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...draws closer to the dao. or in my case, is able to get a slab of aggregate out of one of my flower beds.
i bought a ton of crocus bulbs (175 bulbs) this year to replace my losses from last winter. i got three different kinds: one sort of fancy purple-and-orange ones apparently favored by jefferson, some species (wild type) ones, and 100 of the showy domesticated variety. the first two go in easily with dibble or auger, but the domesticated bulbs are way too big for either. this requires lots of digging.
even though i lost lots of stuff last winter, i'm still cautious about where i dig, since there's still plenty left: daffodils, irises, random kinds of perennials (some of which come up only every few years). i can never remember what's where in the fall, and i prefer not to find bulbs by whacking them up with a shovel. so, i dig gingerly... and very slowly. so far, i've put about four hours into the garden, and i'm not done.
the last two hours were replacing a large swathe that got wiped out by the winter cold. now i know why: about 5" down -- just below crocus planting depth -- was hunk of aggregate in one garden. fortunately, i was able to undercut one end and lever it out, 'cause otherwise, it wasn't going anywhere. i didn't measure it, but its approximate dimensions where >1 egocentric cubit long, ~1 stretched hand-span wide, and >1 finger-span deep. call it 60cm x 21cm x 6cm (uh... 19" x 8" x 3½"). a good sized hunk of rock. under that was heavy gravel. the rest of the bed was slightly-improved clay. *sigh*
on the plus side, that's all gone, and i mixed in some top soil as a stop-gap until i can improve the soil structure permanently.¹ still, clearing a few square feet of garden took two hours of heavy work. i'm still sore. still more to do. maybe next week.
1: being a lazy man, i use the lazy-man's approach: i sow annuals heavily, and let their roots add carbon to the soil as they die every year. not only does this mean i always have something blooming, it works wonders. after ~15 years, the soil in my main bed is pretty close to black, down as far as i usually plant (call it 25cm/10").
i bought a ton of crocus bulbs (175 bulbs) this year to replace my losses from last winter. i got three different kinds: one sort of fancy purple-and-orange ones apparently favored by jefferson, some species (wild type) ones, and 100 of the showy domesticated variety. the first two go in easily with dibble or auger, but the domesticated bulbs are way too big for either. this requires lots of digging.
even though i lost lots of stuff last winter, i'm still cautious about where i dig, since there's still plenty left: daffodils, irises, random kinds of perennials (some of which come up only every few years). i can never remember what's where in the fall, and i prefer not to find bulbs by whacking them up with a shovel. so, i dig gingerly... and very slowly. so far, i've put about four hours into the garden, and i'm not done.
the last two hours were replacing a large swathe that got wiped out by the winter cold. now i know why: about 5" down -- just below crocus planting depth -- was hunk of aggregate in one garden. fortunately, i was able to undercut one end and lever it out, 'cause otherwise, it wasn't going anywhere. i didn't measure it, but its approximate dimensions where >1 egocentric cubit long, ~1 stretched hand-span wide, and >1 finger-span deep. call it 60cm x 21cm x 6cm (uh... 19" x 8" x 3½"). a good sized hunk of rock. under that was heavy gravel. the rest of the bed was slightly-improved clay. *sigh*
on the plus side, that's all gone, and i mixed in some top soil as a stop-gap until i can improve the soil structure permanently.¹ still, clearing a few square feet of garden took two hours of heavy work. i'm still sore. still more to do. maybe next week.
1: being a lazy man, i use the lazy-man's approach: i sow annuals heavily, and let their roots add carbon to the soil as they die every year. not only does this mean i always have something blooming, it works wonders. after ~15 years, the soil in my main bed is pretty close to black, down as far as i usually plant (call it 25cm/10").