Work Days Part 2

Here is how the front yard looked before we started today's projects. The stakes are the end of garden beds/paths. The spacing is very scientific. The beds are just narrow enough so I can step over them, and that paths are just wide enough so a dual-tire wheel barrow fits between the beds. That works out to 36" beds, 30" paths.

Here's the beds after the first pass with the backhoe.
The plan was:
1) scrape off topsoil with backhoe, set aside. There was very little.
2) dig up stump and big rocks. There were plenty
3) dig down about a foot or so, set aside crap sand/gravel/clay
4) get manure from across the street
5) dump manure in the holes
6) fill in the rest with the loam/compost.
7) Finally I'll move rocks around the beds, like terraced/raised beds.
First manure dumping. This is about 6-8 month old Poo from some very pampered pets. It is basically accelerated compost.

Beds with about 8-10inches of manure. Ah... Gardening!

Here's the beds filled with the loam/compost mix. I still have some work to do cleaning up the extra rocks, etc, but you get the idea.

Dogs love dirt! At least maggie didn't pick the manure pile to take a nap in!

The swamp yankee way to straighten a woodpile...Use the 'Hoe!
It was a very successful day... in 6 hours we did what it would have taken me 6 weeks or more to do. Each of these deep-dug beds is very time consuming to dig with all the rocks we have around here. Now if only I had some seeds to plant.... hmmm.

-40.