Misc. Ramblings

Almost 2 weeks have passed since my last post.  Eeek!  This time of year has got to be the worst for teachers.  Without going into the woes I will simply state that June 7th can not get here fast enough!
Enough of that - I'm trying to escape ignore forget that is going on at work during the time I am at home each day.  Especially since I have some fun stuff to blog about today!

While many folks were spending their Memorial Day weekend cooking out or hitting the pool, the Hubs and I were getting our summer garden ready.  In the past, we (read, the Hubs) have tilled the garden and sown seeds or put plants directly into the ground. And while this method has worked okay for us it is not optimal.  The weeds would get out. of. control.  I mean, when I had my appendix removed last summer, I thought I was going to have to get a machete just to get to the base of all the weeds.  It was terrible.  With the thought of pulling weeds after having my appendix out still fresh in my mind I begged for suggested a raised bed for our vegetables this year.  The Hubs relented and helped me being my raised bed dream to reality!

Being the dork that I am, I took pictures so I could share.  I should have taken before pics but, alas, I thought about that after we were finished.  (Okay, so I just now thought about it.  Don't judge, it's been a tough couple of weeks!)

First, the Hubs used a tiller to loosen up the soil.  He had done this once before to turn over the weeds so they would die.  This time I got to pull out all of the rocks!

We used 2x6 pressure treated lumber for our bed to help slow down the weathering process.

 After we lined them up, the Hubs screwed in coated decking screws.  He only did one at the top of each corner to start so we could move and adjust as needed for squareness. 

Once we had the frame level and square, the hubs put 2 more screws in each of the corners (for a total of 3 in each corner).  Looks good so far!

Next came my favorite part.  The DIRT!  (Excuse me, soil.  Sorry Honey!)

We did a layer of topsoil, a layer of humus, and another layer of topsoil.  We used a rake to level it all out. 

I haven't taken pictures of the garden since I out plants in it but trust me, they look pretty good!  I'm looking forward to a summer full of fresh produce as well as some extra tomatoes that I can use to put up spaghetti sauce for the winter.  I made some last year and it was really good.  It was a sad day when we pulled the last can out of the storage room and ate it.

So that's what we did this weekend.  But this post wouldn't be complete without some Babycakes...

Have a great week!