The Bag Lady asked the Rancher if he would help get the garden ready for planting. He decided that it was time to fix some of the landscaping that had been ignored over the years. When he first cleared the land for the Bag Lady's garden, he pushed the trees down and piled them against the bush behind the garden. Over the years, the weeds and brush had grown up and looked untidy, and the garden got a little smaller every year.
He decided to fix that. Of course, it also gave him an excuse to
First, he dug a hole:
A fairly big hole, actually:
Then he pushed the brush pile into the hole:
He drove over it with the Cat, using the weight of the machine to crush the logs and brush into the hole:
Then he pushed the dirt back into the hole:
And smoothed it out:
Then he used the disk to smooth it some more:
Here it is, nice and smooth:
But it wasn't quite done, because the Bag Lady wanted to add some manure. So off to the manure pile went the Rancher, much to the consternation of the heifers, who use it for sun-bathing, playing King (Queen?) of the Castle, and just generally surveying the world.
After many trips back and forth and lots of manure, the Rancher smoothed it out one last time:
On Sunday, the Bag Lady, her sister-in-law and her SIL's sister spent a very long, hot day planting:
The Bag Lady knows that it doesn't look like much right now, but with a little rain and a little time, she is hoping for a wonderful harvest of home-grown goodness!
22 comments:
send the Rancher here please.
I need lottsa help (and a visit from the Bag Lady! I promise it wont be too too balmy if you come, well, TODAY :))
Carla - do you need him to bring his Cat?
(He always wanted to ride his horse to Texas.....)
HOEly crap. That's not a garden, that's a plantation!!! : )
Looks like a good sized garden and a great deal of work. I'm sure it'll keep you in veggies over the winter.
P.S. I had to concentrate on your title for a moment, but I did get it.
Manure Envy!!! (I thought I had CAT envy, until I saw the manure pile.)
I spent Friday afternoon planting eight peppers, to go with my eight broccoli plants from earlier. I watered them in well, and since yesterday I've had an inch, exactly, of rain. I hope they don't drown.
Mary Anne in Kentucky
I love those pics of the Cat. It looks like the sort of thing most men would love getting to play with. And it sure beats the heck out of digging.
Whew, that's a whole lotta work! You're going to bring in a great haul with that kind of garden.
A garden would be lovely. It'll be my first year with no mom garden veggies...so I have been saydreaming about putting some raised beds into the yard next summer to have a few veggies of my own. For now a tiny rhubarb plant and some basil will have to do :)
Your garden looks nice and huge-what is all planted in there?
Definitely WAY bigger then any garden I have planted! wow! What can you grow up there north of the border?
That is an impressively prepared garden plot!
I bet being on hands and knees over that freshly amended ground was, erm, fragrant!
I do hope you take more pictures. Such an extensive plot would make my head spin - where to get started? Also it's very nice of you to share the space with your sister and sister-in-law. You'll probably see them more often this summer: that's a plus :>)
I think I just discovered the problem with our garden (besides the rabbits and deer):
1) My husband doesn't have a cat.
2) We don't have a manure pile.
Love the photo of the cows on the "hill". It looks like you gals will have a great garden.
I don't blame the Rancher for wanting to play with the Cat. I once got to play with a smaller version, and it was lots of fun.
You make me wish I lived close enough to a country relative to be able to share a garden.
Here's to just the right amount of rain and happy eating at the end of the growing season!
That's an awful lot of work but it should be fun watching your garden grow.. you title punster, you! ;)
Marianne - good one!
Leah - Thanks. (I don't know why that silly saying from our childhood came back to me!)
Mary Anne in Kentucky - I sure wish you'd stop hogging all the rain!
BG - oh, yeah, men love that toy. The gas meter reader guy came along during the operation and that was practically the first thing he said "I always wanted to drive one of those!" Then he said "It must be a guy thing." :)
Sagan - I sure hope we get enough rain to make it grow well!
Geo & Missicat - we planted: potatoes (138 hills!), garlic, 2 kinds of onions, bok choy, dill, carrots, radishes, spinach, beets, lettuce, beans (yellow & green) turnips, watermelon, pumpkins, zucchini, cucumbers, peas and snow peas. Oh, and some raspberry plants. And now the Rancher wants to add corn (which I never have much success with).
Clare - actually, the manure was really well-aged, so there was no odor to speak of.
Conny - I will try to keep posting progress pictures of the garden. As long as it grows, that is. Which depends on how much rain we get. If we ever get any rain, that is. (Mary Anne seems to be hoarding it all in Kentucky!)
kcinnova - well, I can't do much about your husband's lack of big machinery, but I could FedEx you some manure..... :)
Reb - glad you like that photo - it made me laugh more than once to see their reaction to their "hill" slowly disappearing!
Messymimi - thanks! I am not brave enough to try operating the cat, so now I am envious of your bravery!
Hilary - you are still the pun-master! :) But I had to at least try.
I've got plenty of rain to spare, for sure. I just don't have a way to ship it north.
I'm sure I have plenty of deer manure around, too, but I think it's mostly fertilizing the woods.
Mary Anne in Kentucky
Ok. I want the Rancher to come and make me a garden. That puts my tiny little veggie patch to shame for sure.
It looks like you'll have a great garden spot, and with all that manure, you should have great veggies! That's the best scenario of something being full of s---! Ha!
That is one helluva garden space!!! You are going to be canning till the cows come home or maybe they can help you.
Mary Anne in Kentucky - the forest needs fertilizer, too!
JavaChick - Conversely, you could always come and help me with the weeding here..... :)
Redbush - methinks the garden isn't the only thing on our place that is full of sh**!! :)
POD - the cows aren't very helpful when it comes to canning. You wanna come help instead?
What a guy!!! That's a pretty sexy looking machine he's got there...I'm impressed!
Oh, and your garden plot looks wonderful. It'll be gorgeous in just a few weeks. More pictures, then, please.
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