Building a garden

One of our garden activities this past weekend was building a raised bed for our vegetable garden. The soil in our yard alternates between rocky with a bit of dirt, to clay with lots of rocks, so the idea of carving out a proper vegetable garden was daunting, to say the least.

Miikka closely supervises the drilling.

To spare ourselves that pain, we decided to build a raised bed for some of the vegetables, and use pots on the deck for the rest.

Following plans he found online, Benjamin constructed a lovely 8' x 4' box, 12 inches deep. As he does with any outdoor project, Miikka had to be closely involved with the building process, which was better than him being involved in my blueberry planting, which was going on at the same time.

And, voila! A lovely raised bed, needing only to be filled with soil before it will be ready to host lettuce, carrots, beans, and tomatoes.

Protecting my plants

Although this weekend wasn't quite as nice as last weekend, we were still able to get out in the yard and do some work. First up on the task list: protecting my roses. They have been under attack since last weekend, when they were first planted. This one has been dug up and dragged out to the lawn at least 3 times, despite the thick thorns on the stems.

We also planted the blueberries and put up protective fencing around them as well. The disturbed dirt around them makes them both irresistible, and incredibly easy to dig up. To avoid a repeat of the rose incidents, we waited to plant the blueberries until we could adequately protect them.

So, until they are established and look like real plants, instead of just twigs ripe for chewing, they are contained in cages.

In addition, in an attempt to rehabilitate the canal system/open pit mine that our lawn has become, a section of it is walled off as well. Some of the sod from the blueberry holes has been transplanted there, in the hopes that it will take root and spread. Once this area looks better (if it ever does) the cage will be moved to the next bare spot needing help. I will also be putting down some grass seed, or other ground cover, when I get back to the garden store. (We made one big trip this weekend, but I was unwilling to go back until later).


And the cause of all this fencing? You're looking at him - Trouble Puppy Miikka. So cute, and so destructive. Sigh.

Friday Miikka

Here are some Miikka pictures for your Friday enjoyment. Miikka in repose, having destroyed a cardboard cracker box (one of his favorite activities), and Miikka in action, trying to figure out how a squirrel eluded him (they all do).

That's it from me for the week. Enjoy your weekend. The weather is supposed to be decent here, and if Benjamin and I can rally enough energy from our cold-stricken states, we might get started on our raised beds for our vegetable garden. But then again, we might just loll around the house, blowing our noses and moaning.