P+M Upstate Adventure: Removing Grass and Turning Soil for Garden

In case you lot missed it, Matthew and I bought land in Upstate NY! You can follow the entire series here. Now we're prepare to work!

Ownership land was the effect of wanting a garden that came with no rules. So it'due south no surprise that the first thing to build on the land is a garden! It's funny to think most where the garden started from. In 2009 it was 32 square anxiety then it became a few hundred square feet, getting bigger past the yr. Now it has a few acres to abound!

The future garden is 56×xl. That's huge! Nosotros started smaller just I complained it wasn't big enough so we expanded another few feet (thanks Matthew!). Now that I tin stand within the garden space I realize how big it is and how many plants it would take to fill up up the area. Possibly I went a little crazy, but at least nosotros take room to grow!

It'south hard to figure out what steps to exercise first when you lot're starting from the outset (and in Winter). I suppose our steps could have been in a dissimilar order to make things easier on u.s., simply with us spending sporadic weekends up there and wanting to utilise the equipment when we have information technology to avoid extra rental day costs nosotros're doing things equally we can. For instance, over Thanksgiving we put in the fence posts because the atmospheric condition was nice and we had a gratuitous weekend. Now that the posts are upwardly, at that place's no style a truck is going to exist able to empty soil/compost into information technology hands when Spring is here. That ways they will accept to dump information technology nearby and we'll have to move information technology into the garden ourselves. It's actress work, just nosotros remember in the end it'due south going to brand the process completed quicker. Plus to be honest, the process is sometimes much more fun than the complete project.

With the garden being the showtime thing nosotros want completed nosotros wanted to get a leap on turning the soil. We rented a sideslip steer for a weekend to remove the elevation layer of grass and turn the soil under neath. Nosotros are in the Catskills so we knew it was going to be rocky but we weren't sure how rocky information technology was going to exist. Our country is former farm land, but it sure is rocky too. Over the next few visits nosotros'll be removing every bit many every bit the rocks as we tin. There's lots of rocks. I guestimated millions. There's no way we are going to exist able to remove all the rocks, but there are some large ones (that I can't fifty-fifty lift) that need to exist removed besides as endless smaller ones. The goal is for every rock that's larger than a tennis brawl to exist removed. Y'all might remember this sounds like shooting fish in a barrel, but there'south tons of rocks and we dug deep to turn the soil… so rocks are everywhere. I see them in my nightmares! I tried to find a easier way to do this just without some heavy duty farm equipment, it seems by rake and hand is easiest. You lot'll see me sitting in the dirt oftentimes in the next few months. It might expect similar I'm not doing annihilation simply I really am! I'm going to go a expert rock picker. The rocks are going to exist used to line the exterior of the garden likewise, we're trying to requite back to the land whatever nosotros dig up. We call back lining the outside of the garden with rocks will help go along pests from digging into the garden. Since we won't be able to guard the garden on a daily basis we're trying to protect it all the same we can. Information technology's going to exist a learning process with some heartbreak involved.

In the pictures below yous'll encounter our garden posts up. I'll exist doing a whole series on how nosotros built our garden debate. Correct now the contend posts are in (difficult work). Side by side, the fencing cloth and woods needs to exist fastened to make a complete fence. This is going to accept fourth dimension, some friends and some hopeful warmer days. I'll be documenting all the steps so past end of Spring y'all should see a entire DIY fence post coming!

Now let'due south first see the harm we did over the weekend.

Before:

After:

Earlier:

Subsequently:

Once you get-go excavation, there's no turning back!

It's funny. Matthew and I were plotting out a work driveway and so suddenly the delivery truck came with the skid steer on it. As soon as it parked, Matthew ran up, signed for it and collection to the garden. I was still standing in the future driveway with posts in my manus. Needless to say, we didn't look at the driveway for the rest of the weekend. Also Matthew never came out of the slip steer.

Because I'k been giving costs on everything, the skid steer cost 637.84 to rent for the weekend. Nosotros have been renting our equipment from Windham Eqipment Rental. The bad thing is that we don't have a equipment rental dealer very shut to u.s.a., so the actual commitment is near the same cost of the equipment. This is something that isn't ideal, simply we accept to deal with it.

Matthew was very excited for the skid steer. Nosotros were besides very worried. We knew that when putting in the fence posts information technology was going to be rocky underneath but we were still unsure of how rocky. We went back and forth with either renting a slip steer or a excavator. We asked people for advise but everyone told us opposite thoughts. Somewhen we just went with the skid steer and crossed our fingers that information technology would be able to dig into that rocky soil. Unfortunately the rental place didn't have a saucepan with teeth so that was some other large worry. Expert news, information technology worked out, slip steer did it's task and did it really good!

And now the moment of truth… start dive into the soil. Would it piece of work?

Maybe…….

Yep….!

Excited Matthew.

First strip is done lightly and and so Matthew goes over information technology to get much deeper to turn the soil.

This is another instance of if the posts weren't there it would have been easier…. just it all worked out.

I waited my plow.

But it took a long time because Matthew won't stop.

When information technology turned dark and I dragged him out of the sideslip steer then we said goodbye to the state for that day.
At present adjacent day! Today it was almost really digging into the soil and getting it all flipped. Yous can encounter beneath in the pictures how deep we were going and how rich the soil is.

Run! Sideslip steer is coming (just kidding, noone is in information technology, safety first).

Afterward it was all dug up and then nosotros had to start the task of removing the rocks which will be continued throughout the next few months.

There's small-scale rocks.

And there's large rocks (some are bigger than this).

This looks similar a still from a horror movie. That's what it felt like too. My back hurt like heck.

Picking rocks…..forever.

I was without our cats for a few days and so I was excited to observe some worms to say how-do-you-do to. Hey, I'll take what I tin can get.

For the smaller rocks, I filled up a 5 gallon bucket and so would elevate them out of the garden. A few times I got tired and threw the saucepan. Information technology happens.

Later on we finished turning the soil then Matthew threw in the last few fence posts we had to do to complete the weekend goals. I brand this sound easy but putting the fence posts (and digging out the ground) a few feet into the basis is hard work. I'll get into this more in the DIY fence post.

The garden doors are going to be where the open spot is below. You tin see we dug deeper in this surface area to let the doors to be able to swing.

I forgot to mention that all the pinnacle layer of soil that was removed was moved to a pile that eventually volition be used to build small hills to establish trees along the driveway entrance. This is much future thinking, but that's the plan for now.