In order to prepare for our blueberry bushes when they arrive, I started to get the soil prepared yesterday.  That meant moving one of the lasagna beds that we recently built along our fence and adding all of it to the other two beds.  So I’ll have two beds that are significantly wider and longer, instead of the three I was originally planning.  And then I can plant the blueberry bushes along the fence.

It was a surprise to discover that right under the dirt layer along the fence, there were huge chunks of flagstone.  I can’t figure out why anyone would have put it there. The kids moved all the pieces to create a path between the two lasagna beds, and hopefully it will make it clear what area is meant to be walked on and what isn’t!

Along this fence we also have a huge amount of weeds (mostly morning glory – it’s beyond me why people actually plant it on purpose) that grow every year and cover the fence.  Trying to keep the weeds down is pretty much futile because the roots are still there and on the neighbor’s side of the fence.  I kind of like the look of the fence covered with greenery, but I’d like to be able to use the area for planting and the weeds will keep anything I plant from thriving.  So the next part is digging up all the roots – we got a good amount done yesterday, but there’s still plenty more.  I’m tackling this by digging from my neighbor’s side as well as ours – it’s more work in the short term, but she’s not able to do it, and I don’t enjoy weeding every day and still seeing that it’s overgrown.  In the long run I think getting it all out will be the easiest thing. 

Then I need to amend the soil so it will be acidic enough for the blueberries, but I’m not worrying about getting that done right away.  If the area is cleared, the roots are gone, and the soil is loosened, then a big part of the preparation has been done, and it won’t be overly much to add the soil amendments at the same time that we plant the bushes.  I read somewhere that you can do that. 

The yard doesn’t look especially neat right now, because of the digging in progress, but it’s good to know that we’re moving forward.  I was planning today to go get a lot more of the composted manure (from the person I went to a few weeks ago) to start lasagna beds in my side yard, and dig up more of the roots.  But I woke up to find that my dh left to work and my keys are in his pocket.  Then H-shem obliged me with a heavy rain, which meant that I couldn’t have gone anyway and I didn’t feel like I missed my opportunity.  I think it will have to wait until after Pesach at this point, since the weather forecast for the next two days is for rain. 

It was nice to be able to do all of this even though my oldest two kids were out for 6.5 hours – ds15 had his first Little League practice (he got his paperwork in just in time) and came home very happy.  It didn’t hurt that he hit a home run his first time at bat (he had been worried that because this was a higher level league, that he would be one of the weaker players).  He told me he thought he liked basketball as much as baseball, but when he played baseball yesterday, he realized it was different for him – “It’s like baseball is part of me”.  He’s a very good player and has played every year since he was 8 or so in the spring leagues, except for last year.  At that point, he was too old for the local league so he coached ds’s team.  This year he’s joining a different league, and is now the top age limit for that; I’m glad he’ll have one more season to play.  Dd14 spent those hours helping my mother in law get a big jump on her Pesach cooking.  She convinced her grandmother to allow her to make more complicated dishes than they usually have, and I think their guests will be very happy with the results. 🙂

My kids commented that it seems kind of funny to be so relaxed and doing all of this in the days before Pesach when everywhere I go, people are talking about what part of their kitchens they’re working on.  🙂  But as I said to my kids, everyone gets things done on the schedule that works for them, and there’s no one way that’s inherently better than another.

Avivah