Big Step

Yesterday, after lots of effort, lifting, sifting, and digging, we wrapped up the retaining wall project. The long side of this wall is nearly 40' from the stairs in the background to the leading edge near the camera.

We've filled behind the wall with over 60 wheelbarrow loads of "Roger's Magic Dirt" mixed with a modest amount of what passes for topsoil on our property. As I wrote in an earlier post, Angel & I sifted all the dirt behind the wall and let the rocks fall against the bottom part of the wall to improve drainage. The remaining soil is sandy and powdery with tiny pebbles. Mixed in with the Magic Dirt, we're hoping/expecting that the local soil will provide trace minerals.

You can see several plants that Angel put in place after I finished the small section of wall that moves off to the right. Once these grow and fill in, this ought to look pretty good. This part of the yard is very visible from the street and it is intended to provide a welcoming transition between indoors and outdoors.

Eventually, we're planning to put a poured retaining wall basically at right angles to the long edge of this one. When that happens, I'll remove the small bit and curve the long wall around to meet the poured wall. The poured wall will give us enough space along the south edge of our property to allow a small truck to drive to the east section. Having truck access opens up huge possibilities, including a greatly expanded vegetable garden and rain catchment.

There is one problem with this plan, namely the fencing. Much of the property around here is developed but not fenced. Oh, some of the properties have fences – some nicely done; others more funky, but the town has lots of unfenced properties. Several of our neighbors walk across our property to reach a nature trail at the eastern boundary of our lot, and we do not want to fence them out at all.

The deer, raccoons, coyotes, and so on are quite another matter. Deer decimate the gardens. Raccoons and coyotes do the same to chickens, rabbits, and house cats. If we go to the trouble of building a high intensity, small-scale urban ag system, we're going to need to keep the local critters from wiping it out. We'll revisit this as the story unfolds and we learn more.

After all the recent lifting and shoveling, it would be good today if I were to give my body some rest. The Amigo's knees and lower back feel a bit abused. On the other hand, there is so much to do... and it is so very satisfying to see the results of one's efforts.

Maybe one more cup of tea...

Retaining Wall, Dirt, and a Worm Update

Today I finished breaking up the fill dirt behind the new retaining wall. I am getting pretty good with a mattocks. The wall is nearly 40 feet long and I've already broken up and amended and back-filled about half that. Because of the way the ground slopes behind the wall, I'll need significantly more soil for the second half. Before I fill it, however, I still need to pass all the broken up dirt through a screen to filter out larger rocks. I let these rocks rest against the backside of the retaining wall to improve drainage. This is nice because I think it'll make the overall structure better and because it keeps me from having to haul rocks around the property. Been there; done that.

Dirt / Soil Analysis

Also today, I sent three cups of soil taken from "root level" in five different locations in the main vegetable garden to Twiss Analytical Laboratories down in Poulsbo. They'll do a comprehensive analysis of the soil and report back on a recommended amendment program. It is clear at this point that the garden isn't doing so hot.

Although I'd of course prefer to see thriving vegetables right now, I am not at all discouraged. We started, after all, with very poor fill dirt in the main garden. We're talking essentially zero organic material: mostly sand, gravel, big rocks, and some hard clay-like stuff. It was compacted and very difficult to work. Now I've gotten it all broken up and have a lot of organic material added in. A few years of organic gardening with lots of real compost and it'll be excellent soil, but it will be good to get a real analysis done so that we have a good understanding of our starting point.

This makes me wish we had some chickens & rabbits. Their droppings, added to the compost mix, are a good thing. Maybe some day.

(Marginally) Funny Story:

As per the instructions from the lady at Twiss Labs, I loaded my three cups of dirt in a zip-lock bag, put my payment and typed instructions (and contact information) in an envelope, and packed the whole thing into a small box. Then I took the box to the local post office to mail it.

The lady behind the counter asked me if there were anything "breakable, perishable, or hazardous" in my package. I said, "No." She asked if I wanted to insure it against loss or breakage. I said, "No, thanks." She weighed the package and printed out the postage sticker. As she was applying the sticker, she noticed the "To:" line on the label:

Twiss Analytical Labs

She suddenly got tense. You could just see the wheels turning in her head. Labs... Labs. Science. Danger!

"Uh, this is going to a Lab. What's in it?" she asked, obviously worried.

"It's dirt. From my garden. I'm having a soil analysis done because the plants aren't growing so well."

She practically sighed with relief.

I followed up with, "That's why I didn't think I needed to insure it against loss or damage."

Tension bubble pops! She laughs. Smiles. Happy moment at the Post Office Window. Shucks, I smile a bit as I type this.

On to the worms...

Ned, one of my regular yoga students, has had some success with vermiculture. Since my worms seem to be ignoring the food I put in the bin, I asked him how he feeds his worms. Ned says that he digs a hole in the material in his worm bin, adds some shredded newspaper, dumps his kitchen waste on top, and then covers it up with soil from the bin. It sounds as if his bin is similar in size to mine. Tonight I tried this "algorithm" in our worm bin. Let's see if the little guys figure out what they're supposed to be doing.