It’s been a long haul shoveling and lugging one 5 gallon bucket of dirt at a time to terrace the new, final garden beds on my south slope. But the end is in sight!
Above: future squash bed on the left, future berry bed on the right.
I’ve dug out the space for each garden bed to anchor it in the hill, then buckets of dirt go in the walkways between to level them. Cardboard gathered from neighbors is applied to smother the grass and clover. The last step is to add a layer of wood chips.
The circled spot is the last remaining sloped walkway which buckets of dirt will transform into a level walkway.
The beds still need to be filled with screened dirt and compost, but that’s a whole other project! My seedlings are coming along indoors but not ready to bring outside - so there’s still time to fill the boxes! This is year three with this garden. Working with the slope has been a challenge. Next year will be easy breezy when I no longer have beds or paths to create and level. Well, level-ish. Using found materials and limited time, I’m not going for perfection. Yet.
Blue Elderberry, grown from a stick bought on Etsy!
In other garden news, I’m thrilled that one of the five blue elderberry sticks I purchased 2 years ago is thriving. None of the others made it through the extreme neglect that comes with building a home on top of trying to establish a garden and working many odd jobs, but this gal did! Originally a 6” stick, she’s become a 3 foot tall bush. Dare I hope for blooms and berries this year?!