New garden boxes

So, when we last left out heroes, snow was falling and the long-day garage build was finished. Over the winter, we had some solar panels installed on the garage (by Dandelion Renewables) and that was a very slick experience--would totally recommend them.

An early melt shows just how much there is left to do, including a fence, regrading, installing some garden boxes, and laying some brick for a fire pit. We decided to start with the garden boxes since we could build those in the garage.

Years of patience and small projects means that Jess can now pretty much handle things by herself. I'm still a bit too nervous to give her a skill saw, but she did all of the rest as we built a 12x3' bed. Hand-sawing also teaches important skills.

The box is very heavy so I'm also glad she's big enough to carry her end. I can move it by myself (barely) but it was easier to have someone on the other end! You can see the solar inverter on the wall in the photo below.

Before we moved it into place, I installed gutter guards on the eaves of the garage to prevent the usual elm seed nightmare. I intend to install these on the house this summer.

We also intended to put pea trellises on the back of the beds, so we made some backets to hold these in place. There is a screw at the bottom vertical post (hidden by angle) that holds it at the correct depth.

We then dropped everything in place on the south side of the garage. It clearly needs levelling but we struggled with the soil being too frozen to dig and then suddenly being too mucky to walk on.

This morning I went out and managed to get everything levelled. I still need to sort the rain barrel (requires seating the stand, cutting the spout, etc) but you get the idea. A five-foot fence will enclose this areas.

Jess and I built a second bed for the west side of the garage (below) and hauled it roughly into place. It needs levelling and whatnot. I also fixed two trellises that broke over the winter. Now, I am sitting down.

There is still lots to do in the yard before we order some dirt for the boxes and the bed bed that will occupy the area on the right side of the sidewalk. But things need to dry out some (and thaw in other places) first.

In the meantime, I'm tackling the usual raking and tidying tasks. I was out raking yesterday and I see the chives are up on the south side of the house.