as the other two.

There are two ready-to-go buckets left that will be used for tomato and pepper plants. That leaves a dozen that need to be prepped for planting. Hubby is talking about at least two more for additional varieties of tomato and peppers. I haven't given much thought to what else to throw in the mix. Maybe once I've got the mulch in place, I'll have had enough time to figure it out.

Stay tuned... !

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I love this series and how you are going about things there.

This is my first good look at your real estate LOL, I like me some land and grass and gardens alright!

Have a good week Eddie.

(:

This real estate is a weed factory, but I'm glad your enjoying the process! I'm taking a day off from that (mostly) so I don't end up too sore to continue. I'm trying to learn the fine art of pacing myself. So far, so good (also mostly). Lol!

Eddie... I know, right!? Still cracks me up this many years later. ;~D You have a good week, too, bud!

I wondered what the fabric was then I read about the mulch. My family always used black trash bags instead of fabric. I like your idea better with the pins. I also like the bucket garden. I used cheap baskets one year for a container garden. Made caring for things a lot easier.

I considered the trash bag method. It works well for weed control for sure! The only reason I went with the fabric was that it won't be slippery to walk on. I think the mulch (wood shavings actually) would just slide on the bags.

That's what makes container gardening fun - you can use dang near anything! And you're right about easy care. Hubby used to be a painter, so we had access to lots of buckets. Couldn't beat the price. Lol!

I love it LOL

Cheap is good!

Thanks! I have a long way to go, but progress feels great!

You are going to love growing in buckets. It's so much easier to weed. The first time I had an acre garden and I didn't till for two weeks and it took me three 8- hour days to get rid of the weeds! We are contemplating a raised bed garden for next year. Very nice work!

Agreed. That's what we used them for years ago. Health issues kind of de-railed us. It's so great getting them geared up again.

The raised beds are great. Don't build them too wide, tho, or you'll have to step in them to harvest. (The voice of experience here... lol!)

OMG! That acre must've been a nightmare. It's amazing how fast the weeds can take over. Efficient lil buggers. Grrrrr....

Bet it will be a bountiful harvest!

I sure hope so. Love stuff fresh-picked! Maybe I'll get crazy and do a zucchini plant. I wonder if I could get a vine to climb...

WOW, that's a lot of work. Good on you! I cannot wait to see the finished area. :)

Thanks! I'm just chipping away at it. It was nice, tho, to be RE-constructing, instead of DE-constructing, for a change.

Fingers crossed I can get those two piles of pulled brush burned soon. They're drying out nicely. That will open up another good-sized portion. Can you tell the 'plan' is make it up as I go...? LOL!

Sometimes that deconstructing goes so much faster...and is often a stress buster while breaking sh*t. LOL

Oh, yeah, I hear ya. Sledgehammer time!

Sadly, this weed pulling marathon isn't in that category. I contemplated fire, but the area is too dang big. ;-D

CallAuntDeb Aunt Deb tweeted @ 15 May 2017 - 23:52 UTC

And the saga continues:

steemit.com/gardening/@aun… / https://t.co/AwIB25B9s4

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