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| little bench for observing, and tea drinking :) |
It's been a wild WILD few weeks here. A great neighbour borrowed us his bobcat, which is such an extraordinary gift that we stopped everything else to take full advantage.
The first task was to dig an irrigation trench. By the end of that dig, the garden looked more like Viet Nam in the early 70's. Rock work and earth work have really kept me from the will to blog at night, as there have been a few deliriously hot days here on the hillside. I MUST get on the 'before-picture-bandwagon,' as the after pictures are quite thrilling in the comparison.
I was putting down some black bags to keep the (ever immortal) Kooch Grass at bay, and, in pinning it down with some rocks, built a little bench.
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| central staircase |
Weeding was on the agenda, but the big rocks seemed to just want to go into place instead ;)
D, myself, and D's dad (also D... D2?) started up on some staircases, which really got the creative juices flowing.
Next we needed better wheelbarrow access to the upper gardens we created.
See this blog for the story of creating that(!) So much work is getting done here. Many things have lost the obstruction from the winter snow-over. I happened to be reading on "Obstruction" in the I Ching a few weeks ago (
I keep an I Ching blog, too) and the way through it was to have "subordinates" play their position. I've found I have lots of creative energy for this kind of work: The decisions, though, at this time, are for D&S to make.
We've built a new chicken coop, a second yurt, tidied the garden shed, tilled for new fields, and now we're into landscaping. We're looking forward to getting the shop spaces in order so that the house-building can begin next summer.
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| wheelbarrow ramp: wish I had the before picture! |
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| left side of ramp |
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| side view |
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| top view: a steeper, slower staircase |
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| this rock wasn't nearly as heavy as some of the others |
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| right side of the ramp |
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| close up - more work/fun! waiting up hill :) |
I just been loving the character and colour of the stones as they wash up!
While we were digging out the hole for the stairs, we came across some old old chicken wire. It was at least three feet under the ground. I was totally amazed how the earth and trees were reclaiming this!
The old hillside has clearly had many generations of effort take place here. It is wonderful to be bringing my friends forward into their permaculture dream. It is also great to be learning of permaculture, hands-on: it is simply so congruent with all other matters in my life. I've been calling it "organizing common sense."
