A month in the garden

This month was garden month, the main reason for this was I was alone and it would allow me one month to make sure everything was ok before I head to Brisbane, Australia. Like baking I actually love gardening, it is one of those things that allows you to be creative and see a result at the end.

It was a big month because I did it myself. I did have a young lad who helped me for 2 days in the first week, the following week he was sick and then he went "walk about". During the month I will admit at times I really could have done with his help but right now as I write this blog and look out at what I have done I am happy he decided not to help.

In brief these were my activities;

moved a truck load of red soil - 20 yards
moved another truck load of sand - 20 yards
moved around 2 truck loads of sand to create an island
dug 127 holes
dug 3 trenches, filled with red soil and mulched, 25 meters long combined
placed 2 barrel loads of soil into each of the 127 holes
planted 127 plants
mulched and fertilised 127 plants
propagated 32 plants
cleared vegetation from side dune

I thought it might be fun to share some before and after shots;

driveway before:

driveway after:

side of the house before:

side of the house after:

you can now actually see the beach from the side of the house/property line;

affectionately known as "nudie beach" before:

Nudie beach after:

front section before:

front section after:

(as you can see by the gravel I have yet to finish the driveway)

another view of the front section before:

another view of front section after:

(if you are wondering about the wood it will soon be a deck, then I will finish driveway)

Welcome also to our new shower, the old one was .... old, so now to go with the new garden i though we should jazz up the shower (sorry no pictures of the old shower, but trust me when I say it was old)

(had to put in two, just loving the shower, the wood will be getting a paint job. As mentioned in another post we recycle everything, from wood to water pipes to taps to shower heads presto a new shower)

If you are wondering about the rocks at the side they are natural to the island and I have been collecting them, they will form the base draining area for the shower.

Wow when you look at it in pictures you really do notice the change, just wait for the next instalment when the stairs, ramp and deck are completed. Did I mention we are also getting the house painted.....

During all of this time I have tried to stay on track with my storybook quilts, some nights have not been so great as we have had big winds here and my eyes, although protected, are very gritty.

The great thing is that next week all my gardening will be complete and it will be the maintance program, so I will be a 100% quilter, and looking forward to it XXoo S