Tag: path

Patio

On By CarynIn Garden

Awhile ago I set up a sand putting green in the back yard. I hauled in many bags of sand and leveled and raked, and raked and leveled. Putting on it was very slow, but I figured it would improve over time. Until the first rain. The rush of water filled the putting hole (half a peanut butter jar) with sand and dirt and swept away some of the sand. I cleared it out once or twice, then gave up.

Raked sand putting green (Feb 2019)
Remnants of sand putting green (Sept 2019)

All that work was not in vain, however, since I had need of a place to put a patio. The builder left a cube and a half of bricks on the side of the property. I’ve been using the bricks here and there for various projects (edging for paths, and stabilizing the chicken feeder, for example), but here was an opportunity to use up the rest. There was still enough sand to make a good base for the bricks, so I raked it clean and hauled the bricks over by the wheelbarrow load to place them down.

Bricks laid out

My in-laws are downsizing, and we are getting their patio table, hence the need for a patio. The bricks went a long way, but I didn’t have quite enough to make an area big enough for the table, so we picked up some pavers from the hardware store and I laid them around the perimeter. My kids and I then swept sand into the crevices.

Brick and paver patio

Not too bad for a project where half the materials were free. And now there is one less eye sore on the property.

Following the path

On By CarynIn Coop

I’ve worked for two days digging and laying brick edging to continue the path from the house to the coop.

I still need to fill it with decomposed granite, but at least the edges are set in. I set two layers of brick on this downhill side. I’m debating in whether to have a couple yards of material delivered, or to pick up bags like I did for the first half of the path.

The chicks are doing well and approaching two week mark. I’ve been working on picking them up with out freak out. Tigger was awesome and did a great demo for the video.

When life hands you rocks…

On By CarynIn Garden

So today I started clearing the area where I want to put my garden. It is in the middle of the Chicken Fort Knox rotating runs. (I have three runs, one of which will be the garden, and I plan to rotate which areas the chickens have access to so they don’t completely clear out the runs, and have some enrichment activities when a new run is opened. Or go hog wild when I let them turn over my garden. Hehe.) I started with the hoe, chopping out the weeds and grass. This is great exercise, let me tell you what. Suddenly I feel a “clunk.”

I had hit a rock. No biggie. Turning over dirt in a place that has not been turned over before, that can be expected. I dug around the rock, lifted it up, and carried it over to the retaining wall I’m setting up by the side of the house.

Clunk. This time it was a brick. Easy. Bricks are easy to dig out.

Clunk. Are you kidding me? Clunk, clunk, clunk. How big is this thing? This is how big:

rock in the garden
Rock in the garden

Ok, so it is hard to tell from that picture. How about this one?

wheelbarrow with large lump of concrete
leftover concrete “rock”

That in the wheelbarrow is leftover concrete that was dumped in the field, probably when the house was built. It is approximately 2 feet by 3 feet. I can’t estimate the weight, but it was fairly thin (2-3″?). But in the middle of my garden. Now we have a few large rocks on the property that are native stone. Picking up large stones is not realistic or safe, so I tip them up using levers, and then tip them into my handy-dandy-favorite-wheel-barrow-ever, and roll the thing where I need it to go. Still hard work, but not back breaking (literally). I have been slowing moving rocks and making a path by the side of the house. This is definitely not native stone, but the back was nice and flat, so I hauled it over to the side of the house and shored it up with some of the dug up bricks, and it is now a stepping stone.

So when life hands you rocks, make a path! (Or a retaining wall. That works too.)

When life hands you rocks, make a path.