Dirty work

Yard work is hard. It's dirty. It makes my muscles ache and my bones moan. But when it's all finished, it's gonna be awesome. 

Let me introduce you to the saga of our sidewalk. We're talking about 40 feet of property. The front half is our front yard. The back half was a sidewalk, approximately 4 feet wide from street to house. We have no reason to have a sidewalk, plus it was ugly, and plants would look so much nicer... Good ideas seem so easy in my head! Here's a sneak peek into our progress.

Part I. Sidewalk Before

I've said it before that we live in an unconventional neighborhood. Across the street, there's a chicken feed plant, railroad tracks, and an apartment complex (plus a really tasty restaurant!) in an old feed and seed building. To the left is a poultry plant (they freeze and package chicken , which means lots of semi-trucks). To the right is an old house that has been 

subdivided into four apartments. Behind us is a single family home and a legit neighborhood. Really all you need to remember from that description is the fact that there are big trucks. And as you can see from these pictures, said trucks have a tendency to miss the street and drive on our property. Our sidewalk had to bear the brunt of it, and cracked into a bunch of tiny pieces... not quite the look we're going for.

Part II. Demolition.

One day, Mike got a crazy notion to rent a jackhammer and bust up the sidewalk. I'm surprised he wasn't a jiggly pool of jello after all of that work. Especially when he found another sidewalk under the sidewalk. (Yeah, take a moment to let that settle into your brain.) 

After making a huge mess, the fun was just getting started. Then, of course, we had to move all of the concrete detritus. We moved it to the back corner of our yard, where another project is in the works. That's a post for another day. The slate also got repurposed into another project (jeez... the work is never done!) Of course, we didn't move all of this concrete alone - if we had, I wouldn't be capable of sitting here writing for you. Certainly, my hands would've fallen plum off. Many many thanks to the friends and family members who showed up to help us get this rocky wasteland relocated.

Part III. Rebuilding

It took a little bit of investigative work to figure out where to get railroad ties, but we did (hint: call local lumber yards, not the big box stores). Mike ordered 20 of these bad boys, and the local lumberyard helpfully delivered them. They weigh a bunch of tons. 

Before continuing, I ask you to pause and admire the absence of huge chunks of concrete....

Okay - we can go on. Next step: we solicited the help of another strong friend, and he and Mike laid out the railroad ties as kind of a curb along our property line.

Our hope is that the railroad ties will clearly demarcate our yard, and prevent the trucks from driving off the road. We're likely being unrealistic, but when I look at railroad ties, I think, "glass half-full." We'll see. 

We ordered dirt from a local landscaping company. A whole lotta dirt. We told them to dump it in the garden bed right next to the house. They dumped it in the middle of the street. 

Well. That's a bit of extra work we weren't expecting. But we plowed through, er, shoveled on. 

And that brings you to the status quo! Check it out! Real garden beds, with real dirt! Beautiful blank slates just waiting to be painted with beautiful flowers. The plan is to plant perennial wildflowers, ornamental grasses, and berry bushes. I created a garden plan on the Better Homes and Gardens website, and I'll get all of the seeds sown this fall. That means that the garden bed, alas, will remain a blank slate for a while. I'm hunkering down and preparing myself for the inevitable fight against weeds, and I'm dreaming of spring germination. Stay posted for the "after" pictures in 8 months, give or take. In the meantime, please share your #gooddirt stories. I'd love to hear about how you're getting dirt under your fingernails!